Turkeys – 1, Benson – 0

Well after I was wandering around until about 9:30 last night trying to get a line on where one of the four groups of turkeys was at. Not much was going on at my number 1 spot. Last place we visited just after dark was a very sandy area. Not finding any turkey tracks, I did try to take a picture of some bear tracks (hand sized hind print). The flash washed out the prints so can’t post them. Also saw a bear (maybe 200-300#) just off 51 on the way home as well. Everything was ready for today.

Started at 3:30, picked up a friend who wanted to call one morning before heading to Kentucky for two weeks of turkey hunting and headed out to the public land in our area. We got into a cross roads to see if we could hear any thing going on to work towards. Not hearing anything we picked out one of our scouted spots to start. No more than getting everything ready, did we hear the much anticipated gobble!!!

So we picked our stuff back up and started heading towards all the gobbling that was going on close to 80 acres away. As we turned the corner on our fire road,i told my partner to talk to turkeys to see if we were close enough. One came back, so we set back up again, this about 6:30. We had closed the gap to closer to 200-300 yards and set up again.

Once ready to go, my partner Barry started talkin’ to the tom. And the tom excitedly called back. Within 30 minutes he had closed the gap to under a 100 yards, the anticipation getting ever higher!!! The tote road we set up on ran east/west and he was coming from the south. He came across the tote road 15 yards east of me and at one time was standing and just bellaring gobbles out within 12 yards.

Thinking he was going to walk the road to the dekes, which would have put him at 7 yards from me, he never did. I had a large berm between me and him and he was standing right behind it, just going nuts!!! Then he keeps moving north another 10 yards and now he is behind a thick pile of brush, still just hammering away. Of course now Barry cannot chirp or purr or anything and he just stands there and chips and cutts. Finally he starts to move away and thinking if I talk, he might move back to the road and see the dekes and move down the road again. Well he comes back a little, but never enough, tires of the game and leaves. I NEVER SAW HIM THE WHOLE TIME!!!

Barry said if he had the gun, he could have hammered three or four times. Beard as thick as a beer can, a very nice northern WI turkey. Barry has one mounted from this same area over 25#’s.

Well out and back to work. Dressing lightly and heading back out at 5. Going to spend a little time tonight a couple of miles from this spot and hopefully can put the hammer down with a little runnin’ and gunnin’!!! Just a great morning. On the way back to work, saw a couple more toms, so spirits are high!!!

Mark

sounds like an exciting morning good luck mark

Thanks for sharing it sounds like a better morming then what we had. Keep at it!

So close but yet so far away! Great read Mark and good job on not boogering that bird with impatients! I’m sure you’ll put the hammer down on one before the season is up! Good luck this evening!

Besides closing the deal, that’s what turkey hunting is all about – the close encounters!

4 more days to go Benson so keep at it!

I’ll re-score that as a tie, with that turkey being so close to death and not even knowing it.

When they gobble that close, it’s fun to feel the gobble before you even hear it. Incredible. Gets me so excited I think I’m going to puke.

Joel

Can’t wait to hear what happens on day 2???????

I am just cruising through right now, but will get back to you with the details of last nights affair. Not nearly as exciting, but… and this a.m. I had a breakfast meeting, so no chance to get out, but back at it tonight!!! Thanks for the words of encouragement. By the way Turkeys 2-0.

Mark

Mark:

How’s it going out there? Where’s the score? Hopefully you’re having fun whether the turkeys are winning or not.

Joel

Joel:

I had a post ready yesterday just before I left work. Then my niece called and wanted work with some of my tax info. About the same time the computer locked up and I had to delete it. Currently I am turkeyless, the last two mornings, at least I have had some action. Nothing really good happening in the p.m., so I took last night off to watch a high school baseball game in the nice weather with a friend. Currently it is Turkeys 5 – 0. I will get a report up on the last two mornings in a little more detail a little later. I am going to head out again this p.m. not only to try to get the bird, but to scout the area just to the west of my position as there is one tom, that I need to get closer to work and there is private land between he and I.

More later.

Mark

Well, my first turkey season is over with. Right now there are no opportunities to be taken for a later season hunt, though I may still consider a 6th season in zone 3 as well as well as some cropland damage tags.

Our morning hunts up here were very good ones, even though I had to give up every morning to make it in to work. I told the opening morning story and mentioned the breakfast meeting of the second day. All of the trolling done during the p.m. hunts was met with complete silence, just wasn’t able to pattern them in the p.m. I looked during the warmer days, in the shady creek areas with no luck and the night before, I just trolled the same tote roads as I had been hunting hoping to rattle one into talking back.

The third morning (Fri.) was interesting as the birds were telling me that they were in the the pine plantations to the south of me again. Only this day the birds couldn’t be coaxed to the north. Tried to move in on them, but ran into private land along the way, that I had no permission for. So back out and into the truck and the move to the south to see what I could put together. Managed to find some birds and according to my plat map, I had 240 acres to play on. Getting just to the north of a pair of strutting gobblers, I pulled out the push pin box call for some purrs and deep, raspy yelps. I also was using diaphrams to sound like there were two to three hens in the area. I like to keep a diaphram on each side of my mouth, opting for a higher pitched one and a deeper raspier tone on the other side. Then I can just put one out of the way and go either higher or lower depending on my situation.

I was able to pull one of the birds toward me and thought I had things going until I heard some yelping in between me and the tom. It didn’t take long to understand that he had been pulled away from me by some mysterious force…

I didn’t have a lot of time before having to come back into work, so I didn’t get real excited when the other bird wouldn’t sound off and figured that he had left with the other one. Off to the west across some private land, there was a lone tom working and after looking at the plat map, I crafted a plan to try to get to him. Only I needed to scout the land and a snowmobile trail to the west of my position. That I would save for Sat. p.m., but first I needed a plan for the Sat. a.m. hunt.

Mark