I had the chance yesterday to spend some time in a blind for the 2014 NWTF and MNDNR Mentored Youth Hunt, and what a cool experience it was. CO’s Dan McBroom and Mitch Boyum contacted me to take part in this hunt, where 12 youth and a family member participate in a lottery to hunt with guides that take them to one of 12 pre-set blinds throughout the property near Rochester. Each day, a youth draws a different guide, and they head to an area that’s been prepared and has good turkey activity.
I drew Garrett, a 13 yr. old hunter from Rochester who was accompanied by his mother Sandy. Both shoot clays and have done some pheasant hunting before, but have never had the chance to hunt turkeys. What a cool way to introduce them to the sport!
My alarm went off and I was on the road by 3:30AM, observing the uber-clear sky, and feeling the 36 degree temps as I entered the park. Not a breath of wind though, which really made me excited. We’d hear some gobbling that morning no matter what. We congregated together, made some plans, and got a heads-up on past and recent turkey activity in my location from an expert turkey hunter in CO Mitch Boyum. I’ve competed against Mitch before at a Cabelas event, and have seen him speak enough to know his turkey pedigree, so I trusted his opinion/advice on the location I’d be hunting. This was my first time at the park, and my first time participating in this hunt.
On Mitch’s advice, we shimmied the blind about 20 yards to the west of our current location at the end of a grassy/open grove of 15 – 20 yr. old walnuts. We were now in one heckuva intersection, all before first light with the youth/parent in-tow. We sat where 4 open spaces intersected, along a wooded fenceline that had a break in it for a grassy trail which lead across CRP grass to our SW. No matter which direction turkeys might head in our vicinity, odds are that they’d come to the junction we were at.
Gobbling broke early. Like 5:20AM early, along with the pinks/purples of the clear night sky. Nothing close, even though we were within 200 yards of a known roosting location. Really, no one answered our calling, though I could hear the group to the north of us yelp occasionally to roosted birds. A shot at 6:05AM to our north also suprised us, and I came to find out that Dan McBroom had put his group on a nice tom right off of the roost!
Occasional shots rang out throughout the property until we saw our first bird at 8AM. It was a good one, doing all the right things. We first spotted him at 150 yards or so, half strutting only long enough for a single breath, then dropping into his death march right towards us. He was corralled by tall CRP grass on both sides, while he walked 5-10 yds at a crack between struts. His path, a low-cut green two-track, looked like a red carpet we rolled out from the end of our gun barrel to greet him. He obviously heard our yelping earlier, and I wasn’t about to give him any reason to second guess what he knew he liked.
Silence as he kept walking in. Mom was coaching Garrett quite well, who was noticeably nervous. Who wouldn’t be, this deal was about as close to sealed as it gets in the turkey woods. Then, at 75 yards or so, he inexplicably cut north through the grass. NOOOOO! WHYYYY!!!!??? I’ll never know. The mowed green path looked to be the sure, un-obstructed deal.
I yelped to get him back on track. Ignored. I yelped more convincingly, even mixed in a cutt or two. He gobbled. Then walked, pausing only twice more as he made his way just out of range past the blind. Didn’t see our dekes and spook from them. Maybe he didn’t like the blind? We were even brushed in from behind so our outline was well broken.
I’m not sure what it was, but that was our chance. Two lone hens later in the morning made things interesting, but no gobbler for our group. Two of the twelve groups had seen success that morning, and reports all around were that gobblers weren’t that willing to work for whatever reason. Either way, it was a beautiful morning, a great way to spend some time hunting a new property, and alot of fun with wonderful people. Looking forward to attending next year!
Joel
