THA4
A Few Steps Ahead Of You
This might be a tad long.....
Grab a BL or whatever makes a long turk killing story more complete!
Disclaimer: If you would rather just look at the pix, skip the LONG story and look away, I don’t mind!!!!
Well, as with most of my extended stories, this one begins a couple years ago. At the time I had acquired some new land closer to home, which was a welcome blessing as I was driving 3 hours one way to deer and turkey hunt and an alternative was in need! This particular spot is a large triangle shaped 30 acre pasture that has little cover except for a few swales and bottoms. Each area was visible from different vantage points, if you knew where to look from. The far corner of this "triangle" was close to 3/4 of a mile from the road, so driving by and seeing a turk was a far cry from reality, BUT if you stopped and glassed, you could almost always spot a turkey wandering around out there. Due to the lack of trees and how this spot resembled a knuckle and at any hour an gobbler could be spotted somewhere, it was affectionately named Gobby Knob.
Fast forward to mid March of this year, I have a new job in this county as we are planning on moving into the area, I was able to get out early and scout each morning. (I have a good friend who makes available his man-cave's futon twice a week to help me save gas money) For the past 12 days in a row, I have been up before work on scouting trips trying to get a better handle on the different farms I am hunting in preparation for Turk Time '09.
For the past two years, my wife has been accompanying me to the woods in hopes of owning some of her OWN feathers. The first year she experienced a devastating chip-shot miss, last year, the landowners gave permission to some Non-Rez hunters who blew the place up and we were once again SOL. This year I was NOT going to let that happen! I WAS going to make sure she got a turkey this year! With all the time scouting in, I had more confidence in filling tags than ever before, but if you know me and the uncanny luck that seems to follow me everywhere, I was not getting too cocky!
In the past, I had hunted and tagged out before I took Kathryn so I could give her my undivided attention, but this year found us out together during Iowa's 2nd season, her toting a borrowed (Thanks Dunk) youth model 870 20 ga., and me with the Browning Gold 10 (always Kaz) The plan was that the first committed, bearded bird was to be her shot, but if one hung up out of her effective range, I would take a poke with the big gun as one dead bird is better than none. This was her idea... seriously
Day # 1- 4:50 AM –
Matrix is set, Pretty boy and his 4 ladies were out. We were sitting in our camp-chairs enjoying some coffee ready for the first big boy to shake the frost off his shnoodle and let us know he was there! Sure enough he did within in 100 yards, 5 more gobbies sang away that morning and kept it up after they hit the ground, but they didn’t budge. Finally after over an hour of stationary gobbling they followed a hen the opposite direction through this bottom up to the other side.
We were patient till noon, but packed up and went to check a few other spots and head back to the house for steak sammaches and a nap… and perhaps the toilet... twice
That afternoon, we headed up to a spot where we found 3 eager longbeards a couple days prior and hoped to find them that evening. We got the blind set up and put the dekes. A loud-mouth hen came in and two jakes, which Kathryn would have shot one, but they saw pretty boy before she got a shot and ran right through the set up, never stopping or offering her a shot.
That was it for Day # 1
Day # 2, 4:50 AM –
We decided to hit Gobby Knob again and set the blind up in the bowl where the 4 toms exited stage right the morning before.
Hopefully this would put us closer to where the turks entered the field each morning and get us one killed. I thought we were too noisy setting up as it was flat calm! I was relieved to hear a bird sound off less than 100 yards just inside the woods, then 6-7 more started singing… all within a few hundred yards….
It was one of my Top 5 mornings of gobbling that I have ever experienced and I was super jacked that Kathryn got to hear it also. They all moved towards each other and I was anticipating a fight, but rather, they all just got together and gobbled their faces off.
Finally, they split up and started moving our way. One group went to the left, and the other group went right, both would come out of the woods about the same time and see our decoys and come in and fight over who wanted shot first, then as his buddies kept him from getting up, I would cap the another one.…. Or at least that was the plan…. And you know what they say about “best laid plans.”
Up to our left, one strutter popped out, then another….. Up to our right, three strutters appeared chasing a hen, and walked within yards of where we sat the day before…. Of course. On our left 2 additional strutters came out with the first two. We could now see 7 strutting toms at the same time…. that too is a first for me! As the three to the right (east) walked over the hill, I think I saw one of the toms poop right where the blind was the morning before as to thumb his nose at me. I had been calling mildly in hopes of keeping one of these birds coming, but they weren’t so I turned it up a notch.
A bird broke off of the group of 4 and headed our way. As he got to 40 yards, he became alert, and slowly took a few more steps but keeping an eye on us. He was behind us and Kathryn was in no position to shoot, with the bird catching on to our set up, Kathryn graciously said “Kill him”. As I was slowly poking the 10 ga out the window, he decided enough was enough, but not before I could at least mame him…. I missed…. (Here is a fact some might know…. Keep your trap shut Blaster, I have missed at least one turkey for the past 5 years, and I kept to that way of life and missed again) He ran a few yards and stopped out near 50 yards again and I let the 10 ga eat again and folded him like a 2/7 off suit, (thanks to whoever coined that phrase!) Hahahaha, glad I toted the big gun that day! We were jacked!!! What a morning!!!
Where he lay, near 50 yards.... I got lucky!
Here he is!
