LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Got a third season tag on Wednesday knowing this weekend was going to be iffy looking at the weather forecast. Rain all morning Saturday and the afternoon was going to be cool and wet. Sunday looked like a great day but I only had the morning to get one. But when you get a morning like today's that is all you need! It was absolutely perfect out.
The morning started out with many birds gobbling around me. This was the same field John and I went during youth season. The birds fooled us that time but today I was setup to get them... assuming they did the same thing. Of course that never happens. The hens and toms flew down just like last time except they went the opposite direction, directly towards the blind John and I sat a couple weeks ago. It sounded like at least 2 but possibly 3 birds that were going to other direction but I did have one tom close behind me in the timber. He'd gobble to my calls, I could hear him spitting, and at one point I had a loud mouth hen in the field that had the tom all fired up. I thought for sure he would come out into the field after that hen and he'd be dead. I waited until the sun broke the horizon and was shining on the field, maybe that's what he was waiting for is some warmth before coming out into the open.
Nope, he was staying put in the timber. So I gave up on him and snuck over the hill to see where the other 2~3 birds were headed. I spotted them right away. They had hens with them, were a good ways away, but were just going around a point that would put them in an easy spot to stalk. So I began to make a move on these birds and swung wide around them and was just about to make my move towards them...
Then I heard a gobble close, it caught me off guard. I did a cut on the mouth call and got a response. It sounded like at least two birds right infront of me, just past the tree line.
So as the original group of birds I was after were gobbling their heads off I quickly changed plans. I dropped my vest and the camera and began to sneak ahead. I made it a few yards forward and hit the mouth call again. They gobbled back and this time I got an exact location on them. There was a big cedar tree directly between me and them. So I dropped more gear, this time my hat and binos. I started crawling on my hands and knees ahead with the fan infront of me.
I got up to the cedar tree and saw the strutters. There were three of them. I could only see one hen at that point but I wasn't concerned. I wanted to just crawl a little further ahead so I could get the fan out in full view for the toms. So I had to resort to belly crawling through the wet grass. I got up just past the tree line and had the fan in full view of them. I was inside 50yds now.
I shined the fan in the sun and they were on their way to kick some butt. I stuck the fan in the ground, turned the scope on, and then I began to worry... I was struggling to see my red dot! The morning sun at my side was making in kinda hard to see but I finally found it. The birds were closing at a nice pace, not crazy fast thankfully. At 15yds I picked out the first tom to stick his head out away from the group and dropped him! He was lights out. I put the red dot directly on his head and smoked him!
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The birds' view
He wasn't a very big bird but man that was as fun of hunt as any! Nothing like spotting and stalking turkeys.
The morning started out with many birds gobbling around me. This was the same field John and I went during youth season. The birds fooled us that time but today I was setup to get them... assuming they did the same thing. Of course that never happens. The hens and toms flew down just like last time except they went the opposite direction, directly towards the blind John and I sat a couple weeks ago. It sounded like at least 2 but possibly 3 birds that were going to other direction but I did have one tom close behind me in the timber. He'd gobble to my calls, I could hear him spitting, and at one point I had a loud mouth hen in the field that had the tom all fired up. I thought for sure he would come out into the field after that hen and he'd be dead. I waited until the sun broke the horizon and was shining on the field, maybe that's what he was waiting for is some warmth before coming out into the open.
Nope, he was staying put in the timber. So I gave up on him and snuck over the hill to see where the other 2~3 birds were headed. I spotted them right away. They had hens with them, were a good ways away, but were just going around a point that would put them in an easy spot to stalk. So I began to make a move on these birds and swung wide around them and was just about to make my move towards them...
Then I heard a gobble close, it caught me off guard. I did a cut on the mouth call and got a response. It sounded like at least two birds right infront of me, just past the tree line.
So as the original group of birds I was after were gobbling their heads off I quickly changed plans. I dropped my vest and the camera and began to sneak ahead. I made it a few yards forward and hit the mouth call again. They gobbled back and this time I got an exact location on them. There was a big cedar tree directly between me and them. So I dropped more gear, this time my hat and binos. I started crawling on my hands and knees ahead with the fan infront of me.
I got up to the cedar tree and saw the strutters. There were three of them. I could only see one hen at that point but I wasn't concerned. I wanted to just crawl a little further ahead so I could get the fan out in full view for the toms. So I had to resort to belly crawling through the wet grass. I got up just past the tree line and had the fan in full view of them. I was inside 50yds now.
I shined the fan in the sun and they were on their way to kick some butt. I stuck the fan in the ground, turned the scope on, and then I began to worry... I was struggling to see my red dot! The morning sun at my side was making in kinda hard to see but I finally found it. The birds were closing at a nice pace, not crazy fast thankfully. At 15yds I picked out the first tom to stick his head out away from the group and dropped him! He was lights out. I put the red dot directly on his head and smoked him!
The birds' view
He wasn't a very big bird but man that was as fun of hunt as any! Nothing like spotting and stalking turkeys.
