The occasional taste of success is one of the sweetest things in the world and the only drug strong enough to consume most of my adult life. This was my second season chasing gobblers with a shotgun and I have a full blown addiction to the sound of them hammering away.
My turkey season started over a month ago when Kooty and I tried to put one down in 18” of new snow. We had several encounters and close opportunities but his hunt did not come together until the last day when I was still in bed. Throughout that weekend we were able to key in on several high percentage spots and several other common roosting locations.
This would be my first time chasing these birds without any help or back up but I remained confident with the information Kooty and I had gathered a short time before. I arrived on Sat morning last weekend to the hunting land plenty early and had made up my mind where I was going to set up. When I got to my location I set up a tom and a hen decoy about 25 yards in front of me on a high spot in the field that was visible from most directions. Now it was time to settle in and wait.
There must have been 8 different toms gobbling all morning long from every direction but none were visible yet. The most valuable lesson learned on the past hunt was to be patient and wait it out in these high percentage spots because sooner or later they would come through. The first bird of the morning was a lone Jake and I worked him from about 400 yards to 70 yards before he decided something wasn’t quite right. This was at least a 45 minute interaction and although it was fun, I was bummed that he had other plans.
Within minutes of him exiting the field I caught motion on the opposite end of this very large field and was able to identify 2 toms and a hen working their way towards a food plot. It was time to go! I packed the essentials, ducked into the tree line and jogged ¼ mile up to the next vantage point. By the time I arrived, (out of breath and pouring sweat) there were no birds to be seen. There was however another set of gobbles even farther south. They would not be easy to get to but I was on my feet already and wanted to make it happen. It took over 45 minutes to creep through the swamp and brush while closing the distance. They were gobbling the entire time so it really helped to keep the correct heading.
When I finally got close there was still a knee deep swamp in-between us and I knew they would not cross it. Well, after I got to the other side and wrung out my pants it was time to bring them to me. A couple of soft putts and they were coming, still no visual but they were getting louder. The first tom I saw had a beard that was dragging on the ground when he was two steps from a wide open 20 yard shot. That stubborn old bird never took those two steps and just turned around and left. Everything was so close to coming together but like it usually does…it didn’t!
At this point it was a long walk back to the truck and the site of that monster was haunting me the entire way back. When I got to the top of the field just like clockwork the spot I had abandoned earlier was covered up with birds. The tank was empty and this is still ¾ of a mile away so I didn’t get too worked up. This was going to be a war not a battle. There was no rush so I took the long way around back in order to not get picked off and was eventually get back to my post. By this time there was a lone tom 250 yards out in a freshly planted corn field and he was not going to outsmart me…again!
This young tom was gobbling to every noise I made and throughout the calling process I ended up in a cat fight with another hen behind me. Things were shaping up but the tom was still not closing the distance. I went into silent mode with the calls and within minutes there was an angry old hen within ten yards looking to fight. She lost interest and went back into the woods only to return with 2 other hens. Throughout this time period the tom was slowly working towards me and the other hens but was still over 80 yards out. It was not until a bearded hen came out of the woods that he kicked it into gear and started moving. He was cutting past me diagonally and when he got as close as he was going to get… he hit the dirt and was done!
This was one of my favorite and most memorable hunts in a long time. The heart pounding close encounters are what it is all about and I am still feeling great from this hunt. Not to mention this left me with enough time to find a “truckload” of morels in WI on Monday. All-star Memorial Day weekend for me and I can’t wait to get back in the woods to hang some more stands and clear some lanes.
It was a great phone call… the excitement in your voice told the whole story 
, our land is just east of Mille lacs lake.
You put alot of work in on your property to build a wildlife mecca, something that provides for the resource. I am truly happy for you that you had an opportunity to go build a great experience because of your dedication to the land and wildlife.
