I headed up north for the turkey opener last Thursday night after Kyle's baseball game so I didn't get there in time to roost any birds. Didn't matter, the turkeys were in the same place they are every year when I showed up early on Friday morning. This might be the last year I get to depend on that, though since the property is up for sale. Well, the roost set up didn't work out like it has in the past when the hens decided to fly down the opposite direction from me and the 4 toms all followed. They ended up forming 2 groups that worked their way to the east and north. I chose to get around in front of the group going to the east and after a failed initial setup, I was able to call a tom away from his hens on the 2nd try to punch my first gobbler tag of 2011. It was a typical 2 year old tom with an 8" beard and just a tad under 1" spurs. When I shot the gobbler, he fell off a small cliff and flopped on some rocks and proceeded to knock out all but 4 of his tail feathers so I was limited on my photo shoot especially since I was by myself.
The rest of the day was quiet with very little gobbling going on and rain moved into the area around 12:30 and continued throughout the day. I chose to hunt out of the blind to stay dry and called a few hens in while listening in frustration to a tom gobble over 150 times on the adjoining property from 4:00 to fly up. When the gobbler finally moved onto the property I was hunting and roosted in a familiar place, I had my plan for the next morning.
Here's some pictures of Gobbler #1:
As I figured, the next day I had competition in the form of other hunters but we discussed each other's intentions and worked out a game plan. I went after the tom that was gobbling it's head off the prior afternoon which required a steep hike up an open hillside that presented a difficult approach to keep from being detected. All went well until I found the perfect tree to set against that was unfortunately already preferred by 3 hens that voiced their disapproval with my selection by putting and flying off. That scenario usually always ruins any chances of calling a tom in off the roost, but I was committed to the setup when the gobbler kept sounding off. Call it what you want, persistence of blind stupidity but it almost paid off when the gobbler came in quickly to my calling after flying down. The only problem was it was too quickly and with the still low light conditions and the angle he approached, I couldn't see a beard. Even though I could see his fan was perfectly straight as he strutted in front of me, I couldn't see his beard and chose to let him walk off without a shot.
That tom worked away from me in short order and I went after some other gobbling toms in the area but couldn't get any to come my direction. The initial tom I had worked that morning had continued to gobble and had worked his way back to the original spot I called him into that morning. So I headed back after him for Round 2. This time he played coy and gobbled frequently but wouldn't come into shooting range so I took a risk and tried to close the distance and get in tight on him. I must have got busted because he shut up for several minutes and then started up again about 200 yards away. I knew where he was at that point and liked my chances of setting up on him again. I opted to stay out in the open and hide behind some rocks to call to him and this time he came in close enough to provide the shot that quieted the local loudmouth. He was another typical 2 year old with only a 7 1/2" skinny beard. No wonder I couldn't see it in the dark earlier that morning. So the WA turkey season was a wrap for me at 7:40 on Sunday morning.
I had my wife's Aunt snap this photo in her front yard:
I like being able to run and gun gobblers solo, but it limits the picture taking potential.
I added a couple pictures of a gobbler that was tearing it up as I was leaving the property with my 2nd turkey. He was prime for the taking as fired up as he was. He should provide some excitement for the guys that are still hunting them.
I sure hope I can continue to hunt this property in the future, but if not, it was a great run for the last 15 years.
The rest of the day was quiet with very little gobbling going on and rain moved into the area around 12:30 and continued throughout the day. I chose to hunt out of the blind to stay dry and called a few hens in while listening in frustration to a tom gobble over 150 times on the adjoining property from 4:00 to fly up. When the gobbler finally moved onto the property I was hunting and roosted in a familiar place, I had my plan for the next morning.
Here's some pictures of Gobbler #1:
As I figured, the next day I had competition in the form of other hunters but we discussed each other's intentions and worked out a game plan. I went after the tom that was gobbling it's head off the prior afternoon which required a steep hike up an open hillside that presented a difficult approach to keep from being detected. All went well until I found the perfect tree to set against that was unfortunately already preferred by 3 hens that voiced their disapproval with my selection by putting and flying off. That scenario usually always ruins any chances of calling a tom in off the roost, but I was committed to the setup when the gobbler kept sounding off. Call it what you want, persistence of blind stupidity but it almost paid off when the gobbler came in quickly to my calling after flying down. The only problem was it was too quickly and with the still low light conditions and the angle he approached, I couldn't see a beard. Even though I could see his fan was perfectly straight as he strutted in front of me, I couldn't see his beard and chose to let him walk off without a shot.
That tom worked away from me in short order and I went after some other gobbling toms in the area but couldn't get any to come my direction. The initial tom I had worked that morning had continued to gobble and had worked his way back to the original spot I called him into that morning. So I headed back after him for Round 2. This time he played coy and gobbled frequently but wouldn't come into shooting range so I took a risk and tried to close the distance and get in tight on him. I must have got busted because he shut up for several minutes and then started up again about 200 yards away. I knew where he was at that point and liked my chances of setting up on him again. I opted to stay out in the open and hide behind some rocks to call to him and this time he came in close enough to provide the shot that quieted the local loudmouth. He was another typical 2 year old with only a 7 1/2" skinny beard. No wonder I couldn't see it in the dark earlier that morning. So the WA turkey season was a wrap for me at 7:40 on Sunday morning.
I had my wife's Aunt snap this photo in her front yard:
I like being able to run and gun gobblers solo, but it limits the picture taking potential.
I added a couple pictures of a gobbler that was tearing it up as I was leaving the property with my 2nd turkey. He was prime for the taking as fired up as he was. He should provide some excitement for the guys that are still hunting them.
I sure hope I can continue to hunt this property in the future, but if not, it was a great run for the last 15 years.
