Hunting Blog: Perservance Pays Off In the "Turkey" Woods

I never know what to expect when I enter the timber. Make no mistake, each day in the "turkey" woods is different and no two days are ever the same when you are trying to find a gobbler that will come to your call.

It took several trips into the woods, but last Saturday, I finally got my bird. Here's how my fourth season played out.

My fourth season hunting efforts started on the West Fork of the Cedar River at my cousin's place. I spent a few hours in the middle of the first week trying to find a lonely gobbler, but when you only have until 7 a.m. to convince a Tom to come to your call, before you have to get to your real job, it isn't easy. You only have about 90 minutes to make something happen, and as all good turkey hunters know, 90 minutes is not very long.

Granted, many of us have had great success first thing in the morning. Calling a Tom off the roost is one of the big thrills of turkey hunting, but for all those sunrise success stories, there are many more stories of failure.

My fourth season was going just that way. I had turkeys close on a few different days, but before I could get one to commit to my setup, I had to abandon the hunt and return to the reality of the real world.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Last Wednesday when I got in the woods, the only gobbler I could hear first thing in the morning was across the river. I decided to set up on the river's edge, as close to that Tom as I could get, and I started calling: loud and boistrous. I was having a pretty good talk with that Tom, and after about about 30 minutes a hen joined in on the conversation. She was coming in my direction and before you know it, there she was standing on the riverbank and looking my way. A couple more yelps and she flew right to me.

That brought the Tom strutting down to the riverside, and I was hoping he would cross over also, but by then the hen knew something wasn't right and she flew back to the lonely Tom. At that point, it was time to get back. If I had had more time, I would have eventually gotten that bird's full attention. As it was, it was a good hunt nonetheless. After all, those of us who hunt know, it is the pursuit that makes the hunt so much fun.

Last Thursday, I decided to try my luck on the Beaver Creek, just a few miles outside Cedar Falls. There are lots of turkeys on the Beaver, and the place I hunt has produced a couple of birds over the years. The morning was perfect, and there were a couple of Toms on the roost, but before I could convince one to come my way, I was forced to hang it up. I was determined and confident that I would be able to harvest a bird on Saturday, and that's exactly what happened.

Saturday morning was a lot like Thursday. Plenty of moonlight to guide me into the woods and plenty of sunshine as the day started. The Toms, however, were not cooperating first thing in the morning. They weren't interested in my calls, as I'm sure they were more infatuated with the real thing. 

However, at about 9 a.m. everything changed. Two birds, a young Tom and a Jake, were headed my way. They were a couple of hundred yards away when I spotted them across the freshly planted cornfield. I gave them a few yelps on my mouth call but they didn't get too excited yet. They looked up and casually came on, like a couple of vagabonds approaching a strange campfire. They were cautious to say the least.

At about 100 yards they veered away, stepping into a thin line of trees that jutted into the field. At that point, now 50 yards away, they stopped and appeared to be looking in my direction. I gave them a few more yelps and waited to see what would happen. I was straining to see them through the heavy cover, and then their he was, 20 yards away. Like a ghost, he was suddenly just there. He was staring right at me and I didn't have my gun up. But when he turned, I brought my gun up ever so slightly, and that was all he needed. 

That Tom turned to run as I brought my Browning 12-gauge to my shoulder. BOOM! It was dinner time.

That's how my fourth season went. Let's hear about yours.