Turkey “Tails”

The ever present conflict of turkey hunting or fishing every spring is over. Although with the terrible wind and up and down weather we’ve had in Michigan this spring it hasn’t been hard at times. I’m also still trying to organize my boat and just get ready for bass season, but I did get out smash on them once. Anyway back to the turkeys.

Where I hunt is a core wintering area for the birds. The numbers before break up in the spring are incredible. I have some trail camera pictures that you would have to see to believe. But they broke up this year right before the season and we got a ton of rain. My best area had a lot of standing water and I think that kept a lot of birds away. Fortunately we have several other options that can be just as good. Goal number 1 was to get Mabel her 2nd turkey and go from there. She decided she was still open to shooting any legal bird and that she would get a couple more birds before she held out for a tom.

Opening day was a dud. Wind, rain, trespassers, the odds were stacked against us but hey it meant we got to go again. I blew an opportunity on 4 toms in the decoys later that weekend when my safety hung up (that’s what I get for a post duck season deep clean). I had some debris that found its way into the safety. It as a bummer but it was still a fun hunt. Mabel’s next adventure was an afternoon hunt that was full of action. A big group of toms hung up on us in the blueberries just gobbling their heads off. Then a group of hens and jakes approached from behind and got so close one touched the blind. She was fired up and wanted to go every day until we got one, unfortunately there’s no time for that. It was a great learning experience and we got to see quite a few deer too.

The next hunt was another weak and not really nice morning. Quite a few of the crew was out on some of the different farms and there was only one opportunity. Of course those birds never separated for my dad until they were out of range. I was going to go do some scouting and running and gunning in the afternoon solo. One of those don’t come home until I get a turkey type adventures. I always say that instinct rules over everything and today would be no exception. I had lots of good options but after seeing some encouraging activity at the first one but not getting an opportunity at a bird. I stuck with my original plan of covering ground but that only lasted about halfway through the next farm. I knew I had to get back in the truck and stick it out on the first spot. It took a little while but eventually I got an opportunity at a big tom that was pushing 3 jakes around. As I was collecting my things 2 more big toms showed up and I knew we had to be there on Tuesday for an afternoon hunt.

Tuesday morning brought just crap weather but if the sun would peak out and the wind drop out like forecasted. I felt so good about our chances in the afternoon. It’s hard because you are hustling in on birds that might already be out and 5:30 is the earliest we can get out. I knew we would see some birds on the way in. When you catch them in a row, there is no way to make a move. You are cooked, all that you can do is keep moving like you never saw anything. We passed a hen, a hen, then 3 giant black turkeys which were obviously toms. Our hope was to keep trucking to our spot and get set up although we had an option if they were out in the one open spot too. We bumped another hen close to set up but our 3 big birds were no where to be found. They either got nervous and split or they were just in the berries where they couldn’t be seen. There is so much mystery about what is going on in the berries on a blueberry farm. We got set up and settled in, I don’t think 5 minutes went by and those 3 toms made an appearance a couple hundred yards away along the one spot we had a good line of sight. We called and they stopped. Their heads turned white and they approached about 10 yards then dipped back into the berries the way they had come.

That was it for over an hour and the whole time I am intermittently coughing. One of those there was nothing you can do to stop it coughs. I had water, cough drops, gum, I tried it all. I felt a little better when a hen popped out about 75 yards away without a care in the world. She looked at the decoys for a bit and then fed towards us, eventually working her way into the berries and disappearing. I was glassing the berries, trying to make out dark spots. Found one and it moved! 1, 2, 3, big toms popped out beyond our range but they were absolutely going to have an opinion on the decoys. An 8 year old girl whispered an “OMG” and she got ready for a shot as they were going to be approaching straight on. I expected the decoys to do most of the work here but it wasn’t going down. One of the 3 puffed up and the other 2 just kind of stood there. We were having a standoff and I realized I needed to do something, of course that hen had reappeared to potentially complicate things. I’m no pro turkey caller but some soft calling changed their posture and colors. We had their attention for sure and if you had TSS and a 12 gauge you could kill one right now at a little over 50 yards. We weren’t taking any shots over 30 yards and I knew exactly how far I had to move them. It seemed like forever, a few steps at a time followed by standing around, strutting, but also seeming generally unsure of what they wanted to do. Soft calling was coaxing them little by little and Mabel was doing a great job at staying still and I was so focused that I never had to cough. Something changed once they got within 40 and they started coming. They got past the 30 marker with the middle one lining up perfectly, the one on the left trailing, and the one on the right getting behind the decoys. It was faster now and the middle one was coming full strut, consistent, and the birds weren’t clustering. It was intense and I was loving it! It was go time now and I whispered whenever you are ready go ahead. She dumped that bird with her 20 gauge like a ton of bricks, one of those no question gobbler down moments.

There was a lot of excitement and celebration, it was a perfect ending to a great hunt. Of course one of the other gobblers stuck around through all the celebration. Maybe I’ll hang onto my tag a little longer next year in hopes of doubling up. Some more high fives and a fun walk back to the truck with her gobbler over my shoulder. A quick stop at wesco to get celebratory slushies and a bag of “turkey takis” before surprising Amanda and the younger sisters with her bird. It was excitement all around and she was incredibly proud (so was I). Now it is time to fish