Hunting Turkeys With A Master in the Iowa Woods (Blog)

I'm not sure, but I think I've been hunting turkeys for nearly 20 years now. And for the last 15 years I've made a trip to Maquoketa, IA for opening day with my friend and turkey hunting mentor, Rod Rettenmeier. I'm still learning and Rod is still trying to teach me the tricks of turkey hunting.

This is "THEE" world famous Rod Rettenmeier of Miracle Car Wash Fame in Waterloo! I'm not exagerating. Rod truly is world famous when it comes to hunting turkeys. He has been hunting turkeys since he was in high school and he's probably shot more than 50 turkeys in his day. When you think about it, that's a hell of a lot of gobblers. 

I'm not sure what the record is for the most birds shot in Iowa, or any other state for that matter, but I'm willing to bet Miracle Man Rodney is pretty darn close to being the record holder. He's that good.

I've personally seen or heard Rod call in more than a dozen birds. And in the last 15 years, I  can only think of one time when he didn't get his bird. When given the opportunity, Rod is pretty darn deadly with the call and he knows how to call them in close. And when he get's a bird within range of his tommy gun, it's dinner time. He won't miss. I can't explain it any better than that. As I said, he is "THEE" Rod Rettenmeier.

Most years, when we go to Maquoketa to hunt, one of us always gets a bird on opening morning, and we have both filled our tags on the same day on numerous occassions. We hunt on a family farm on the Maquoketa River and there are usually plenty of birds around.

However, this year was different. The weather was lousy on opening day. It was overcast, and cold. And the wind was outrageous. You could barely hear your own call, it was blowing so hard. It was ridiculous weather and the Toms just weren't there. It's hard to imagine, but we got skunked on opening day.

Neither of us were too worried though. I've got a couple of pretty decent hunting spots on the West Fork of the Cedar River near New Hartford. I've shot several birds there over the years, and Rod is usually able to sneak back down to Maquoketa to get his bird before the season ends. 

On the second morning, I was in the woods early and was able to get set up with a trio of Toms on the roost and gobbling like crazy all around me. As the night started to wane with the first light of day, I could see one bird in the tree less than 50 yards away. Thirty minutes later, when he flew down, I thought for sure I would be able to take him home, but when he was on the ground he suddenly became call shy and wouldn't commit completely to my setup. I needed Rod there to entice him with his rapid-fire clucks and yelps. This bird was stubborn and I broke the number one rule of turkey hunting. I lost my patience. I decided to take the shot too early. The result: I missed.

Later that day, when I told Rod how my hunt had gone and all the birds that I had heard on the roost, he was convinced that he wanted to try his luck on the West Fork. We made plans, and for the first time, Rod was going to let me take him on a hunt.

Day three, Wednesday, was almost identical to the previous day. Rod and I were in the woods by 5 a.m. and we had gobblers in the exact same places as the day before. Seriously, the Tom I had taken a shot at was roosting in the same identical tree, and we were less than 50 yards from him. We had decided to set up about 50 yards apart, so that we both might get lucky at the same time. (We've done that before and it's worked.) As the morning progressed, we heard the Tom fly down and from what I could tell, that gobbler had to almost be in Rod's lap when he hit the ground. A few seconds later, BOOM! 

When I got over to Rod's spot, he did indeed have his turkey. But the turkey he shot wasn't the one I thought it was. Rod had taken a different Tom that had come at him from the other direction. Rod almost had two Toms at once. He already had his gun up and was about to fire when the second Tom flew down, right behind him. He tried to call the second Tom back but it didn't work. That gobbler had high-tailed it to safety.

Like I said, Rod is the best when it comes to calling them in close. He's just that good. It was great helping him get his bird, though. I was glad I was able to put him on a gobbler this year. After 15 years of him showing me the ropes, it's about time, I helped him out.

When fourth season comes, I hope I can help him harvest another gobbler. That's the least I can do, because for the last 15 years, Rod's been my guide. It's about time the student became the mentor. That's the only way you can become world famous like Rodney.