|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Game:
Eastern Wild Turkey Weight, Spurs, Beard : 20lbs, 1" Spurs, 9" Beard
It's easy to say that some of my most enjoyable hunting trips each year happen in Kansas...I love hunting with my brother, I get an opportunity to hunt on some fantastic out of state ground, and of course I get to spend time with my two beautiful nieces. Even though the old saying "a bad day hunting is better than a good day at work" is so very true, turkey season in Kansas this year – and Missouri as well - has put that theory to the test. One of the great things about Kansas turkey season is the opportunity to hunt turkeys with a bow for a few days prior to the first day of shotgun season. As an avid bowhunter, the invitation to bowhunt without the ringing of shotgun blasts in the distance is always appreciated. With Mathews in hand, we hit it hard for 4 days in a row the beginning of April, we just never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. We've bowhunted turkeys for a few years now so we understand the importance of having multiple ground blind setups. Even with our recent scouting combined with our knowledge of seasons past, it seemed like we were always one step behind the birds...at our early morning blinds the birds would go the other way; birds would get to our mid morning blinds before we could; and if we were able to hear one gobble, it usually sounded like he was standing right next to one of our blinds...one that unfortunately we were not sitting in at that time. By the time I left Kansas at the end of bow season, I had nothing to show for my efforts except being exhausted from hunting 15 hours a day for 4 days. But it was time for season B...bring out the Browning Gold Hunter NWTF and the Xtended Range 3.5" sleeping pills. The blinds work great for bowhunting, but with shotgun in hand we would be able to run and gun a lot easier. As luck would have it, my work schedule would not allow me to return to Kansas again for about 5 weeks. And even though I was headed back with a new outlook and Browning in hand, it was gonna be a short trip as I needed to return home soon since my wife, Chris, was headed out of town on a business trip. I’ll be the first to admit, as understanding as Chris is, I didn’t want to take advantage of her generosity…so I chose to work with her and make this a short trip. For the first hunt of the day we decide to each go opposite directions in the hopes of being able to set up on different sides of where birds should be roosted. The birds were where we thought they would be and we're close. Then all of the sudden the hens made their presence known, flew down, and the game was over…didn’t hear a yelp or gobble the rest of that hunt. Not to worry, we're resilient and have a plan B. When I hunt turkeys with my brother Brian, I expect multiple sits each morning and afternoon…when he’s after gobblers…he’s focused and he’s aggressive! So we’re off to sit #2 for the day. As we're walking up, we step around a big cedar tree and right there where we wanted to be were a couple long beards, a jake and some hens. Here we go again…apparently our bad timing has carried thru to gun season. These birds were working east to west and back again in a 40 acre bean stubble field grown up in grass and just loaded with bugs. After some unsuccessful brainstorming, it was strike two for the morning and time for lunch…so far, this would be the highlight of the day. Over lunch we devised plan C...a mid afternoon sit on a piece of ground we hadn't hunted yet then back to the bean stubble field for the evening hunt. Although my Woodhaven mouth calls brought in a couple hens on my third sit, no long beards came in to check us out so it was now time for the last hunt of the day...back to the bean stubble field. As approached the bean stubble field I was confident this would be a successful hunt...I could just feel it. As I stepped around the same cedar tree that I did earlier in the day, I see the birds…again, all ready in the field…my timing was wrong again. What do I do now? How could I make this work? It was time to improvise and implement plan D...except I didn't have a plan D...plan C was the one I was banking on. Time to assess what I knew...there were 6 birds in the field, plenty of daylight left, and I had a very good idea of where they would roost. I decided I had to get closer to the birds and had nothing to lose. But how? I had a serious problem. I needed to cover 300 yards and do it without spooking the birds. Not an easy task when I considered I had to do all of this with 6 turkeys all ready in the field. I decided to fire up the Thermacell (couldn't be swatting bugs on this mission) and go into stealth mode. Now I love the outdoors and I love hunting...but to get where I needed to