AIRASSAULT
PMA Member
Shoot2Kill's post about wanting some afternoon/evening tips reminded me of an article I was working on while I was in Egypt. It's not very long and I never did quite finish it. I totally forgot about it, so, I suppose I'll put in on here. I didn't want to Hi-Jack Shoot2Kill's thread, so here it is:
LAST CHANCE GOBBLER’S
By William Scott
Every year, turkey season is awaited impatiently by thousands of hunters, ready to hit the woods full of anticipation of that tell-tale shatter of the morning silence. Hunters spend countless hours in preparation for season, only to watch the sunrises of cool, tranquil mornings vanish into sunsets with a vest twenty-plus pounds short of the carry-out weight than hoped for.
If you’re a hunter like me, you’re cursed with the “Close, Yet, No Cigar” theory. We have many “perfect” turkey mornings, where, everything is just right. No wind, clear skies, good temperature and plenty of roosted gobblers within a hundred yards of our first set-up. Everything is going as planned. The tom’s double-gobble to every tree-yelp we throw at them. We give them a fly-down cackle and beat an old wing on our leg to magnify the effect. The tom gobbles back, flies down and starts his way into the setup. He’s 70 yards out and closing. Suddenly, a soft yelp cuts you off and before you know it, the gobbler succumbed to the “real thing” and has evaporated like morning fog.
Mid-morning was spent at the local coffee shop, IHOP or Waffle House. You took a nap at noon and now you’re back out there for the lonesome gobbler’s in the evening. What’s your plan of attack? Maybe you’re going to sit a strutting zone hoping the turkey’s make one more visit before getting some shut-eye. Maybe you’re going to sit that field edge of last fall’s picked corn field to get a crack at the softball headed tom while he’s cracking kernels of corn for a pre-bedtime snack. Or, maybe, you did your homework, and throughout this turkey season and years past, you’ve noticed a unique pattern that’s about as consistent as “stink on scat”. You’ve noticed that most mornings, the same tom’s gobble from the same branches of the same tree like clock work.
Sure, there’s nothing like a text-book morning hunt that ends with a victim’s head full of shot. But, why not take advantage of the things we often over look to help add some turkey breast to our plate full of fresh morels and asparagus. That’s right! You’re going to sit amongst the very tree that the turkey’s are roosting in.
The first time I noticed this obvious “phenomenon” was about five years ago while I was hunting heavily pressured public land. The woods were swarming with hunters all season and I actually had a couple of hunters cut me off on a tom and shoot him less then 80 yards in front of me during Iowa‘s second season. This very spot I had scouted and hunted all second season and most of fourth season. Time was dwindling and my morning hunts were always exciting, but, no matter what I did, I couldn’t get the gobbler’s to commit to the calls anymore. There wasn’t anything I could do to produce something that hadn’t been thrown at them yet. The second to the last evening I hunted that area was when it all clicked. Every evening, I would get off work and rush out to my spot and sit right where I always sat in the morning, about 100 yards from “THE” roosting tree. It was a giant sycamore that 10 to 15 turkeys were roosting in every evening. I made the plan to get off of work just a little bit earlier so I could sneak in that extra, crucial distance to sit within shooting capabilities of that tree.
The next evening, I sat right where I had planned and like clockwork, the first group of turkeys to make their way in with a half hour of shooting light left were two toms. I put a load of 3 ½” number 6 Hevi-Shot into the bigger of two and dropped him in his tracks. The cool thing about it was, I didn’t even have to bring a call with me. I knew with out a doubt that these gobblers were going to be where I wanted them, when I wanted them. Leave your calls in your pocket. The last thing you need to do to a pressured tom is give-in to the urge to call and make him hang up and pick another tree for the night.
That season came to a close and the last two turkeys I’ve shot have fell to this method. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this tactic for the early days of the season. It almost seems easy, but, what’s turkey season without enjoying early morning, chest pounding gobbles of Americas “almost” National bird? I would hope that most sportsmen enjoy the challenge of chasing and calling in strutting gobblers, but, when it’s time to crack the whip and make something happen, or, you will be eating tag soup for dinner, then I highly recommend this tactic to bring your turkey season to a successful, satisfying close.
LAST CHANCE GOBBLER’S
By William Scott
Every year, turkey season is awaited impatiently by thousands of hunters, ready to hit the woods full of anticipation of that tell-tale shatter of the morning silence. Hunters spend countless hours in preparation for season, only to watch the sunrises of cool, tranquil mornings vanish into sunsets with a vest twenty-plus pounds short of the carry-out weight than hoped for.
If you’re a hunter like me, you’re cursed with the “Close, Yet, No Cigar” theory. We have many “perfect” turkey mornings, where, everything is just right. No wind, clear skies, good temperature and plenty of roosted gobblers within a hundred yards of our first set-up. Everything is going as planned. The tom’s double-gobble to every tree-yelp we throw at them. We give them a fly-down cackle and beat an old wing on our leg to magnify the effect. The tom gobbles back, flies down and starts his way into the setup. He’s 70 yards out and closing. Suddenly, a soft yelp cuts you off and before you know it, the gobbler succumbed to the “real thing” and has evaporated like morning fog.
Mid-morning was spent at the local coffee shop, IHOP or Waffle House. You took a nap at noon and now you’re back out there for the lonesome gobbler’s in the evening. What’s your plan of attack? Maybe you’re going to sit a strutting zone hoping the turkey’s make one more visit before getting some shut-eye. Maybe you’re going to sit that field edge of last fall’s picked corn field to get a crack at the softball headed tom while he’s cracking kernels of corn for a pre-bedtime snack. Or, maybe, you did your homework, and throughout this turkey season and years past, you’ve noticed a unique pattern that’s about as consistent as “stink on scat”. You’ve noticed that most mornings, the same tom’s gobble from the same branches of the same tree like clock work.
Sure, there’s nothing like a text-book morning hunt that ends with a victim’s head full of shot. But, why not take advantage of the things we often over look to help add some turkey breast to our plate full of fresh morels and asparagus. That’s right! You’re going to sit amongst the very tree that the turkey’s are roosting in.
The first time I noticed this obvious “phenomenon” was about five years ago while I was hunting heavily pressured public land. The woods were swarming with hunters all season and I actually had a couple of hunters cut me off on a tom and shoot him less then 80 yards in front of me during Iowa‘s second season. This very spot I had scouted and hunted all second season and most of fourth season. Time was dwindling and my morning hunts were always exciting, but, no matter what I did, I couldn’t get the gobbler’s to commit to the calls anymore. There wasn’t anything I could do to produce something that hadn’t been thrown at them yet. The second to the last evening I hunted that area was when it all clicked. Every evening, I would get off work and rush out to my spot and sit right where I always sat in the morning, about 100 yards from “THE” roosting tree. It was a giant sycamore that 10 to 15 turkeys were roosting in every evening. I made the plan to get off of work just a little bit earlier so I could sneak in that extra, crucial distance to sit within shooting capabilities of that tree.
The next evening, I sat right where I had planned and like clockwork, the first group of turkeys to make their way in with a half hour of shooting light left were two toms. I put a load of 3 ½” number 6 Hevi-Shot into the bigger of two and dropped him in his tracks. The cool thing about it was, I didn’t even have to bring a call with me. I knew with out a doubt that these gobblers were going to be where I wanted them, when I wanted them. Leave your calls in your pocket. The last thing you need to do to a pressured tom is give-in to the urge to call and make him hang up and pick another tree for the night.
That season came to a close and the last two turkeys I’ve shot have fell to this method. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this tactic for the early days of the season. It almost seems easy, but, what’s turkey season without enjoying early morning, chest pounding gobbles of Americas “almost” National bird? I would hope that most sportsmen enjoy the challenge of chasing and calling in strutting gobblers, but, when it’s time to crack the whip and make something happen, or, you will be eating tag soup for dinner, then I highly recommend this tactic to bring your turkey season to a successful, satisfying close.
