04-14-2014, 01:07 AM
Got out to the basin mid day Friday, with the plans of finding a few turkeys and putting them to roost. I set up camp, and checked out a few areas. Find a little flock of 8 hens about an hour before sunset. Watched them for a while, and followed them from one field towards the area I figured they would end up roosting. This time of year, you find the hens and toms will be around sooner or later. So, as I am watching them make their way across a filed towards some cottonwoods... A nice gobble to the west. He pops out into the filed a couple minutes later, and he's a good one. Glassed them for a bit, then put the binos down and saw 19 more birds had come in from where he cam from. They merged into a single group, followed shortly by 1 more tom. I am now watching 28 birds, with 3 toms just showing it all off for the girls. They roosted a lot later than I expected, but was great to watch them, and now I knew where I would be set up in the morning.
Got out there dark and early with a single hen decoy, set up about 150 yards W-SW of where I knew they were roosted....5:50, now the waiting begins. A gobbler started going off about 6:10, then at 6:20 the first of many hit the ground. There was so much calling between all the birds, it was like nothing I have ever experienced. I got to watch the same great display of courtship for a solid half hour. Then they were getting a bit closer than I would have liked. I had all birds within 35 yards, including a couple hens just 12 FEET away.
I set out to accomplish 1 of 2 things. I was either going to shoot a good tom, or get an archery bird (either would have been a first for me). I had a tom off to my left at 17 yards, but he had the middle 3 fan feathers a hair longer, and only about a 6" beard. The other 2 were really good birds straight out at about 25 & 30 yards. As much as I wanted to use the bow, there were a LOT of keen eyes around and all 3 toms were facing me. Archery shot placement tells you to aim at the base of the beard on a frontal shot, which would have most likely cut off his beard. I didn't want that, so the shotgun it was. BOOM....
Bird down at 24 yards. Most of the hens started heading in all directions. The other 2 toms had been strutting, but they just dropped the fans and picked up their heads just sitting there. Could have filled 3 tags easily right then and there.
I couldn't be happier with my bird (except maybe if I had got him with my bow). He has a full beautiful fan, spurs a hair over an inch, and a good portion of his beard is over 9" long. He has 1 extra long strand in the beard that is about 9 3/4". All of this, and I was tagged out at 6:57 opening morning. Good Times in the filed...
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Got out there dark and early with a single hen decoy, set up about 150 yards W-SW of where I knew they were roosted....5:50, now the waiting begins. A gobbler started going off about 6:10, then at 6:20 the first of many hit the ground. There was so much calling between all the birds, it was like nothing I have ever experienced. I got to watch the same great display of courtship for a solid half hour. Then they were getting a bit closer than I would have liked. I had all birds within 35 yards, including a couple hens just 12 FEET away.
I set out to accomplish 1 of 2 things. I was either going to shoot a good tom, or get an archery bird (either would have been a first for me). I had a tom off to my left at 17 yards, but he had the middle 3 fan feathers a hair longer, and only about a 6" beard. The other 2 were really good birds straight out at about 25 & 30 yards. As much as I wanted to use the bow, there were a LOT of keen eyes around and all 3 toms were facing me. Archery shot placement tells you to aim at the base of the beard on a frontal shot, which would have most likely cut off his beard. I didn't want that, so the shotgun it was. BOOM....
Bird down at 24 yards. Most of the hens started heading in all directions. The other 2 toms had been strutting, but they just dropped the fans and picked up their heads just sitting there. Could have filled 3 tags easily right then and there.
I couldn't be happier with my bird (except maybe if I had got him with my bow). He has a full beautiful fan, spurs a hair over an inch, and a good portion of his beard is over 9" long. He has 1 extra long strand in the beard that is about 9 3/4". All of this, and I was tagged out at 6:57 opening morning. Good Times in the filed...
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