22 lbs, 3/4” spurs, and a 9" beard
Grab a BL or whatever makes a long turk killing story more complete!
Disclaimer: If you would rather just look at the pix, skip the LONG story and look away, I don’t mind!!!!
Well, as with most of my extended stories, this one begins a couple years ago. At the time I had acquired some new land closer to home, which was a welcome blessing as I was driving 3 hours one way to deer and turkey hunt and an alternative was in need! This particular spot is a large triangle shaped 30 acre pasture that has little cover except for a few swales and bottoms. Each area was visible from different vantage points, if you knew where to look from. The far corner of this "triangle" was close to 3/4 of a mile from the road, so driving by and seeing a turk was a far cry from reality, BUT if you stopped and glassed, you could almost always spot a turkey wandering around out there. Due to the lack of trees and how this spot resembled a knuckle and at any hour an gobbler could be spotted somewhere, it was affectionately named Gobby Knob.
Fast forward to mid March of this year, I have a new job in this county as we are planning on moving into the area, I was able to get out early and scout each morning. (I have a good friend who makes available his man-cave's futon twice a week to help me save gas money) For the past 12 days in a row, I have been up before work on scouting trips trying to get a better handle on the different farms I am hunting in preparation for Turk Time '09.
For the past two years, my wife has been accompanying me to the woods in hopes of owning some of her OWN feathers. The first year she experienced a devastating chip-shot miss, last year, the landowners gave permission to some Non-Rez hunters who blew the place up and we were once again SOL. This year I was NOT going to let that happen! I WAS going to make sure she got a turkey this year! With all the time scouting in, I had more confidence in filling tags than ever before, but if you know me and the uncanny luck that seems to follow me everywhere, I was not getting too cocky!
In the past, I had hunted and tagged out before I took Kathryn so I could give her my undivided attention, but this year found us out together during Iowa's 2nd season, her toting a borrowed (Thanks Dunk) youth model 870 20 ga., and me with the Browning Gold 10 (always Kaz) The plan was that the first committed, bearded bird was to be her shot, but if one hung up out of her effective range, I would take a poke with the big gun as one dead bird is better than none. This was her idea... seriously
Day # 1- 4:50 AM –
Matrix is set, Pretty boy and his 4 ladies were out. We were sitting in our camp-chairs enjoying some coffee ready for the first big boy to shake the frost off his shnoodle and let us know he was there! Sure enough he did within in 100 yards, 5 more gobbies sang away that morning and kept it up after they hit the ground, but they didn’t budge. Finally after over an hour of stationary gobbling they followed a hen the opposite direction through this bottom up to the other side.
We were patient till noon, but packed up and went to check a few other spots and head back to the house for steak sammaches and a nap… and perhaps the toilet... twice
That afternoon, we headed up to a spot where we found 3 eager longbeards a couple days prior and hoped to find them that evening. We got the blind set up and put the dekes. A loud-mouth hen came in and two jakes, which Kathryn would have shot one, but they saw pretty boy before she got a shot and ran right through the set up, never stopping or offering her a shot.
That was it for Day # 1
Day # 2, 4:50 AM –
We decided to hit Gobby Knob again and set the blind up in the bowl where the 4 toms exited stage right the morning before.
Hopefully this would put us closer to where the turks entered the field each morning and get us one killed. I thought we were too noisy setting up as it was flat calm! I was relieved to hear a bird sound off less than 100 yards just inside the woods, then 6-7 more started singing… all within a few hundred yards….
It was one of my Top 5 mornings of gobbling that I have ever experienced and I was super jacked that Kathryn got to hear it also. They all moved towards each other and I was anticipating a fight, but rather, they all just got together and gobbled their faces off.
Finally, they split up and started moving our way. One group went to the left, and the other group went right, both would come out of the woods about the same time and see our decoys and come in and fight over who wanted shot first, then as his buddies kept him from getting up, I would cap the another one.…. Or at least that was the plan…. And you know what they say about “best laid plans.”
Up to our left, one strutter popped out, then another….. Up to our right, three strutters appeared chasing a hen, and walked within yards of where we sat the day before…. Of course. On our left 2 additional strutters came out with the first two. We could now see 7 strutting toms at the same time…. that too is a first for me! As the three to the right (east) walked over the hill, I think I saw one of the toms poop right where the blind was the morning before as to thumb his nose at me. I had been calling mildly in hopes of keeping one of these birds coming, but they weren’t so I turned it up a notch.
A bird broke off of the group of 4 and headed our way. As he got to 40 yards, he became alert, and slowly took a few more steps but keeping an eye on us. He was behind us and Kathryn was in no position to shoot, with the bird catching on to our set up, Kathryn graciously said “Kill him”. As I was slowly poking the 10 ga out the window, he decided enough was enough, but not before I could at least mame him…. I missed…. (Here is a fact some might know…. Keep your trap shut Blaster, I have missed at least one turkey for the past 5 years, and I kept to that way of life and missed again) He ran a few yards and stopped out near 50 yards again and I let the 10 ga eat again and folded him like a 2/7 off suit, (thanks to whoever coined that phrase!) Hahahaha, glad I toted the big gun that day! We were jacked!!! What a morning!!!
Where he lay, near 50 yards.... I got lucky!
Here he is!
22 lbs, 3/4” spurs, and a 9" beard
Congrats!