be I would have to crawl a big portion of the distance...but I had a BIG problem with that...I DO NOT like snakes and the thought of being eye to eye with them was something I had to talk myself into. After convincing myself it was worth it and that I should focus on the prize, I was off. As I approached the spot I had intended to end up, I wondered if the birds were still in the field. Since my trek up to that point had left me out of sight of the birds, I wasn't completely sure I had gotten this far without spooking them. So as I slowly raised up, there they were, 200 yards away and acting as if they had no idea I was close. I couldn't have been any happier. I was within a few feet of my destination and hadn't spooked a bird yet. It was now time to get into place and relax. As I canvassed the area I realized I needed to be another 6-7 feet closer to the field…this would put me on the same elevation as the field and allow me to lean up against a nice sized tree. But, between me and my final destination was a 5 strand barb wire fence...Houston, I had a problem. As I was lying on my stomach I shoved my gun and stool under the bottom strand and prepared to shimmy under to the other side. Even though I’ve recently lost 24 lbs, this still isn’t going to be an easy task. Also, keep in mind that when I left the truck I had full intentions of being setup earlier. In my turkey vest included decoys, seat cushions and extra clothes to put on when the sun started setting. I never realized how little room there is between the bottom strand of a barb wire fence and the ground until I tried to slide under it without making a sound. After a couple attempts I was finally in place and the birds were still unaware of me. I believed these birds were probably going to roost in the woods behind me. My plan was to wait it out and let them walk into range. Although I've called in more birds than I can remember, I didn’t feel that was a situation to get aggressive with the call...so I made the decision to call only if I absolutely had to. After close to an hour and the birds cutting the distance down from 200 yards to 75 yards, the moment of truth was about to happen. I had my spot ranged...50 yards to the tall clump of grass in the waterway...I wanted them to get to at least there. As the birds approached, the less aggressive long beard crossed in front of me at 55 yards and stepped into the woods to the north. Although the jake had worked himself to within 40 yards, he soon lengthened the distance and entered the woods to the north at the 55 yard mark…the exact same spot as the first long beard. Two legal birds had now exited the field and I was left with three hens and big daddy. A lot of experienced turkey hunters would say I just took a very risky gamble …a bird in range is better than a bigger one that is not. But this was the bird I wanted. To me, it was worth the risk. This was a beautiful bird. The tail was perfect with each feather tipped with brown, his head was a bright blue and white, and every feather was puffed up making him look huge…he was an awesome sight. If you’ve ever watched a strutting bird, you know that if they’re close enough, you’ll be able to hear an unbelievable sound …spitting and drumming. Not only was this a memorable sight, but the sounds associated with this hunt will stick with me forever. For the last time I believed the bird had made a turn to the north …he was aware of the exit location made by his two gobbler buddies and was slowly headed that direction. For over an hour this bird had been in full strut. But now, he had decided to pull his tail down as he worked to the north. My goal of getting him under 50 yards was about to expire…he was at 55 and it was now or never. The Browning was perched on my left knee, I was in a comfortable position, and the TriViz sight was locked in on the base of the big boys neck. I pushed off the safety, wrapped my finger around the trigger, and squeezed. My trophy rolled over into a deep sleep and never even wiggled. As I pulled my head off the stock, I had to ask myself if I had just completed the hunt? I was so in the zone I didn’t even hear the gun go off. However, as I looked down the gun, I could see the smoke slowly rise off the camo gun barrel. Turkey hunting to most of us is putting ourselves close to a mature bird, hitting that favorite slate or mouth call to get his attention, and sealing the deal as he approaches looking for that flirty young hen. However, this hunt was one where weeks of scouting and hunting enlightened us to their pattern …and with the number of hens still hanging around, calling a big bird away from his girlfriends would have been impossible. With this info, I was able to position myself one step ahead of them - for a change. Dwayne Norton Mossy Oak ProStaff
|
 |
