Ithaca 37
New member
At first lite we had two gobblers gobbling at us, one was way off across a deep canyon and one was above us about four hundred yards up a steep hillside. We walked up the hill a couple hundred yards and found a good place to call from. Couldn't get any closer because it was too open, so we were going to have to call him downhill to us, which we've discussed in other topics and many hunters think is real hard to do.
My buddies were Jerry and Dick. Jerry has shot many turkeys and this was Dick's first turkey hunt, so we were trying to get him one. Jerry and Dick went to sit up against a big pine and I was going to do the calling, so I was about forty yards to their left, behind a little bush and sitting with my back to a tree. The decoy was about twenty yards uphill of them and the gobbler was about two hundred yards above them, slightly to their right.
I yelped and the gobbler answered right away so I gave him another short yelp just to let him know I was available and then clammed up. He gobbled again and then was silent for about five minutes. Then I saw him fly down the hill and land about a hundred yards above me to my left. Darn! He strutted around and gobbled a couple times, but I didn't dare answer because he'd pinpoint me and I wanted him to go to Dick and Jerry. Finally, after about ten minutes he started walking down towards me and when he went outta sight behind some trees I gave a soft yelp and tried to shield my call and make it sound more like it was coming from over by J and D. No luck! He was coming straight at me! About 60 yards out he saw the decoy and strutted a little, but when she didn't respond he started acting real suspicious. He didn't go toward her, but kept coming straight downhill at me while he was looking at her. I think he had dealt with decoys before and knew something wasn't kosher. I think he figured he'd just walk by her and see if she'd follow. Problem was, he was heading straight at me! 40 yards, 30 yards, 25 yards out and still coming straight at me! He stopped and gobbled and when she didn't even move he started strutting straight at me again! All I could do was hope he'd turn and go towards her so Dick could get a shot, but no luck! 15 yards away, ten yards, now 15 feet and he stops and looks at her again! Pretty soon I'll be able to hit him with my gun barrel! He decides to keep coming my way and takes one more step and then stops and jerks his head straight up when he figures out I'm not a stump!! I hadn't moved, but he was so close anybody could tell I was a hunter! Maybe he heard my heart beating!
He takes off running to my left and flapping his wings for takeoff and I don't want to blow him all apart so I try to just knick his back but all I do is blow about a three inch wide hole through his wing feathers as they're above his body and he is airborne, climbing for the tree tops! My feet are tangled in the brush so I can't swing and he's almost behind me and climbing fast so I fall over on my back and roll on my side and shoot from the hip as I'm looking back over my shoulder and I hit him right up along his backbone with a couple of BBs in my second shot and down he comes! I'm laying on my side with my head downhill from my feet that are still tangled in the bush and trying to pump in another shell but he's not moving when he hits the ground, so I yank my feet free and get them under me somehow while I try to keep him covered!
Nothing to worry about, though. He's done for!
He's an Eastern Species. Where we hunt in Idaho there are mostly Merriams, but some Easterns were released about ten miles away 19 years ago and he's one of the few that still has dark tail feather tips. Most of the Easterns have interbred with the Merriams and it's pretty hard to find a real Eastern lookin' bird anymore. 9 inch beard and 1 inch spurs, about twenty two lbs.
It had been raining lightly when we started out but it was coming down harder every minute and now it was turning into those real big wet snowflakes so by the time we got back to the truck we were all soaking wet and the turkey looked like we'd drowned him, so I don't know how the pictures will look, but if they come out I'll post them.
By noon we had three inches of snow and we never got another gobble that day. Next day was clear and bright, but still couldn't get a gobble no matter what we tried so we came home with just one bird. Dick and Jerry saw the whole thing happen so they got a big laugh outta it and Dick's now hooked on turkey hunting!
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 04-28-2003 08:46: Message edited by: Ithaca 37 ]</font>
My buddies were Jerry and Dick. Jerry has shot many turkeys and this was Dick's first turkey hunt, so we were trying to get him one. Jerry and Dick went to sit up against a big pine and I was going to do the calling, so I was about forty yards to their left, behind a little bush and sitting with my back to a tree. The decoy was about twenty yards uphill of them and the gobbler was about two hundred yards above them, slightly to their right.
I yelped and the gobbler answered right away so I gave him another short yelp just to let him know I was available and then clammed up. He gobbled again and then was silent for about five minutes. Then I saw him fly down the hill and land about a hundred yards above me to my left. Darn! He strutted around and gobbled a couple times, but I didn't dare answer because he'd pinpoint me and I wanted him to go to Dick and Jerry. Finally, after about ten minutes he started walking down towards me and when he went outta sight behind some trees I gave a soft yelp and tried to shield my call and make it sound more like it was coming from over by J and D. No luck! He was coming straight at me! About 60 yards out he saw the decoy and strutted a little, but when she didn't respond he started acting real suspicious. He didn't go toward her, but kept coming straight downhill at me while he was looking at her. I think he had dealt with decoys before and knew something wasn't kosher. I think he figured he'd just walk by her and see if she'd follow. Problem was, he was heading straight at me! 40 yards, 30 yards, 25 yards out and still coming straight at me! He stopped and gobbled and when she didn't even move he started strutting straight at me again! All I could do was hope he'd turn and go towards her so Dick could get a shot, but no luck! 15 yards away, ten yards, now 15 feet and he stops and looks at her again! Pretty soon I'll be able to hit him with my gun barrel! He decides to keep coming my way and takes one more step and then stops and jerks his head straight up when he figures out I'm not a stump!! I hadn't moved, but he was so close anybody could tell I was a hunter! Maybe he heard my heart beating!
Nothing to worry about, though. He's done for!
He's an Eastern Species. Where we hunt in Idaho there are mostly Merriams, but some Easterns were released about ten miles away 19 years ago and he's one of the few that still has dark tail feather tips. Most of the Easterns have interbred with the Merriams and it's pretty hard to find a real Eastern lookin' bird anymore. 9 inch beard and 1 inch spurs, about twenty two lbs.
It had been raining lightly when we started out but it was coming down harder every minute and now it was turning into those real big wet snowflakes so by the time we got back to the truck we were all soaking wet and the turkey looked like we'd drowned him, so I don't know how the pictures will look, but if they come out I'll post them.
By noon we had three inches of snow and we never got another gobble that day. Next day was clear and bright, but still couldn't get a gobble no matter what we tried so we came home with just one bird. Dick and Jerry saw the whole thing happen so they got a big laugh outta it and Dick's now hooked on turkey hunting!
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 04-28-2003 08:46: Message edited by: Ithaca 37 ]</font>
