I took my oldest son, Cody out on Sunday morning to a place that I had scouted locally and was fortunate enough to find some turkeys. Cody had some tough luck during the youth season and was still looking to tag a tom. This turned out to be a short but exciting hunt. The set up was difficult with the turkeys roosting in a tree where they could see all around them for quite a ways. There was an obstacle big enough that could hide my truck from the birds and enabled us to drive in and unload the blind and gear and setup without being seen. It was sketchy driving the truck out and sneaking back in but we got there early and the plan worked out. The toms gobbled sporadically on the roost and seemed content while Cody and I organized the gear in the blind to prepare for fly down. What happened next took us both by surprise as we looked up and saw a gobbler land 10 yards straight in front of the blind just in front of the 2 decoys I had set out. Cody slowly reached for his gun and mounted it as the rest of the turkeys all flew in and landed around the 1st gobbler. Cody locked in on that 1st tom and I told him to shoot when he comes out of strut. With one putt from my mouth call, the tom came out of strut and craned his head up for a perfect angle and Cody laid him out on the spot. It was 5:41 a.m. on the watch as Cody and I celebrated his good fortune. Here's a view of how close the gobbler was to the blind when taken:
That gobbler never flinched for several minutes until I went out to pick him up. I've picked up plenty of them over the years but this one sneak attacked me and spurred my hand before I could get both legs controlled. Nothing too serious, but it got my attention. Here's a picture of the damage that was inflicted even though I had gloves on:
This is what inflicted the damage:
I placed the decoys within 10 yards of the blind and facing us which is key to getting the gobblers in close and facing away from you. This gobbler could have been very easily taken with a bow. Here's the decoy setup:
And Cody with the hero shots:
While we were standing around waiting for it to get light enough for some decent pictures we noticed that one of the turkeys still had not flown down from the roost tree and had obviously watched the whole event unfold. I zoomed in and took this shot:
When we got home with Cody's turkey, my wife came out to give him his congratulatory hug and commented on how big the turkey's head was and suggested I take a picture. I was feeling a little inferior at this point but complied as it was quite large. I've always been told that the more they gobble, the bigger their head gets but this bird didn't tear it up on the roost so I'm not so sure about that theory.
Like I said, it was quick hunt but one that we'll remember together for years to come.
That gobbler never flinched for several minutes until I went out to pick him up. I've picked up plenty of them over the years but this one sneak attacked me and spurred my hand before I could get both legs controlled. Nothing too serious, but it got my attention. Here's a picture of the damage that was inflicted even though I had gloves on:
This is what inflicted the damage:
I placed the decoys within 10 yards of the blind and facing us which is key to getting the gobblers in close and facing away from you. This gobbler could have been very easily taken with a bow. Here's the decoy setup:
And Cody with the hero shots:
While we were standing around waiting for it to get light enough for some decent pictures we noticed that one of the turkeys still had not flown down from the roost tree and had obviously watched the whole event unfold. I zoomed in and took this shot:
When we got home with Cody's turkey, my wife came out to give him his congratulatory hug and commented on how big the turkey's head was and suggested I take a picture. I was feeling a little inferior at this point but complied as it was quite large. I've always been told that the more they gobble, the bigger their head gets but this bird didn't tear it up on the roost so I'm not so sure about that theory.
Like I said, it was quick hunt but one that we'll remember together for years to come.
