It's been a fun great season so far here in my neck of the woods as I have battled winds and virtually every gobbler having his choice of 3-4 hens within arms reach at any given moment. I have been able to play point guard and assist on a few successful hunts but last week the stars aligned for me to look down the barrel at a longbeard.
Just as day broke I made my way to a creek bottom that was shaded following the hottest day of the season. As I leaned against a tree in the pitch black I decided this is where I'd begin listening. At roughly 6:06 am a near by truck passed and I heard the Jake brake echo through the hollers and the creek and BOOM there he was. Only problem was... I was standing at the base of his tree looking right at him after he attempted to damage my ear drum.
GREAT what a start.
He proceeds to fly down the creek and stay on my side. Gone. Out of my life forever.. so I thought...
After that debacle, kicking myself for the misfortune I begin to hear his gaggle of hens fly across the creek. Spooked..
I move up about 200 yards and set as I hear an orchestra of longbeards and jakes sing their spring song across the creek (I can't hunt there) only thinking to myself, wow this stinks...
BUT WAIT
He's on my side... scared to death... and they're on that side...
Maybe it was time to get creative...
I slip back and settle in a piece of dead fall along an old rock wall that runs parallel with a small stream that feeds the creek in the area of which I spooked him. I decided it was time to do something I don't normally do.. get crazy with the calls.
I started off cutting and yelping on a mouth call in unison with an old slate call to hopefully present the illusion that the ladies were still here and VERY lonely. A handful of puts and yelps on a buice trumpet followed by more aggressive mouth calling found me at this time about 7:45.
Now all the while I am calling and proceeding to sound like a one man band and flock of turkeys with the only 3 calls on my person I had several eager responders across the creek. When finally I hear the wing beats followed by a gobble behind me at about 70 yards.
Holy crap I thought to myself, this is actually going to work!? Did this fool actually buy what I was selling??
As I hear the foot steps close in and my safety is off to my surprise steps out not one, not two, but THREE.... Jakes..
Now a younger me may have ended the hunt. But I sat there like a statue as they made their way out from behind the dead fall and began strutting.
As they made it to the 75ish yard mark my heart just couldn't sit there and let this hunt end so vanilla. I scratched in the leaves and cut a few times and they in unison turned around and gobbled.. now I know that I'm doing nothing but educating them but at that point I wasn't really worried about next years 2 year olds getting a lesson today. I wanted to see turkeys and hear em.
They gobbled a hand full of times when all at once they spook... almost a full sprint towards me and towards the creek... odd I thought. But what the heck. It's been a good morning so far, given circumstances. When all I once I hear my personal favorite sound. SPIT DUUHHHHHMMMM
It echoed through the holler and seemed to bounce off the creek and just beat my head into the body of that fallen tree I had made home. And again, and again. Till I hear foot steps.
And all at once he presents him self. 68 yards full strut nothing but air between him and my mossberg.
I re confirm position of my gun on my shoulder and now we play...
For 13 minutes he strutted and moved in and out of sight behind the trees in the crowded holler along that rock fence row while I followed along with soft calling. At 34 steps he gobbles behind a cedar tree and I think to myself. That's enough.
When he finally stepped out from behind that tree I cut and he broke strut, alarmed the hens he bedded with were not present. It was just a 3" 20 gauge shell. I squeezed off and he never quivered, never flopped.
He went out as quick as he did that morning, when that Jake brake tried to save his life. Thanks ol buddy.
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