Minnesota “B” Season Report

A dry and early spring had kept birds fairly predictable for weeks on end in my neck of Southeastern MN……until a small rain and Minnesota’s “B” season rolled along. The ensuing burst of vegetation coincided with a boom of turkey activity, and all the planning, preparation, and pre-season efforts had to be rethought. Not a small feat considering we were going to be going into the woods with a bow, 2 cameras, two guys, and a pile of equipment. As any turkey hunter knows, so goes turkey season. Reacting and adapting is as important as being prepared.
All the planning in the world couldn’t have prepared us for the sheer numbers of gobblers we worked, the incredible amount of encounters we had, or the pure uniqueness of our hunt. Day one involved a long hike in what should’ve been a short hunt. We nestled amongst a large group of roosted birds, and they were down early, gobbling hard for their hens. After dispersal around 8AM, some of the boys made their way to check us out. Until wild dogs came running through the woods to chase them around. Seriously? 3 toms soon came to within 35 yards of our setup, probably still shaken from a black lab and yellow lab that tried to make turkey dinner out of them.

No problem, we headed down the hill to see a bird working across the river. “We’ll cut them off where they’ve been crossing the past few days,” I said. And sure enough, the birds crossed the tar road, headed right for us…..all except for the tom, who was spooked by a car, boogered, ran 100 yards down the field and crossed at a different location. Did I mention all the jakes committed to 7 yards? After working some more henned up birds in the afternoon, we headed to the same hill that the tom crossed up into. By this time, he had settled down and was gobbling hard. A few yelps had him coming our way in literally seconds flat…..until he saw the full-strut decoy. He was noticeably spooked, and circled us at 60 yards gobbling incessantly. He wanted that hen to leave the tom, but wasn’t willing to yell at the tom in plain sight.

Day 2 started early, with James (running the camera) and I headed to another roosting location the birds frequent. Brad Juaire, who was with us most of Day 1, wasn’t able to make this hunt, and I was bummed to not have his counsel and presence in the blind. We were treated to one of the finer gobbling performances I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of. Nearly a dozen jakes and toms had a shouting match about 150 yards above us, and we waited impatiently for them to hit the ground and make it our way. Make it they did, with of course the 4 jakes committing to about 5 yards, and the toms skirting us at 35 with the hens. Spot #2 was promising, the landowner had been hearing gobbling all morning. We did too, again from 6 jakes at about 15 yards. They continued to gobble to the point of losing their voices. At one point, I voice-gobbled (poorly) and they responded with gusto! They took a large portion of our time as they simply would not leave and quit gobbling. I didn’t want to spook them, in case the other gobbler was near, so we waited them out. The rest of the afternoon was a marathon sit along a neckdown travel route to a popular roost site. Again, 5 different jakes throughout the afternoon made it within range, and not a single long-beard.

Day 3 was a new day. Gun-time. With James only able to spend part of this day with me, we had to make the decision to fill the tag with a bow, likely not on film….or increase our odds for a kill on-camera with a gun. The decision was ultimately a good one, as our spot had a good number of gobblers in an open woods that might not necessarily committ the full distance without losing interest. I cutt hard at one gobbler that just flew down, and he double gobbled as he climbed the ridge to us. Just then, an unexpected bird from a different direction. RACE! The two birds continued to egg each other on, and the closest bird won! 30 yards and a face-full of #6’s were the numbers of the day as we had a cookie-cutter 2 year old movie-star mark the conclusion to a successful hunt.

What a hunt! Two long days and one short one made for a fun time in the turkey woods, as we were happy to have things go our way this time. I really need to thank Brad and James for the time and effort they invested into my hunt. Both are welcome to hunt with me anytime. Brad for all the knowledge and woodsmanship he brings to the game from the vast experiences he’s had in the deer and turkey woods. James gets the nod for the creativity he brings to the table in being a master at another discipline entirely, and being able to carry that same energy and brilliance over into something he’s new at. Fun stuff and great times.

Thanks to all on here for the support and kind words throughout the hunt. James the eyewitness reporter was keeping tabs on comments and relaying them via his magic internet machine. Can’t wait to do it again next year!