Boy it was chilly this morning! Arrived at my spot at 5:30am after 1/2 km walk. After a weekend of yard work and standing for 12 hours on Saturday smoking a brisket I didn't feel like sitting on the ground, so I set up my pop up blind just off a field in some mixed grass and brush. I had to do some quick trimming and brushing in of the blind then set out my decoys. I got myself situated in the blind planting myself in my chair, arranged my backpack and calls, then pulled out my coffee travel mug, damn, it's empty, emptied into my backpack! Argghh.
I had decided to take it easy on the calling this time out, going with the less is more approach, so the plan was to first wait for a gobble and then make a few seductive hen calls, not desperate, maybe play a bit hard to get. So around 6:30 I hear a gobble on the property to the east of me, so I do a set of yelps then shut up for 15 minutes, I do another set of yelps and receive a gobble in reply, wait another 10 minutes and let out a few clucks, gobble in response. The gobbles sound closer, then farther away, then closer again, then nothing, normally I'd start to get desperate and start hammering away on the call, but just played it cool, with a few yelps now and again.
To my east my sight was partially obscured by some brush but I saw something slowly moving in the field, here comes a turkey, then another, and another behind that, my heart is pumping, I shoulder my gun, and four hens walk into my decoy spread, as hard as squinted I couldn't make out beards or any colour on their heads, darn! So I wait and wait for the Toms after 15 minutes or so I get impatient and throw caution to the wind and do a few soft yelps, and hear two separate gobbles from the direction that the hens came from. A couple minutes later, I see movement in the field behind the same bush, here the come two big Tom's heading right for my Jake decoy, now the adrenaline is going again. I have my gun up and am sizing them up trying to figure out which one I should take, they are both big birds, so take a bead the one giving me the clearest shot. Bang, down he goes, his buddy stands there watching him flop around then decides to kick him when he's down and gives him a whooping while the hens stand around watching. His buddy stayed at his side pecking him and periodically jumping on him for a good 20 minutes until he finally thought he had enough and finally left to catch up with his hens.
Hoping to to get back out one evening this week with my son, so he can harvest his first turkey.
I had decided to take it easy on the calling this time out, going with the less is more approach, so the plan was to first wait for a gobble and then make a few seductive hen calls, not desperate, maybe play a bit hard to get. So around 6:30 I hear a gobble on the property to the east of me, so I do a set of yelps then shut up for 15 minutes, I do another set of yelps and receive a gobble in reply, wait another 10 minutes and let out a few clucks, gobble in response. The gobbles sound closer, then farther away, then closer again, then nothing, normally I'd start to get desperate and start hammering away on the call, but just played it cool, with a few yelps now and again.
To my east my sight was partially obscured by some brush but I saw something slowly moving in the field, here comes a turkey, then another, and another behind that, my heart is pumping, I shoulder my gun, and four hens walk into my decoy spread, as hard as squinted I couldn't make out beards or any colour on their heads, darn! So I wait and wait for the Toms after 15 minutes or so I get impatient and throw caution to the wind and do a few soft yelps, and hear two separate gobbles from the direction that the hens came from. A couple minutes later, I see movement in the field behind the same bush, here the come two big Tom's heading right for my Jake decoy, now the adrenaline is going again. I have my gun up and am sizing them up trying to figure out which one I should take, they are both big birds, so take a bead the one giving me the clearest shot. Bang, down he goes, his buddy stands there watching him flop around then decides to kick him when he's down and gives him a whooping while the hens stand around watching. His buddy stayed at his side pecking him and periodically jumping on him for a good 20 minutes until he finally thought he had enough and finally left to catch up with his hens.
Hoping to to get back out one evening this week with my son, so he can harvest his first turkey.
