It's Almost Turkey Time!

Through the long hot days of summer I find myself daydreaming about September archery season. When it finally comes I have deer on the brain through mid January. Then I find myself chasing hog and small game through the end of February. When the small game season finally ends I have the brief thought that hunting season is over. But then I remember...SPRING TURKEY SEASON IS COMING!

My turkey hunting started as an uneventful experience. My brother Jacob took me to Three Lakes WMA and we sat around and listened to other hunters practicing their calling skills. It seemed like there was another hunter under every tree. We did see a couple hens but that was about it. Didn't hear any gobbles, and even with the multitude of other hunters, we didn't see anyone bring a bird to the check station.

But I decided to give turkey hunting another chance and went with my brother to his lease in South Georgia. There the birds were gobbling and I can't describe the excitement that came over me as I looked down the barrel of a shotgun expecting a gobbler to step out in front of our set-up at any moment. We never did seal the deal on a gobbler that trip but I had experienced what turkey hunting was about and I was hooked.

Noah and Josh's first turkeys

My first turkey came a couple years later in 2009. We had been hunting our lease and hearing a lot of birds but they seemed to be all henned up. Then our friend Jeff, who's family owns a large blueberry farm near our lease, invited us to hunt a large field near his farm where turkey religiously come to feed. The field is about 1,000 yards long and wide and is usually planted in corn and then plowed up in the winter. Turkey come out from the pines on the East side of the field at all times of the day. I've never sat there without looking at turkey nearly every minute of the hunt. The tricky part is being within shooting range on a field that large. The first afternoon we saw a ton of hens and a couple gobblers strutting about 600 yards from us. The next morning Jacob's son Noah joined us as we set up in a brush blind Jeff had made under a low hanging water oak at the back corner of the field. Shortly after first light and the beautiful music of gobbling toms, we began to watch the hens filter into the field. Then I heard my brother whisper, "Gobbler." He was sitting on the right, Noah in the middle and myself on the left, so he could see the bird emerging from the corner of the field before I could. It wasn't one bird but three Jakes who worked their way single file into our field of view. I whispered a quiet, "One, two," and then "Bang!" Our shotguns went off in unison and three Jakes were taking a dust nap! It was both my first turkey and Noah's and we couldn't be more elated at the way it worked out.

Jacob's Gobbler

The next year we once again got permission to hunt the same field and opening morning Jacob and Noah shot three nice Toms. I couldn't make the opener due to my daughter Ellie being born March 17; but the beginning of April I was able to slip away for a weekend to hunt with them in Georgia. The second evening of our hunt we decided to try to shoot a bird with our bows so we left the shotguns at camp and sat in my ground blind at the corner of the same field. A nice Tom came out and fed his way past us at about 50 yards and out of view to our right. About 20 minutes later he appeared again at 30 yards but there were a few small branches blocking a clean shot with a bow. Then he was gone again for good. Why didn't we bring our shotguns? Putting our bows away,  we tried to run and gun gobbling Toms on our lease the next morning with no luck. Our time was nearly up and it was the last afternoon hunt before we had to leave the next morning. Jacob and Noah decided to stay at camp and I almost decided to join them. But I had to give it another shot. I drove to the big field and walked the thousand yards through soft plowed dirt to the corner where I set up my ground blind. It was brutally hot as I sweated in my jeans looking out at a bright field of dirt. I took my jeans off and slipped my thin netted ghillie suit pants over my underwear. Then a hen came out from right behind me in a rushed fashion. I was wondering if the ground blind had spooked her when I looked out of a small port hole to my left to see a large Tom following her trail about 5 steps from my blind. I carefully stuck the end of my shotgun out of the front window and prayed that he would continue out to the field. Time seemed to slow down and then he stepped into view right in front of my barrel at 15 yards. My 3 1/2 inch magnum load connected, blasting his neck along with a good piece of his beard. I was stoked! I threw a celebration in my ground blind and then had enough sense to put my jeans back on before running out to see him. A nice 20 lb Tom with a 10 inch beard and 1 1/4 inch spurs.

Last season was fun. I saw two Toms on my lease opening morning. They held up at about 50 yards and I took a shot as they walked away. I missed and they ran into the pines unharmed. We ended up back at the lucky field and set up a hen and a jake decoy. A big tom came out ready to fight. He bristled up and rushed the jake decoy. Jacob was in the best position to take a shot in my cramped ground blind and he dropped the tom at 10 yards. Seeing that was almost as fun as taking one myself.

This year I want to accomplish two feats:
1. Harvest my first Osceola on public land.
2. If I accomplish the first, harvest a turkey with my bow in Georgia.

My brother Jonny and I have drawn quota permits for Richloam WMA which opens March 17. I have hunted there a ton and know a lot of areas where I have seen turkey, but I want do as much scouting as I can before opening day. Last week Jonny and I drove down there and at first light went to an area by the river where we archery hunted years ago. We parked the truck, stepped out and I hit my slate call. Instantly two gobblers lit up right in front of us. That was easy. We made our way down a small trail until we could see the large oak tree that they were roosted in. My only concern is that it is the obvious spot to go to and I think a lot of other hunters will be there opening morning. We drove all over the 58,000 acre property and checked areas where we have seen turkey in the past. Surprisingly, there was very little turkey sign in these spots that are usually teaming with tracks. I had never seen Richloam this dry and many of the swamps that are usually knee deep in water were completely bone dry. I suspect that the dry conditions might have changed the turkey's roosting areas from past seasons I have hunted there. Not content with having only one obvious area where I know gobblers are roosting, I am planning on going again to scout tomorrow morning as I have a couple more areas in mind that are off the beaten trail.

If I can manage to seal the deal with a Richloam gobbler the first week, I am planning on going stick and string the next week when I go up to Georgia for the opener there. But first thing first. I need to locate some more gobblers at Richloam and show up next Saturday with a game plan. Stay tuned to see how it goes!