Turkey hunt

[Mark]

Well, this year was unique, to say the least.

I took a friend this year that hasn't hunted with us for the last 5 years. He shot a jake the last time out and was bent on getting a nice tom this year. We all agreed to let him have first crack at a good bird. On the second day of the hunt he killed a nice gobbler with a 10" beard and 1" spurs.

That night we roosted 2 nice toms and hen in a spot where we've killed birds for the past 3 years. We know which way they'll fly down and where they'll go. I set my 13 year old son up where I figured they would go, and I asked my friend to sit near him. I also confirmed with him that it was Derek's shot if the birds did in fact come into their decoys. He agreed, and they set up about 35 yards apart with the understanding that Derek had the first shot and Grant could back him up if the second tom came in too.

My older son and I took the higher spot where the birds have flown down to in the past. Five minutes after legal shooting light, the hen flew down and sailed straight down to the bottom where Derek was set up and started feeding in his decoys. A few seconds later one of the toms flew down and landed about 50 yards behind us. The second tom was right behind him and he flew further down the hill and made a beeline straight for the hen in Derek's decoys.

The other tom took off right behind him on a dead run. Within 30 seconds we're watching 2 big gobblers strutting less than 15 yards from Derek with binoculars. Both birds, full strut, standing right next to one of his hen decoys! Turning, drumming, dancing and dragging their wings. Awesome sight to see even from 100 yards away!

About a minute goes by and no shot. We're not sure what's going on, but I know Derek is patient, so I'm guessing he's waiting for the right moment to shoot. BOOM! A shot rings out and a big gobbler hit's the deck. Perfect head shot!

Then I see Derek jump up and start going after the other tom that ran down the road. Huh? Why would he do that? He already shot his bird. Or did he?

As you may have guessed, the other guy shot Derek's bird from 40 yards away as the birds strutted in front of Derek. UNBELIEVABLE! He shot that tom right out from under Derek's nose! He got greedy and shot another bird even though we had agreed that it was Derek's shot.

When we got to the bottom of the hill, I only slightly lost my temper. I took it out more on my son for not shooting than I did the greedy "friend" that shot the bird, although I did question him. He said, "They were getting ready to run." To which I replied, "No, they were in full strut!" No apology, no remorse, and no regret.

It turns out Derek got surprised by the hen when she flew in and didn't have his gun up. He couldn't move because she was too close. He knew if he spooked her the toms wouldn't come in. So he did the right thing; he was waiting for the gobblers to turn their fans towards him so he could raise his gun up and shoot. But he never got the chance.

I apologized to Derek for my anger, and we agreed that the friend won't be hunting with us again. Ever. I kicked myself for not staying with Derek, but I knew he was ok being by himself, and I wanted him to have that experience. He's killed several turkeys, so it's not like he needed me to hold his hand this year. However, had I been there, the other guy wouldn't have been. My bad!

My older son shot a nice tom with his shotgun, and I never got a chance to shoot my bow. Josh's bird weighed 21 lbs, had a 10" beard and 1" spurs. A very nice tom. I'm not going to post pics of the other birds, even though they were both great toms. I just don't want to look at them.

With the exception of the "incident", we had a great time. Next year it will just be me and my boys again. Lesson learned...

[Buckmaster]

Thanks for sharing. It sounds like you guys have a great area to hunt and I'm sure it won't be long before you have Derek on another TOM....Good luck on the next trip out.

[killerbee]

still sounds fun but there is nothing worse than getting hosed by a "freind"

[Mark]

Thanks for sharing. It sounds like you guys have a great area to hunt and I'm sure it won't be long before you have Derek on another TOM....Good luck on the next trip out.

Yes, we're very fortunate with the access we have on this property. It's 3500 acres of turkey country and we're pretty much the only pressure they see. That's why I was so shocked that the guy shot the bird. It's not like he wouldn't have had another chance. We were seeing a lot of big toms this year. He just got greedy. I wouldn't even let him hunt on Sunday. I left his butt in camp!

We saw at least 25 good toms on Saturday, although they weren't working the decoys at all this year. The weather was a little cooler than normal so I assume that was part of the problem. That and they were all henned up for the most part.

We also heard very few gobbles the entire time we were there. Usually it's a gobble fest at sunrise. Overall I think we counted about 75 toms over 4 days, and I'm sure some of them were the same birds.

We found a roost that we have never seen before and Sunday morning there were 14 birds in the tree. Most were gobblers. We set up about 70 yards from the tree. The hens hit the ground first, turned and went uphill taking the toms with them.

Another thing I noticed this year was that there were no jakes. I'm sure there were some, but I personally didn't see any this year. We usually see about 20 or so. Must have been a bad hatch last spring. I'm no biologist so I'm just making an educated guess on the lack of young birds.

We'll be back in the hunt next year and I know things will be different. Derek gets first shot next year.

Here's a pic of last years hunt. Just me and the boys... 3 days, 5 birds. Derek had 2 birds before I ever got to pull the trigger! In fact, he had a big tom on the ground within 20 minutes of the first set-up. I have that bird on video. I'll try to find it and upload it.