wapsiguy
PMA Member
I and 3 others took off for our second annual Kansas turkey hunt with very high expectations. Last year 3 of us shot 4 Toms and 2 jakes in 1 day.
http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37950
We only hunted 2 of the farms we had permission on and both were stacked with jakes last year so that was the reason for the high expectations thinking the farms would be overrun with 2 year olds.
We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and split up on different farms. A buddy, Matt and I had plenty of action but no shots were fired. We saw eight jakes a few hens and 1 tom, we had the tom coming in on a string but a band of 4 jakes came and run him off.
We went back to the same farm the next morning, Wednesday. We had no action at first light but had what I believe to be the same tom gobbling great in a field across the crick so we headed after him. We were getting into position when we noticed 4 jakes running across the field straight towards the tom. They had obviously heard the gobbling too. I had had enough and so had my buddy. After they run the tom off again they made their way to us and the band of 4 jakes was trimmed by one as Matt dropped the last one.
He was then able to take a tom out of the same field that afternoon from the blind at 55 yards. We would have let him come closer but there was another group of jakes on the move towards him and I knew my gun/shell combo could get the job done so we switched guns in the blind and that was that.
The other duo had absolutely no luck except for 3 jakes the first night that came in and beat up the DSD jake, other than that it was as if the turkeys had disappeared into thin air.
Thursday morning we went to another spot. An 800 acre chunk that looked great from the road but this was a piece we hadn’t hunted so our knowledge was obviously limited. As the woods woke up that morning up there was absolutely no gobbling on the roost. We stuck it out until 10:30 or 11:00 with no turkeys spotted except for 3 hens.
Thursday afternoon a Matt’s dad and I went back to the same farm where Matt had taken his birds. Our plan was to go to opposite sides of the farm and try our luck. I had seen one other tom on the farm and that was better than anything else we had going so my plan was to setup in the shaded side of the field with the blind and hope for the best.
I jumped out of the truck and the temperature was 86 degrees. I arrived at the spot and cautiously inspected the field before entering and noticed a dark blob in one corner of the field in the shade. I glassed the bird confirming it was a tom. Now I had a decision to make. Should I setup and call or be aggressive and go fanning. It didn’t take long to decide. I shed my blind, pack, vest, and decoys and grabbed my range finder, gun and fan and went into turkey ninja mode. The tom was 300-350 yards or so away so I used the crick cover as best as I could until I reached 125 - 150 yards. I dropped down to my stomach and put the fan in front of my face and started doing the army crawl towards the tom and hen. I hadn’t made it 10 yards when the hen picked up her head and began to run directly for me with the tom in tow. They were closing fast so I readied my gun and stuck my range finder thru the fan as they closed the distance. I put it down when he hit 44 yards and he was still getting closer. I let him get to 25 yards and called a little with my mouth to get him to stick his head up and the rest is history.
I’m 2 for 2 on fanning as I did it a few years ago with the same result. It sure is amazing how smart yet how stupid turkeys are.
The other guys didn’t even see a tom until Friday morning, that’s how tough it was for us this year. All in all it was a fun trip but a little disappointing because of our high expectations and lack of birds. We still cant figure out where all of those birds went from last year. This is private property and nobody has permission to hunt, although I understand that doesnt mean much. Cant wait to go back next year :way:
http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37950
We only hunted 2 of the farms we had permission on and both were stacked with jakes last year so that was the reason for the high expectations thinking the farms would be overrun with 2 year olds.
We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and split up on different farms. A buddy, Matt and I had plenty of action but no shots were fired. We saw eight jakes a few hens and 1 tom, we had the tom coming in on a string but a band of 4 jakes came and run him off.
We went back to the same farm the next morning, Wednesday. We had no action at first light but had what I believe to be the same tom gobbling great in a field across the crick so we headed after him. We were getting into position when we noticed 4 jakes running across the field straight towards the tom. They had obviously heard the gobbling too. I had had enough and so had my buddy. After they run the tom off again they made their way to us and the band of 4 jakes was trimmed by one as Matt dropped the last one.
He was then able to take a tom out of the same field that afternoon from the blind at 55 yards. We would have let him come closer but there was another group of jakes on the move towards him and I knew my gun/shell combo could get the job done so we switched guns in the blind and that was that.
The other duo had absolutely no luck except for 3 jakes the first night that came in and beat up the DSD jake, other than that it was as if the turkeys had disappeared into thin air.
Thursday morning we went to another spot. An 800 acre chunk that looked great from the road but this was a piece we hadn’t hunted so our knowledge was obviously limited. As the woods woke up that morning up there was absolutely no gobbling on the roost. We stuck it out until 10:30 or 11:00 with no turkeys spotted except for 3 hens.
Thursday afternoon a Matt’s dad and I went back to the same farm where Matt had taken his birds. Our plan was to go to opposite sides of the farm and try our luck. I had seen one other tom on the farm and that was better than anything else we had going so my plan was to setup in the shaded side of the field with the blind and hope for the best.
I jumped out of the truck and the temperature was 86 degrees. I arrived at the spot and cautiously inspected the field before entering and noticed a dark blob in one corner of the field in the shade. I glassed the bird confirming it was a tom. Now I had a decision to make. Should I setup and call or be aggressive and go fanning. It didn’t take long to decide. I shed my blind, pack, vest, and decoys and grabbed my range finder, gun and fan and went into turkey ninja mode. The tom was 300-350 yards or so away so I used the crick cover as best as I could until I reached 125 - 150 yards. I dropped down to my stomach and put the fan in front of my face and started doing the army crawl towards the tom and hen. I hadn’t made it 10 yards when the hen picked up her head and began to run directly for me with the tom in tow. They were closing fast so I readied my gun and stuck my range finder thru the fan as they closed the distance. I put it down when he hit 44 yards and he was still getting closer. I let him get to 25 yards and called a little with my mouth to get him to stick his head up and the rest is history.
I’m 2 for 2 on fanning as I did it a few years ago with the same result. It sure is amazing how smart yet how stupid turkeys are.
The other guys didn’t even see a tom until Friday morning, that’s how tough it was for us this year. All in all it was a fun trip but a little disappointing because of our high expectations and lack of birds. We still cant figure out where all of those birds went from last year. This is private property and nobody has permission to hunt, although I understand that doesnt mean much. Cant wait to go back next year :way:
