LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
This weekend we had quite the crew over to do some turkey hunting. My uncle Tim and his boys Brandon, Matthew, and Brad and Matthew's girlfriend Erica. Russ and Andrea were out hunting together and I had the neighbor kid John out with me. We ended up killing 7 birds, 2 missed shots on toms, and I passed on two chip shots at jakes. It was a blast!
Saturday morning John and I called these two toms in before 7am and they were running in, stopping to gobble a few times, and then continue the charge for our strutting jake decoy. Then the live hen that was in our decoy spread at 10yds left and cut them off at 90yds. Of course they followed her away from us and that was the end of that.
So we were out of there by 8am and met up with Russ and Andrea to see if we could spot some birds and stalk them. We quickly spotted a lot of toms all over the farm but many were close to where our cousins and uncle were setup, so we left them alone. But there was one tom who was locked on to one hen and in a spot Russ and Andrea could make a stalk. So off they went with the fan. It wasn't the classic stalk with the fan where the birds come running in but it did allow them to get close and jump the bird at 20yds and Russ took the quick shot since Andrea never could see the bird. Here they are on the way out with bird #1 of the weekend.
A view of the long narrow field they stalked through. Those rolling hills make for great spotting and stalking. Wait for one to get into a valley, stay low and circle around them and run in. Normally you can get within 100yds before you have to crawl even.
John and I going down to help them with the carry out
Some great hooks on this bird, 1 3/16ths. (I think all of the toms this weekend had some big hooks on them. All were well over an inch. Couple were right at or a touch over 1 3/8". Some big birds!
Next up was John. It was mid morning by now and we weren't seeing any toms in spots we could stalk them easily. So we headed back to the area we had been at first light. We had heard three toms that were HOT and figured they were probably still in the area and maybe we could get back on them. So we sneak through the timber, calling periodically and getting no responses. We work down to the creek and decide to setup shop for a bit and just call and listen. Within 5 minutes we had, what we assume to be, the same group of three toms fired up a little ways away. We got them to gobble back to us a few times and finally felt like we had a decent idea where they were at, it was time to make a move. So we got up, walked across a small dam of ours and just as we stepped foot in a clover plot I hit the call again... a single tom let out a gobble CLOSE! (just over this hill)
So I tell John to jump into the dogwood thicket and let's get setup. I laid over a dogwood branch for John to rest his gun on and got him pointed in the direction of the gobble.
We called a few more times and waited a couple minutes, no responses or signs of the close tom. He was probably closing in... but after a couple minutes I asked John if he wanted to crawl and peak over the ridge 30yds infront of us, the tom was probably right there, John's response was 'yes'. Literally just as John confirmed he wanted to go peak over the ridge the tom gobbled 30yds right infront of us! He was just behind a cedar but about to step infront of John's gun barrel. I grabbed the camera and here is how it went...
John's close call *video link*
John was such a great sport about it. We joked and laughed and had more fun with it than if he would've killed the bird I think! This weekend Andrea was shooting the youth 20gauge John had used earlier in the season so today John was shooting my Mossberg 12g with 3.5 shells… I didn’t tell him though. I figured if he shot at a bird he’d hardly notice the kick. Well he shoots at this bird and within 10second of missing and right at the end of this video you can hear him say “man that gun kicks!”. I laughed so hard. I ejected the shell and he was in amazement how much larger it was than the 20g shells he had. He kept the shell as his souvenir. He just smiled and went on and was ready to do it again! We actually immediately continued on after the three toms we were originally after and within 10 minutes of missing we were setup on more red heads coming our way. I had peaked around a corner and saw two red heads (assumed both toms) within 75yds and coming around a point in a field we could ambush them and get a shot. We got setup, had our guns pointed right at the crest of the hill. But when the birds showed up seconds later it turned out to be two jakes. John and I passed on them. He wanted a big bird he said!
Later in the afternoon on Saturday I was in one truck and Russ and Andrea in another as we drove around looking for strutters in stalkable spots. But were not having any luck. We were parked on a hilltop chatting with each other when Russ looks across the field and sees two toms come out of the timber in the exact spot John had just missed a tom a couple hours ago. They go in after the toms, I climb a tractor on the hilltop and watch the show. They crawled in on the birds and I could see the toms come charging into the fan, I thought it was an easy double. But something startled the toms and they instantly spun around and started to run away from Russ and Andrea. Russ took a running shot at the bird but missed. A very close call.
No more birds were killed on Saturday. Sunday morning came and we were expecting some great hunting just like Saturday morning was, but it was polar opposite. Our youngest cousin in camp for the weekend, Brad, did kill his first bird, a jake. Bird #2 was down. So that was exciting! His dad, Tim, was along with him and a little while later they had a coyote stalking in on their decoys as well but didn't come in range.
It got very hot and windy on Sunday which had all the birds out of sight in the fields, that makes for tough stalking. In the afternoon, however, the action picked up quickly! At roughly 3pm Tim was out with one of his other sons, Matthew this time, and called in a big tom that Matthew made a great shot on! Bird #3 down.
Then around 4pm Russ and Andrea got to the farm and got out of the truck. Walked in a couple hundred yards, hit the box call, and immediately got a gobble back. They peaked over a terrace to see a hen and three toms. Stuck the fan in the ground and here came the toms! They each dropped a bird, their first double! #4 and #5 down.
Two more big birds! Andreas had 1 3/16” spurs and Russ’ had only one spur but it was 1 3/8” inch. Both very sharp! Russ’ bird also had some long beards. 11.5” and 8.75”
The last two birds of the weekend came for Tim and Brandon. They headed back to the same spot John had missed a tom and Russ and Andrea had those two come running in but Russ missed. This time there would be no missing… the last two toms of the weekend hit the dirt! Big toms again. One of them had just over 1 3/8” spurs. Bird #6 and #7. Tim was able to kill a bird with all three of his boys this weekend, that's pretty cool!
Talk about an eventful weekend. Lots of fun with the family.
Saturday morning John and I called these two toms in before 7am and they were running in, stopping to gobble a few times, and then continue the charge for our strutting jake decoy. Then the live hen that was in our decoy spread at 10yds left and cut them off at 90yds. Of course they followed her away from us and that was the end of that.
So we were out of there by 8am and met up with Russ and Andrea to see if we could spot some birds and stalk them. We quickly spotted a lot of toms all over the farm but many were close to where our cousins and uncle were setup, so we left them alone. But there was one tom who was locked on to one hen and in a spot Russ and Andrea could make a stalk. So off they went with the fan. It wasn't the classic stalk with the fan where the birds come running in but it did allow them to get close and jump the bird at 20yds and Russ took the quick shot since Andrea never could see the bird. Here they are on the way out with bird #1 of the weekend.
A view of the long narrow field they stalked through. Those rolling hills make for great spotting and stalking. Wait for one to get into a valley, stay low and circle around them and run in. Normally you can get within 100yds before you have to crawl even.
John and I going down to help them with the carry out
Some great hooks on this bird, 1 3/16ths. (I think all of the toms this weekend had some big hooks on them. All were well over an inch. Couple were right at or a touch over 1 3/8". Some big birds!
Next up was John. It was mid morning by now and we weren't seeing any toms in spots we could stalk them easily. So we headed back to the area we had been at first light. We had heard three toms that were HOT and figured they were probably still in the area and maybe we could get back on them. So we sneak through the timber, calling periodically and getting no responses. We work down to the creek and decide to setup shop for a bit and just call and listen. Within 5 minutes we had, what we assume to be, the same group of three toms fired up a little ways away. We got them to gobble back to us a few times and finally felt like we had a decent idea where they were at, it was time to make a move. So we got up, walked across a small dam of ours and just as we stepped foot in a clover plot I hit the call again... a single tom let out a gobble CLOSE! (just over this hill)
So I tell John to jump into the dogwood thicket and let's get setup. I laid over a dogwood branch for John to rest his gun on and got him pointed in the direction of the gobble.
We called a few more times and waited a couple minutes, no responses or signs of the close tom. He was probably closing in... but after a couple minutes I asked John if he wanted to crawl and peak over the ridge 30yds infront of us, the tom was probably right there, John's response was 'yes'. Literally just as John confirmed he wanted to go peak over the ridge the tom gobbled 30yds right infront of us! He was just behind a cedar but about to step infront of John's gun barrel. I grabbed the camera and here is how it went...
John's close call *video link*
John was such a great sport about it. We joked and laughed and had more fun with it than if he would've killed the bird I think! This weekend Andrea was shooting the youth 20gauge John had used earlier in the season so today John was shooting my Mossberg 12g with 3.5 shells… I didn’t tell him though. I figured if he shot at a bird he’d hardly notice the kick. Well he shoots at this bird and within 10second of missing and right at the end of this video you can hear him say “man that gun kicks!”. I laughed so hard. I ejected the shell and he was in amazement how much larger it was than the 20g shells he had. He kept the shell as his souvenir. He just smiled and went on and was ready to do it again! We actually immediately continued on after the three toms we were originally after and within 10 minutes of missing we were setup on more red heads coming our way. I had peaked around a corner and saw two red heads (assumed both toms) within 75yds and coming around a point in a field we could ambush them and get a shot. We got setup, had our guns pointed right at the crest of the hill. But when the birds showed up seconds later it turned out to be two jakes. John and I passed on them. He wanted a big bird he said!
Later in the afternoon on Saturday I was in one truck and Russ and Andrea in another as we drove around looking for strutters in stalkable spots. But were not having any luck. We were parked on a hilltop chatting with each other when Russ looks across the field and sees two toms come out of the timber in the exact spot John had just missed a tom a couple hours ago. They go in after the toms, I climb a tractor on the hilltop and watch the show. They crawled in on the birds and I could see the toms come charging into the fan, I thought it was an easy double. But something startled the toms and they instantly spun around and started to run away from Russ and Andrea. Russ took a running shot at the bird but missed. A very close call.
No more birds were killed on Saturday. Sunday morning came and we were expecting some great hunting just like Saturday morning was, but it was polar opposite. Our youngest cousin in camp for the weekend, Brad, did kill his first bird, a jake. Bird #2 was down. So that was exciting! His dad, Tim, was along with him and a little while later they had a coyote stalking in on their decoys as well but didn't come in range.
It got very hot and windy on Sunday which had all the birds out of sight in the fields, that makes for tough stalking. In the afternoon, however, the action picked up quickly! At roughly 3pm Tim was out with one of his other sons, Matthew this time, and called in a big tom that Matthew made a great shot on! Bird #3 down.
Then around 4pm Russ and Andrea got to the farm and got out of the truck. Walked in a couple hundred yards, hit the box call, and immediately got a gobble back. They peaked over a terrace to see a hen and three toms. Stuck the fan in the ground and here came the toms! They each dropped a bird, their first double! #4 and #5 down.
Two more big birds! Andreas had 1 3/16” spurs and Russ’ had only one spur but it was 1 3/8” inch. Both very sharp! Russ’ bird also had some long beards. 11.5” and 8.75”
The last two birds of the weekend came for Tim and Brandon. They headed back to the same spot John had missed a tom and Russ and Andrea had those two come running in but Russ missed. This time there would be no missing… the last two toms of the weekend hit the dirt! Big toms again. One of them had just over 1 3/8” spurs. Bird #6 and #7. Tim was able to kill a bird with all three of his boys this weekend, that's pretty cool!
Talk about an eventful weekend. Lots of fun with the family.
