I woke up to the sound of Schuy getting ready for work Tuesday morning. That reminded me that she needed to use my truck Tuesday and I needed to get some of my stuff out of the truck. Unloading the truck was interrupted by "gobble, gobble" on my neighbor, Steve's farm. I dashed inside to dress for the hunt. Grabbing my father's Winchester .12 gauge, I was out the door in under 10 minutes.
My plan was to cross Steve's pasture, then drop into the lightly wooded hollow on the back of his farm. That plan was thwarted when I realized I would have to go through a herd of 15 cattle. The moo cows were between me and the turkey. Plan B: I'd set up on the fence row joining the Spurlock farm behind me. The owner of the farm doesn't allow hunting because people had trashed his place and left gates open. But, he has told me, that if I see anything across the fence that I wanted to shoot, go ahead and shoot it. My thoughts were that the turkey were probably on his farm and I could call them down the fence row. Thwarted again. His cattle were there.
Steve's cattle had moved across the ridge, just maybe the turkey were still in the little bottom on the back of Steve's farm. I sat up on my fence row and called. Gobble...Gobble 200 yards away on the Spurlock farm. I hit the slate again, a double gobble answered. Time to shut up. Five minutes later I hear hens putting a little over 100 yards away, but across the fence. I purred. Gobble. Wait. Five minutes pass. I hear a gobble 200+ yards away. The flock had turned uphill and were leaving. The gobbler would answer my calls but was moving farther away. A GREAT MORNING! I now have a game plan for Wednesday.
Wednesday (today), I'm out the door at 5:15 AM. The plan was to cross Steve's pasture, drop into the little flat along the fence line so I could watch up the hollow on Steve's while being able to shoot across the fence onto Spurlock's farm were the turkeys had gone up the hill. Cattle thwarted again. OK, I'll follow the drainage fence then head up the hollow, This would put me below the cows. I sat up just were I'd planned. Decoys were out, birds began to chirp and I was nestled into a cedar tree. Life is good. A little after first light, I hit the slate. Six to eight tom's answer me. Most were 400 to 600 yards away, but a couple seems only about 200 yards away. Steve's property does a 90 degree turn up another little hollow about 100 yards from my set up. The toms were about 150 yards in the head of that hollow. Decision time. Do I move to that corner at the mouth of the hollow or do I stay put. If I move I would run the chance of busting those birds, but if I stay I just might have an ambush situation even if the Tom hens-up. And I have Saturday if that plan doesn't work. I stayed put.
I'm calling about every 5 minutes. The 6 or 8 gobbles are just a gobblin'. I visualize them strutting and gobbling. HEY one Tom, who can't gobble really well, is getting closer, but he's on the hill behind me. I'm thinking jake. I skooch my butt around the cedar, not comfortable at all now, but I'm ready. I call he double gobbles. Time to be silent. Five minutes pass and no sound. Time to see where he's is. I do my most sexy purr. Gobble Gobble....Gobble Gobble. He's come down the hill and is now in the "L" of the property line. But, he's only about 70 yards out now. I got him on a string. I skooch my butt back around to watch a cattle path. I'm ready to shoot when his head pops over the rise. I see legs thru the thicket. He's moved below the cattle path. I adjust my aim position. In 30 seconds he pops over the ridge, sticks his neck out looking at my decoys, BOOM! I got my turkey.
He weight 20 lbs. 9 1/2" beard and spurs were 1" and 1/2". He's not a trophy, but he's mine.
I've back to the house by 7. Schuy is just leaving for work, but had time to snap a couple pictures for me. I swear my camo is green and not brown like in the pictures.
While dressing the turkey, I heard the other Tom gobbling just over the hill from my house on Steve's farm. Guess were I'm going to be Saturday morning or maybe even Thursday morning. I do have to be at work by 10AM, but I might be able to pull off a hunt.
