Today is the first day of the NYS turkey season. I had been hearing some gobbling up on the hill behind the barn this last week and I was excited to go. However, it was raining this morning. I don’t usually hunt in the rain unless it is the first day of deer season or the first day of turkey season. So, I thought about it and weighted the various factors. On the plus side I had:
- It would be dark walking up the tractor road so there was less chance of busting the birds, even if I walked right underneath them.
- It would be quiet walking up the tractor road so there was less chance of busting the birds from noise.
- It would stay dark later, allowing me more flexibility in my timing, just in case I was running late.
- I had beautiful, comfortable, dry blinds, I could sit in without sitting in the rain.
- I had invested in moisture control underwear, mid-layers, and a rain proof camouflage hunting coat.
- I had a special purpose hunting gun that I wouldn’t care if it got wet.
On the negative side I had:
- It was raining and I would get rained on going to and returning from the blind.
- I probably wouldn’t have the beautiful sunrise and turkey gobbling fest that every hunter dreams of.
- The turkeys may come off the roost very late.
The pluses won out. I utilized the moisture wicking underwear, and zip-up wool sweater mid layer, and the rain proof hunting coat.
I left the house eight minutes behind schedule. (See, having it stay dark later helped out.)
I took three decoys with me and set up in the blind we affectionately call the “shooting hut”. It is the big 6’x6’ hunting blind with a cut out table in it. I was going to have my boss, Guy, go there but he canceled on Friday afternoon (probably the rain forecast).
I set a hen and a Jake decoy about 25 yards to the east of the blind and one hen decoy about 30 yards to the west of the blind. The hen decoy on the west side turned out to play a big role in the hunt.
It was good that it stayed dark later because by the time I had set the decoys and got settled in the blind, it was starting to get light out.
As expected, the tom turkeys did NOT gobble on the roost. However, it was only a few minutes after good light that I saw a turkey in the far west end of the field. (Roland, that is where you saw the does all bedded down.) I checked it out in the binoculars and could see that it was a tom. While I was looking at that tom, another one flew down into the field-of-view of the binoculars. I could tell they were both “long beards”, probably three years old. I called once on my old box call and they looked in my direction. It looked like they started toward me so I put the call down and picked up the shotgun. But after a few yards they stopped and just milled around. After a few minutes I called (hen yelp) again. Again, they moved a few yards toward me and stopped. “Hmm”, I thought. “It is going to be that way is it?”
Then I heard one gobble but it didn't seem to have come from the two long beards I was watching. It seemed further away. They I hear some wings flapping and the next thing I knew there were 7 hens coming up into the field from the woods. That was what the big toms had been waiting for. Next, I saw some movement back in the woods off the west end of the field. 4 more toms came walking out into the field.
By the time all the turkeys had flown down and congregated there were:
- Seven hens
- four Jakes (3”-4” beards)
- one two year old tom (6”-8” beard)
- two long beards (10”-12” beards)
That is a total of 14 turkeys of which 7 were toms. I was in hunting heaven. I was thinking was a shame it was that Guy had cancelled. Good for me but bad for him.
Well, I have to tell you. It was quite a show they put on! The two big long beards were determined to keep the jakes away from the hens. So they set up a “blockade” between the hens and the jakes. Every time a Jake got too close one of the long beards would start chasing him. Of course, as soon as the long beard left his position between the hens and jakes, the other jakes would try to flank the remaining long beard who would then give chase. And, on and on it went. All the way across the 200 yard field. The funny thing was that the long beards were completely ignoring the two year old with the 6” to 8” beard. He was just mingling right in with the hens. Of course the hens were just ignoring the toms and all of their foolishness and just fed along at a nice slow but steady pace headed right for me.
The group of turkeys were about 75 yards away when the wind blew a gust and the hen decoy I had place 30 yards west of the hut moved. The turkeys saw the movement and recognized the decoy as a hen. Then, “All heck broke loose”.
The 2 year old tom starting clucking (making “sweet turkey talk” for the new girl in the field) and headed for the decoy. The two long beards heard and saw the 2 year old's maneuver and moved to intercept him before he could meet the “new girl”. All of a sudden I had the entire flock of turkeys 35 yards from me. It is surprising how fast they can move when properly motivated. The toms were all grouped up around the decoy like a group of teenage boys around a girl wearing a short skirt. I was having trouble keeping track of which tom was which. When I could figure out which ones were the long beards, they were grouped too close to make a clean kill on only one bird. I had numerous opportunities to have killed two toms with just one shot. Finally, I had a clean shot without the risk of collateral damage. I shot and killed one of the long beards at 6:20 AM this morning. I was back to the house at 7:00 AM.
The tom I shot had a 10” long beard, and 1” long spurs. However, it only weighed 18 lbs. I expected it to weight about 22 lbs. It must have run off about 4 lbs. this spring trying to keep the jakes away from the hens.
Dan
- It would be dark walking up the tractor road so there was less chance of busting the birds, even if I walked right underneath them.
- It would be quiet walking up the tractor road so there was less chance of busting the birds from noise.
- It would stay dark later, allowing me more flexibility in my timing, just in case I was running late.
- I had beautiful, comfortable, dry blinds, I could sit in without sitting in the rain.
- I had invested in moisture control underwear, mid-layers, and a rain proof camouflage hunting coat.
- I had a special purpose hunting gun that I wouldn’t care if it got wet.
On the negative side I had:
- It was raining and I would get rained on going to and returning from the blind.
- I probably wouldn’t have the beautiful sunrise and turkey gobbling fest that every hunter dreams of.
- The turkeys may come off the roost very late.
The pluses won out. I utilized the moisture wicking underwear, and zip-up wool sweater mid layer, and the rain proof hunting coat.
I left the house eight minutes behind schedule. (See, having it stay dark later helped out.)
I took three decoys with me and set up in the blind we affectionately call the “shooting hut”. It is the big 6’x6’ hunting blind with a cut out table in it. I was going to have my boss, Guy, go there but he canceled on Friday afternoon (probably the rain forecast).
I set a hen and a Jake decoy about 25 yards to the east of the blind and one hen decoy about 30 yards to the west of the blind. The hen decoy on the west side turned out to play a big role in the hunt.
It was good that it stayed dark later because by the time I had set the decoys and got settled in the blind, it was starting to get light out.
As expected, the tom turkeys did NOT gobble on the roost. However, it was only a few minutes after good light that I saw a turkey in the far west end of the field. (Roland, that is where you saw the does all bedded down.) I checked it out in the binoculars and could see that it was a tom. While I was looking at that tom, another one flew down into the field-of-view of the binoculars. I could tell they were both “long beards”, probably three years old. I called once on my old box call and they looked in my direction. It looked like they started toward me so I put the call down and picked up the shotgun. But after a few yards they stopped and just milled around. After a few minutes I called (hen yelp) again. Again, they moved a few yards toward me and stopped. “Hmm”, I thought. “It is going to be that way is it?”
Then I heard one gobble but it didn't seem to have come from the two long beards I was watching. It seemed further away. They I hear some wings flapping and the next thing I knew there were 7 hens coming up into the field from the woods. That was what the big toms had been waiting for. Next, I saw some movement back in the woods off the west end of the field. 4 more toms came walking out into the field.
By the time all the turkeys had flown down and congregated there were:
- Seven hens
- four Jakes (3”-4” beards)
- one two year old tom (6”-8” beard)
- two long beards (10”-12” beards)
That is a total of 14 turkeys of which 7 were toms. I was in hunting heaven. I was thinking was a shame it was that Guy had cancelled. Good for me but bad for him.
Well, I have to tell you. It was quite a show they put on! The two big long beards were determined to keep the jakes away from the hens. So they set up a “blockade” between the hens and the jakes. Every time a Jake got too close one of the long beards would start chasing him. Of course, as soon as the long beard left his position between the hens and jakes, the other jakes would try to flank the remaining long beard who would then give chase. And, on and on it went. All the way across the 200 yard field. The funny thing was that the long beards were completely ignoring the two year old with the 6” to 8” beard. He was just mingling right in with the hens. Of course the hens were just ignoring the toms and all of their foolishness and just fed along at a nice slow but steady pace headed right for me.
The group of turkeys were about 75 yards away when the wind blew a gust and the hen decoy I had place 30 yards west of the hut moved. The turkeys saw the movement and recognized the decoy as a hen. Then, “All heck broke loose”.
The 2 year old tom starting clucking (making “sweet turkey talk” for the new girl in the field) and headed for the decoy. The two long beards heard and saw the 2 year old's maneuver and moved to intercept him before he could meet the “new girl”. All of a sudden I had the entire flock of turkeys 35 yards from me. It is surprising how fast they can move when properly motivated. The toms were all grouped up around the decoy like a group of teenage boys around a girl wearing a short skirt. I was having trouble keeping track of which tom was which. When I could figure out which ones were the long beards, they were grouped too close to make a clean kill on only one bird. I had numerous opportunities to have killed two toms with just one shot. Finally, I had a clean shot without the risk of collateral damage. I shot and killed one of the long beards at 6:20 AM this morning. I was back to the house at 7:00 AM.
The tom I shot had a 10” long beard, and 1” long spurs. However, it only weighed 18 lbs. I expected it to weight about 22 lbs. It must have run off about 4 lbs. this spring trying to keep the jakes away from the hens.
Dan
