Spring Turkey 2013

Spring Turkey 2013

Spring '13 was successful to say the least. Opening day myself and first time turkey hunters the Trott brothers took three birds 10 minutes after sunrise. Birds were gobbling in the roost at dark. We snuck in on the tree line and planted two hens and my new fan decoy. Made a few soft yelps and then did a fly down cackle at sunrise. Birds flew right down after the cackle and when they saw the decoys they literally started running towards us. We had planned for a 1,2,3 BANG! but in all the excitement I left my safety on. Luckily the sight of his two wounded friends actually made him come back and I was able to take a shot. Three real nice birds. I shot the runt of the group at only 14 lbs, but the other two, (who had the same size spurs and beard, inch spurs, 9" beards) weighed in at 18 and 19 lbs respectively.

The second time I went out I pulled into my spot late. The sun was already up and as I exited my truck I heard gobbling from the next field over. I hurriedly gathered my things and made my way to the edge of the next field, crossed the brook to plant my decoys and jumped back across to sit at a tree. It was a little foggy out and the birds flew down towards the opposite side of the field. I made some calls and they responded but they sounded disinterested and started getting farther and farther away. I had the same decoy set up with the two hens and the fanned tom. I waited for 15 minutes or so not making any calls. When I started calling again I got them hammering back at me, so I shut up and waited. I saw two black bodies in the fog making their way through the brush. When they spotted the decoys one fanned out and the other followed. At full fan the front bird looked much bigger and I figured it was the dominant of the two so I aimed my bead for his head. At 20 yards away I took my shot and dropped him. I was 2 for 2 and was now out of tags.

I took one more venture out to the woods to try and help fill a tag for my buddy Lee Trott. We tried one spot unsuccessfully and decided to try a new spot I had never even scouted, but had just received permission from the landowner that week. As we pulled into the driveway there were a group of turkeys in the backyard. One large tom and three jakes. We tried to go around them but spooked them into the woods. I was able to call in the jakes but the tom stayed to the outside of view. Lee took a shot at one of the jakes but missed. We relocated and called another jake in but Lee was never able to get a shot off. So almost 3 for 3.

Not a bad opening day

Bird #2

19 lbs, 10 inch beard, small spurs

Bird #1, Overall a successful season