Spring Gobbler 3/21-3/22
Posted: March 22nd, 2015, 9:49 pm
It's that time of year again! Spring gobbler season! This was my first turkey hunting experience. I had been looking forward to this weekend for months and literally counting down the days, practicing my slate call. I hunted both mornings this weekend with two buddies, Hudson and Harrison and we had a lot of action.
Saturday morning, we heard a lot of turkeys talking early in the morning before they flew down off of the roosts. I was set up with Hudson at an intersection of two roads, about 150 yards from a roosting site that we know in a swamp. We heard a lot of calling, but never were able to call one in to our decoys. Harrison was set up in another spot on the front field in his ground blind that we made Friday night. He called a nice gobbler in to about 80 yards, but never could get him to come within range. He painfully watched it strut around out of range for five minutes before it gave up on the decoy that wasn't impressed by his show of affection. That was all of the action for Saturday but had us fired up about Sunday morning.
Sunday morning comes, and Hudson and I headed back out, with plans to sit in the blind where Harrison had seen the gobbler. Right as day broke, the turkeys started talking and we heard some gobbling in different areas from around us. About ten minutes later, we hear what we think is a hen coming in on the road that runs behind the field. It never occurred to me that this turkey I was hearing may walk in on us until Hudson reminds me to be still if we see it. Wow! A turkey might be coming in on us! At that moment I turn to my right and see a red head walking up the road right into our field. It could not have been more than 15 yards from us. He checked out the area for a while, coming as close a seven or eight yards from our blind. We decided to let him walk, and he moved on. After I recovered my nerves and my breath, we sat until 9:30 without hearing another gobble. The turkeys had gone silent. Hudson asked if I wanted to slip back to a different field. We take off out of the blind quietly for the other field. We cross the oak hammock quietly and start up the trail to the back field. As we get closer, I see four jakes on the field, to the left of where the trail lets out. I decide that I am going to take one, and start a belly crawl up the trail so as not to be seen. As I get to where I can shoot cleanly, the group splits in half and two turkeys line up perfectly, one in front of the other. I squeeze of a 12 gauge round of No.6 shot and two birds fall to the ground dead. My first turkeys! Both at the same time! Hudson and I jump up and high five, both shocked at how the last ten minutes played out and the success of the stalk. All in all, these are my first two turkeys, and I am very proud of them. After cleaning them, I prepared the tail feathers and beards for curing to mount in a few weeks.
I definitely now understand the addiction to Spring gobbler season. Here are pictures:
Saturday morning, we heard a lot of turkeys talking early in the morning before they flew down off of the roosts. I was set up with Hudson at an intersection of two roads, about 150 yards from a roosting site that we know in a swamp. We heard a lot of calling, but never were able to call one in to our decoys. Harrison was set up in another spot on the front field in his ground blind that we made Friday night. He called a nice gobbler in to about 80 yards, but never could get him to come within range. He painfully watched it strut around out of range for five minutes before it gave up on the decoy that wasn't impressed by his show of affection. That was all of the action for Saturday but had us fired up about Sunday morning.
Sunday morning comes, and Hudson and I headed back out, with plans to sit in the blind where Harrison had seen the gobbler. Right as day broke, the turkeys started talking and we heard some gobbling in different areas from around us. About ten minutes later, we hear what we think is a hen coming in on the road that runs behind the field. It never occurred to me that this turkey I was hearing may walk in on us until Hudson reminds me to be still if we see it. Wow! A turkey might be coming in on us! At that moment I turn to my right and see a red head walking up the road right into our field. It could not have been more than 15 yards from us. He checked out the area for a while, coming as close a seven or eight yards from our blind. We decided to let him walk, and he moved on. After I recovered my nerves and my breath, we sat until 9:30 without hearing another gobble. The turkeys had gone silent. Hudson asked if I wanted to slip back to a different field. We take off out of the blind quietly for the other field. We cross the oak hammock quietly and start up the trail to the back field. As we get closer, I see four jakes on the field, to the left of where the trail lets out. I decide that I am going to take one, and start a belly crawl up the trail so as not to be seen. As I get to where I can shoot cleanly, the group splits in half and two turkeys line up perfectly, one in front of the other. I squeeze of a 12 gauge round of No.6 shot and two birds fall to the ground dead. My first turkeys! Both at the same time! Hudson and I jump up and high five, both shocked at how the last ten minutes played out and the success of the stalk. All in all, these are my first two turkeys, and I am very proud of them. After cleaning them, I prepared the tail feathers and beards for curing to mount in a few weeks.
I definitely now understand the addiction to Spring gobbler season. Here are pictures:
