Steuben, NY
Turkey (Spring Gobbler)
Joy seemed to be sitting on a fence as a night of persistent rain showers segued into a dismal grey morning. Cold air and misty drizzle has a way of making us contemplate life a little more than usual. Especially the sorrowful things that keep us from enjoying it.
The world had turned cold, but the prospect of another action packed spring turkey hunt was keeping a positive mindset afloat. If some birds could be located surely the excitement of the hunt would win over the emotional state.
Sunrise once again began without any gobbling, but there was a hen sounding off. The yelping certainly added a bit of hope into the outlook. Hens are what the gobblers are looking for this time of year, and chances are one would greet her as she flew down off the roost. Going with that line of thinking, an effort was made to move closer to the vocal female turkey. It proved to be a wise decision.
While skirting along the edge of the woods, a turkey was spotted about 150 yards out into the hayfield. Out came the binoculars, and through the glass lenses one could see a small beard on the bird. I was in business!
Because of the rain, the slate call which saw action at 1st light was not working well. Out came the trusty ole’ box call that has been used for many years. A few light purrs that bled into a series of yelps, and all hell broke loose.
An explosion of sound erupted as a big tom gobbler let one rip. He was only a little ways from the jake down in a dip. Making things even more interesting was that a hen started yelping in the woods behind me! “Oh god, was I in an ideal location.”
The jake and gobbler in the field started gobbling their heads off while slowly moving closer. When another soft purr was added into the equation, the situation took a frantic turn. The two birds started on a run toward me!! My heart almost pounded a hole through my chest as my entire body was energized with screaming adrenaline.
The big tom got to within about 60 yards and stopped. He peaked in to where he had heard the hen, then proceeded to flank my location off to the right. The jake came in with a full head of steam, busted through the brush, and eyed me up at 20 yards. Shooting it wasn’t an option; All focus was on harvesting the big tom.
Sensing something wasn’t right, the young male turkey started making the alerted putt sound, and moved off quickly in the direction of the gobbler. Seeing that the window of opportunity was fading fast, a move to try and intercept the fleeing birds was made by using a large pine tree as cover.
The jake must have picked up on the movement because he came screaming by like a 20 year old in a GTO. Behind him was the tom. It was moving cautiously and seemed very confused by the jake bird’s state of panic. Before long, the gobbler wandered into a clearing about 35 yards away. The beads of the shotgun were lined up and placed just under the big turkey’s head.
“Ka BWOW!“ It was a clean shot and the bird went right down. The impact from the single shot 10 gauge damn near dislocated my shoulder. After losing close to a 100lbs of body mass from months of diet and exercise, the shoulders don’t absorb the impact like they use to. I guess that’s one of the downsides of weight loss. Ouch!
The big tom had 1-1/8” Spurs, a ten inch beard, and weighed over 20lbs. A beautiful bird that’ll make a fine meal. Leaving the woods with a smile was a success in more ways than one.
