| Hi folks, It's been a while since I sent you any updates, and since I'm spending my Saturday afternoon trying to find reasons not to mow my yard, I thought I'd compile some stories of my most recent hunting experiences on association land. These are just some highlights...some days were less eventful. 2005 - Spring Turkey season Opening Day Spring Turkey: Once again, I'd pay for my laziness. I didn't bother to roost any birds the night before, but I thought I knew where they would be based on previous scouting trips and turkey hunting trips from the previous year. I planned my entire sneak-in around the idea of birds roosted in this one particular draw. I pulled into the pasture entrance about an hour before sunrise and started unloading all my junk. The entrance was at the corner of the property beside a small draw (about 200 yards long) that wormed its way into the pasture. I started to walk around the draw on the way to my setup...a much larger draw about 1/4 mile from the entrance. I didn't make it 10 yards from my truck when trees erupted with flapping wings. Apparently, the turkeys decided to roost by the road. I just hoped there were some satellite birds at my setup. No such luck. I spent the morning listening to birds wake up on the neighboring properties. At least I got to spend some peaceful time in the woods watching deer wander in and out of my decoy spread. I had to leave early for an afternoon birthday party, but I'd learned an important turkey hunting lesson. Actually, I learned that lesson a long time ago...I just ignored it. :) Successful Day #1: Flydown time found me among three strutting longbeards and twenty-plus hens about 100 yards from my setup, plenty more turkey unseen. These birds were bunched up good, and the hens were fighting each other like crazy. They were really whooping up on each other, while the toms looked as if they were just enjoying the show. I watched this group for about an hour...slowly working their way over to my end of the field. A couple of the lead hens broke away from the pack and headed straight into my decoys. One of them came up behind me and started cutting about 5 feet from my head! It actually hurt my ears! Then it happened...GOBBLE-OBBLE-OBBLE! A fourth longbeard had quietly snuck around directly behind me. After he gobbled, he started drumming like crazy. He was maybe 20 feet behind me on the other side of a fence, but I couldn't budge...still surrounded by hens. He taunted me for about 15 minutes (it felt like an hour). The other toms were still working towards my decoys. They made it about 50 yards from me when this fourth tom took to the air, flew over the hedgerow I was in (right over my head), and landed right in the middle of decoy spread. Successful Day #2 - It was about 40 degrees and breezy before the sun came up. It felt really cold. I tried to stay on the downwind sides of the timber ridges. Gobbling was way down from the early season levels, but I did manage to "hoot" one into gobbling as the sky started to glow. I set up and waited. Just before flydown, the hens started in...almost constant yelping. I just called along with them and tried to mimic every sound they made. Of course, at flydown, my gobbler followed them out the other side of the ridgeline. Luckily, there were more turkeys in the woods. Apparently, I had set up right in the middle of a new roost spot. Three longbeards suddenly showed up and strutted right past my decoys outta gun range...they didn't even stop. I glanced over my shoulder and saw why. 2004-05 - Antlerless season Opening Day: We had some snow a few days earlier, and when I stepped out of my truck that morning, the thermometer read only 4 degrees. Fortunately, the air was still, so I wasn't worried about those nasty wind chills. When it's this cold, deer seem to move around all day. That was good, because I couldn't sit still either. I started glassing the early morning fields and slowly working the brushy draws. I must've seen at least 30 deer on this little 40-acre property. Most were yearlings, but they were all "baldies". It was early afternoon before I got a clear shot at one. A big doe stepped out into the open about 70 yards from me. My trigger finger was numb, but I was able to get the shot off. She dropped right in her tracks. She had been lying on the ground for at least two minutes when I stood up from my position to approach her. That old gal jumped up and darted across the field like nothing ever happened. She stopped about 300 yards out, turned around, and stared back at me. I couldn't believe it. I expected her to drop at any moment, but she walked across the neighboring property and started grazing in a cut cornfield. I found a little blood on the snow where she fell, but that was it...not another drop anywhere. From a half-mile away or so, she seemed to be getting along just fine. Not an hour afterwards, I had another group come out in the open. There were three big does and six yearlings. One of the does stepped behind some trees about 100 yards out. I waited for a couple minutes for an open shot. I finally found a clear opening to the shoulder, so I squeezed off a shot. I flinched and missed...it was funny. I missed BIG TIME! The deer shuffled around a bit but didn't spook. One deer quickly turned broadside, and I shot again. That time, all the deer bolted. One of them dropped about 50 yards into their run. When I walked up, I was disheartened. It wasn't the doe that offered me that quick second shot, but a button-buck. I donated the venison, so I feel better knowing that he might feed some hungry people. Successful Day #2: It warmed up to 14 degrees! :) I started still-hunting some brushy draws at sunrise. I jumped six deer within the first hour but none offered a good shot. Late morning, I managed to sneak up on a yearling. I got within 50 yards and noticed he was a button-buck. I think he winded me, but couldn't pinpoint my location. He would run from one end of the draw to other and back again. He knew something was wrong, but wasn't sure where to run. He ran back and forth twice. It was kinda funny. 2004 - Fall Turkey season Opening day: I had noticed a flock of turkeys on this one property during the afternoons while deer scouting, so I waited until noon to even enter the place. I slowly worked my way along a creek bed, occasionally peeking out into field openings hoping to find the flock. I finally found them in a cut hay field about 2:00pm, and luckily, I was shadowed out behind a thin strip of switch grass, so I could move around undetected. I was able to sneak within 50 yards of them, but instead of waiting for one to wander into gun range, I decided to bust 'em up and call 'em back. Besides, the opportunity for clean bust like this one is rare. I set my gun down and took off sprinting thru the switch grass. I ran right out into the middle of the flock waving my hands and yelling. I must've scared ‘em good, because a few of them froze in their tracks. I actually could've kicked a couple of 'em! The scatter was perfect...EXCEPT most of them took to flight and lit in the trees. There I was, middle of the afternoon, with about thirty turkeys stuck in the trees. I quickly snuck out of the area, staked up a couple decoys in an opening, and started kee-kee'ing. Over the next hour, I could hear the birds fly down from the trees and try to re-assemble. In fact, the two hours following the flush were filled with some of the most intense turkey calling I've ever experienced. I was cranking on a mouth call and a slate just trying to keep up. Turkeys were popping in and out of my location all afternoon...never offering a good shot though. I'm not a very good writer, so I hope you're still awake after reading these stories. The experiences were much more exciting than I’m able to express with words. Anyhow, I've attached a few photos of these hunts in case you'd like to see them... Thanks again, Jerad Read about Jerad's previous season? Or, |
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I don't think he was on the ground for two seconds before I pulled the trigger. He had teased me for too long. A couple of the other birds looked larger, but THIS was the one I wanted. His stats: 2-years-old, 20lbs, 10" beard, 7/8" spurs
Five jakes and two larger longbeards came charging in after them. When the largest bird wandered into my decoys, I shot. All this before the sun actually peaked over the horizon. His stats: 2-years-old (maybe 3), 23lbs, 10 1/2" beard, 1" spurs
I stood up to change locations and saw a yearling doe standing broadside about 30 yards away from me. I shot. She ran around twenty yards and dropped. After the shot, that button-buck ran up that draw and back again, but still wouldn't leave the immediate area. I had to wait about a half-hour for him to leave on his own before I could retrieve my doe.
Finally, about 5:00pm, a young hen came running to my kee-kee's, and I shot her at 25 yards. Sure, she was no trophy gobbler, but the fall turkey hunt rivals any spring hunt I've ever been on. She weighed 12lbs and tasted fantastic. It was much easier to pack her outta the woods too. On a side note, the property I was hunting wasn't even suggested for turkeys on the map sheets, but interestingly, that's about the only game I saw on that land...and I saw a lot of it. :)
