What a year this has been turkey hunting! It started out with youth season being a blast as I found my self sitting in the blind with my son watching him harvest a large, outstanding IA gobbler! When it was dad's turn, things took a turn for the worse. I was hunting with my friend Clint O'Day, fellow prostaffer, for Campfire Productions. We set out to shoot a couple of birds with our bows. We did not have much luck. If it could be wrong, it was wrong! Everything from having other hunters hunting where we were set up to pouring rain and terrible wind. We have had turkeys that would stay out of range, take off when they saw our decoys, birds that just wouldn’t commit and birds that would not step over or go around a stick. There were other times we would set up and the birds would be across the field or the opposite side of the ditch. Whatever it was, it never seemed to work out in our favor.
That is, until Sat. morning.
It is now 4th season and Clint and I both have 4th season gun tags as well as our bow licenses. With the luck we have been having, we decided early in the week to put the bows away and switch to long guns, until we got a couple of birds down. Clint is shooting a Long Tom 10 gauge and I a Knight TK2000; a couple of deadly, highly effective turkey guns. We made plans to hunt in an area where I have seen many turkeys. We decided to meet at my shop around 4:30ish. We had a half mile walk in and needed to set our blind up with all the annemities prior to hunting. When I went to bed Friday, the wind was as terrible as it could be with out being classified as a tornado. I hoped it would lay down by morning. WRONG. I woke up to trees bending over and groggily tried to find the Weather Channel to see we were under a wind advisory... YEH. I thought, "this is par for the course."
Clint showed up and we decided to make a day of it anyway, sticking to the original plan. So off we went. After the 1/2 mile hike to the area we were going to hunt we started to set up the blind and make arrangements. I noticed I forgot my chair in the truck. Off I ran back to the truck as Clint finished our set up. Once at the truck I realized I forgot the chair at home... so off I went back another 4-5 miles. On my way back, Clint texted me to say he'd heard a gobble 50 yds behind the blind... I was beginning to think if I had any luck at all, it would be bad luck!
In a moment's time, things started to come together and work in our favor. I was able to make it back to the blind undetected. I had just settled in and began using my Foggy Hollar custom box call, made by Jerry Zebro Master Call Maker, when a hen flew in to our setup. Things were starting to look up now! Soon, she departed, wandering up a hill a couple hundred yards. Soon she was being pursued by a jake and tom who were on a straight line to her. Before we knew it, there were 5 gobblers and a couple of hens in the field. After a series of calls with the box call. Clint noticed a tom slipping in towards the west. He was jittery, walking very quickly toward the flock on the hill, putting the entire way. I quickly centered my sights and with a resounding 'BOOM', my TK2000 dropped him in his tracks.
As the smoke cleared, Clint wanted me to go get him, but I waited, desperately wanting another chance to call the other birds back in, so Clint could get his chance. In 5 minutes, we had one of the hens and the BOSS back in the field! We were able to get their attention and soon they were on their way back to our set up.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind collapsed the back hub of our blind. We were able to hold on so the blind was not blown away, but in the ruckus the hen spooked and disappeared into the timber. I kept calling on the box call and the tom began come in very cautiously. He, too, was very nervous, but he wanted to find that hen. It was now my turn to film Clint. I motioned Clint to shoot, but he was unable to see the bird at his angle. After what seemed like several minutes the tom was in full view of our set and Clint pulled the trigger. Clint dove out of the blind, tearing up the screen. It was such a rush to see Clint put the smack down on a second gobbler within 20 minutes of the first. We were fortunate to get all the video we did.
When we got back to the shop, the first thing I did was find Zeke, my 7 yr. old son. He had been rooting for ol' dad to get his bird. I told him that I had gotten a tom, but it wasn't as big as his. Zeke replied, telling me that if my bird and his bird got into a fight, his bird would have treated mine like a toy. He is learning fast!
What a perfect ending to the toughest turkey season that I have had in years!
Clints bird was22# 4 oz 10 1/4" beard
Mine was 22 14 oz 10 1/2" beard 3/4" spurs
Great mature birds!
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