Thunder Head
Gone but not forgotten
Patience, an old deer hunter once told me. Its the key to hunting a big buck. It seems to me that the same applies to older birds. You will on occasion have them come straight to the gun but not often.
The turkey population is on the decline in my area. Over the last 3 years my private land flocks have dried up and I have been having to search far and wide for birds to hunt.
With no gobbling on Friday or Saturday I decided a change of scenery was in order. I hunted this public land spot twice last year but to be honest its just to far from the truck. Sunday morning I made the long trek in arriving just in time for the first crows to start up. I sat and listened only to hear nothing. I stayed until 7:30 before decided to move. I headed back towards the truck listening and scouting my way out. When I got almost back to the road I heard a bird gobble. It was far off tworads some private property. I headed that way listening as I went. These birds were totally fired up and gobbling there heads off. When I got fairly close I could tell they were out in a cow pasture on private land. I sat down about a hundred yards from the fence and made a few yelps on a friction call. They answered immediately. I moved a few yards to my right and just barely closer to them. I did this several times with the gobbling being almost constant. It soon be came apparent that they were strutting back and forth in the same spot on top of a hill. I moved to my right and into a beautiful little creek bottom that was open enough to set a good ambush. I picked out a spot 50-60 yards from the property line and gave one more series of yelps. I said to myself that's all there going to get until they move off that hill.
I sat there for a while and they seemed to settle into one spot. I eased forward aways to see if there were any hens with them. I did not see anything but the two long beards, I retreated to my spot. Before I could sit down I heard something behind me. A deer was in the creek not 10 yards away. I leaned against the tree praying she wouldn't bust me. She came out of the creek and walked right behind me. She couldn't have been 5 yards from me when she went by. About 20 minutes later I watched 4 more deer feed down the creek and out of sight. This whole time the gobblers are camped out on top of the hill. Things were about to change. Suddenly they were coming down the hill. The came to about 20 yards from the fence and stood there and gobbled for a good 10 minutes. I was glad I decided to sit so far away from the fence. They turned and walked parallel to the fence up on a small hill. They went to gobbling again. I could see them clearly and could tell they were looking for the hen in the bushes. All of the sudden one of them broke and came marching down the hill. Next thing I know he is under the fence to my right. He disappears into the creek. After a minute im like, where did he go? He pops up out of the creek 20 yards to my right. Theres a small tree in my way so I cannot swing my gun around to get on him. The other bird is standing at the fence. The first bird is eyeballing me big time. I know that from the side he can see something and is trying to decide what that strange shape is. He starts putting and walking behind me. Im thinking the jig is up. Evidently his buddy did not want to be separated and he stepped into the creek. I rotated around so I could cover that side. When he emerged from the creek I was already on him. I buried the bead under his chin and just crushed him.
11" beard
1.5" / 1.125" spurs
18.5 lbs.
On a side note the short spur was deformed and pointing almost 90 degrees from normal.
The turkey population is on the decline in my area. Over the last 3 years my private land flocks have dried up and I have been having to search far and wide for birds to hunt.
With no gobbling on Friday or Saturday I decided a change of scenery was in order. I hunted this public land spot twice last year but to be honest its just to far from the truck. Sunday morning I made the long trek in arriving just in time for the first crows to start up. I sat and listened only to hear nothing. I stayed until 7:30 before decided to move. I headed back towards the truck listening and scouting my way out. When I got almost back to the road I heard a bird gobble. It was far off tworads some private property. I headed that way listening as I went. These birds were totally fired up and gobbling there heads off. When I got fairly close I could tell they were out in a cow pasture on private land. I sat down about a hundred yards from the fence and made a few yelps on a friction call. They answered immediately. I moved a few yards to my right and just barely closer to them. I did this several times with the gobbling being almost constant. It soon be came apparent that they were strutting back and forth in the same spot on top of a hill. I moved to my right and into a beautiful little creek bottom that was open enough to set a good ambush. I picked out a spot 50-60 yards from the property line and gave one more series of yelps. I said to myself that's all there going to get until they move off that hill.
I sat there for a while and they seemed to settle into one spot. I eased forward aways to see if there were any hens with them. I did not see anything but the two long beards, I retreated to my spot. Before I could sit down I heard something behind me. A deer was in the creek not 10 yards away. I leaned against the tree praying she wouldn't bust me. She came out of the creek and walked right behind me. She couldn't have been 5 yards from me when she went by. About 20 minutes later I watched 4 more deer feed down the creek and out of sight. This whole time the gobblers are camped out on top of the hill. Things were about to change. Suddenly they were coming down the hill. The came to about 20 yards from the fence and stood there and gobbled for a good 10 minutes. I was glad I decided to sit so far away from the fence. They turned and walked parallel to the fence up on a small hill. They went to gobbling again. I could see them clearly and could tell they were looking for the hen in the bushes. All of the sudden one of them broke and came marching down the hill. Next thing I know he is under the fence to my right. He disappears into the creek. After a minute im like, where did he go? He pops up out of the creek 20 yards to my right. Theres a small tree in my way so I cannot swing my gun around to get on him. The other bird is standing at the fence. The first bird is eyeballing me big time. I know that from the side he can see something and is trying to decide what that strange shape is. He starts putting and walking behind me. Im thinking the jig is up. Evidently his buddy did not want to be separated and he stepped into the creek. I rotated around so I could cover that side. When he emerged from the creek I was already on him. I buried the bead under his chin and just crushed him.
11" beard
1.5" / 1.125" spurs
18.5 lbs.
On a side note the short spur was deformed and pointing almost 90 degrees from normal.
Last edited:
