Trailblazin'

[Tommy Strutsalot]

It's seven days into the 2014 PA Spring Gobbler season and things are not going as planned.  I had hunted every day so far and got dealt every hand imaginable, from birds sneaking in close from behind and not offering a shot, to losing three birds fair and square to other hunters on property lines, to well-patterned birds seemingly disappearing into thin air.  It was too early to panic, but I have never worked so hard preseason in my life, and the areas that received most of my pre-season scouting attention were no longer going to be viable.  I decided to turn my attention to a property that I had taken a longshot at requesting permission on and to my eternal satisfaction was granted.  The good news was that this property had turkeys on it.  The bad news was that they had very inconsistent behaviors and that the terrain and property boundaries were going to provide additional challenges, as if Spring turkey hunters need "additional" challenges...  There was one other pair of hunters using this property, who I knew would be inconsequential to the birds, as these birds were difficult to reach. 

The birds were utilizing and roosting on a hillside with mature timber, that led down on a steep incline to a swampy creekbottom that was choked out with the thickest mess of invasive plant species that you could imagine.  There was not an option to enter from the opposite side, and there was not yet an easy way to get through the creek basin to the hillside.  The other issue was that these birds were roosted up tight with some real bossy hens, who had proven a tough match all season so far.

Last Sunday, I decided to put together some gardening tools and hit the woods around 9:00 AM after I believed that the turkey activity in the area would've mostly subsided.  I got to work cutting my trail through the creek basin, once I reached the hillside, I began raking a path up the hillside, with the goal to avoid detection from the predicted roost area, and all the way up to a set of large oaks that had some good visibility which I thought would be a good setup about 75 yards above the roost.  Overall the path in was about 500 yards, and I walked it two or three times that day so as to make the path more noticeable to me in the dark. For the next four days I would sneak in and out before work in complete silence.  The birds would be there one day, and completely absent the next, although luckily never being tipped off to my presence.

Fast forward to day 18 and I still have only missed 2 days of hunting.  I'm tired, I'm relatively frustrated, and decided that I needed to do some cleansing and remember what this was all about.  Friday I took the day off from work, and I tried a brand new farm that I had never even scouted.  Never heard a bird, but had a great morning watching the deer and other wildlife go about their daily business.  My girlfriend, who also had the day off, asked me if she could come with in the afternoon.  Although I'm still seriously facing a tag soup situation, and that's typically no time for date night, I decided that it would be a good opportunity to spend some time outside together and show her what I love most about hunting, wildlife, and the outdoors.  I didn't want her to have to sit too long, especially if action was going to be sparse, so we ended up hitting the woods around 5:00 last evening.  I thought on it hard, but decided to hit this same spot since based on my experiences, it should've been an "on" night.  We took the trail through the creek basin, up the hillside to our tree.  Before we could sit down, a dog barks in the distance and is immediately answered by a gobble about 100 yards out.  My first thought was, "Holy crap! We just snuck all the way up here and they have no idea."  A crow sounds off, BOOM two different birds hammer from that same direction.  Before long, we had two birds to our back left, one bird to our back right, and 1 bird going off down in front of us.  My next internal thought was, "their hens are gone..."

The birds to our back left were responding to my soft clucks on the slate, and would close the distance by about half, before heading back the opposite direction. Finally we broke one off, and we heard a gobble behind us that couldn't have been more than 30 yards out.  Getting a visual on this gobbler would prove impossible, as he hammered again letting us know that he had now passed us by 50 yards, and now heading directly away from us.  Time was passing quickly, and it was now about 6:55.  I decided to be quiet for some time and just wait to see his next move.  About 7:05 the bird gobbles just off to our right and down below, couldn't have been more than 50 yards, but we could not get a visual because of the steep incline.   Silence....  He then triple gobbles about 30 yards out in front, virtually shaking the ground.  I look over at Allie, and she is stone cold still like a statue, like she's been there a million times before.  I click off the safety.  After about 30 seconds, the red white and blue appears over the crest of the hill, but I still couldn't shoot.  He gave me three more steps which was enough to pick out a big long paintbrush beard hanging from his chest.  I let out three quick yelps on my diaphragm, as he simultaneously extended his neck to get a better view of where that sweet sound was coming from. Without a conscious thought, I put the red dot on his neck and slowly squeezed the trigger, sending the #6's on their final journey.  As you all know, that amount of time is no more than a second, but feels like several minutes.  At first, I didn't know the result of my attempt, as the bird had completely disappeared from view.  I listened and heard and saw nothing. I stood up and moved deliberately in the direction that I had shot.  There he was, stone cold dead, at 36 yards in all his glory.  Just then, the thunder rolls, and the rain begins to come down in droves.  We hug, I quickly pay my respects to the beautiful life I had just been blessed enough to take, grab the bird, and hit the road.  By the look on her face, you would've thought she had shot the turkey. She was speechless.  Before we're out of the woods, Allie turns to me and says, "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life...you're going to have to take me again because I really want to see one strut."  It was then that I knew, that I may have just made an incredibly huge, and irreversible mistake.  However, for the time being, the victory was too sweet, and the memory one to cherish for years to come. 

Sure glad I blazed that trail!

10" beard, 7/8" spurs, 22 LBS. 

[Gooserbat]

Well Done!!! Now just keep on keep'n on.

[GobbleNut]

Great story and pictures!  Congratulations!  Your hard work paid off,...and I would not be surprised to see another story about your next bird taken from that same spot.

[TauntoHawk]

Congrats man, nothing like sharing the hobbies we love with those we love. My wife started turkey hunting last year and man if I never shoot a bird again but she tips one over every year with a smile on her face I'd be happy.

Fortunately we both get to tip a bunch over.

[mikejd]

Congrats on a hard earned bird. Great story telling and writing I felt like I was with you.

One more thing you may have lost your alone time forever. Those are the hunts that turn people into turkey hunters.

[Terry]

Congrats! There is no better feeling then when all the hard work pays off. I remember the hard ones much more clearly than the easy.

[captin_hook]

Way to go... Great read

[tomstopper]

Congrats. Way to make it happen. Maybe your lady is your good luck charm.......

[owlhoot]

nice story, great pics, thanks for sharing.

[DirtNap647]

congrats good read

[ncturkey]

You did good. Congrats to you both.

[The Cohutta Strutter]

You stayed the course through difficult times and was there when the opputunity presented itself. That is the definition of a turkey hunter! Congrats on a fine bird and you may have just created another turkey hunter in the process....Strutter

[Tommy Strutsalot]

Thanks everyone!  Appreciate the kind words!  Hunting is such an incredible experience and it's awesome to share that with others.  Waterfowl and turkey hunting have made me who I am today and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Good luck to those still in pursuit, I've got three days here in PA to put a sticker on another one.