Last weekend the tail-ender (youngest) kansasdaughter graduated with honors from high school. Various family members were in town for the weekend, and Aaron (kansasson) was jonesing for a turkey hunt. We were happily surprised to learn that lifetime license holders who live out of state get to pay resident fees for turkey permits.
The severe thunderstorms that rolled through south central Kansas meant business with straight line winds and heavy downpours. I'm sure turkeys on a roost had a miserable morning, and woke up quite grumpy. That translated to us leaving the house much later than normal, so much so that we arrived after sunrise.
Walking in, we didn't hear any gobbling on the public hunting area that has been my (almost) private playground this spring. I knew that my old hunting boots weren't waterproof anymore, and within 50 yards of walking, I was squishing in soggy socks already.
We set up within yards of where I killed my second tom of the season and got comfy, as the plan was to not put out any decoys, and not attempt to call these hard pressed turkeys. We waited in vain, as we never saw or heard a bird in the now filling with vegetation dry lake bed.
We decided to sneak out of the lake bed and peer onto the field we call "Applecore field" for the multiple applecores once found behind a log blind in a long ago turkey season. Standing in the trees that ring the field, we could see a half dozen birds working the far side of this huge ag field. Corn had been planted on the uphill portion of this field, and I suppose that once the ground allows, soybeans will be planted on the lower 3/4 aspect of this field. These birds were heading towards the east side of the field, and we decided to get moving with lightspeed to intercept.
Arriving at the field edge and poised to strike, we were disappointed to find that the expected tom was nowhere to be seen. The cut corn was playing tricks with our eyes. Birds kept appearing and then disappearing, and finally we had to come to the conclusion that if there had been any toms or jakes on first sighting, they had given us the slip. Binoculars confirmed that none of these hens had a beard, which would make them a legal target, and we watched these hens begin to split up and head back towards their supposed nests.
The temperature was fast approaching uncomfortably warm, and the sun was now high in the sky. Aaron wanted to go check out the ag field on the other side of the watercourse, so I watched his progress via the "Find a Friend" app, After checking out the field and finding it void of birds, he started back to where he had left me keeping watch over Applecore field. I knew that he was heading back towards me and i figured he was practicing his ninja skills. Had I been a turkey, I would have been a dead turkey, as kansasson has learned his sneaking lessons well.
We decided that we would go ahead and check out one more ag field before we had to call it a day. Peeking around the shrubs that have grown up at the periphery of this cut soybean field, I saw birds feeding at the far end of the field. I looked long at these birds, counting four of them. And all of them were sporting a red head of legal birds. kansasson and I had a discussion on tactics. Our options discussed were decoys v no decoys, stay put v move, call v no calling. In the end we decided to move closer, which meant we had to belly crawl across ten yards of open field, and then work our way up the timber to hide our advance.
Figuring we were halfway up the field, we sneaked into position under the Russian olives that line this part of the field. The four jakes were walking at a moderate pace, nearly even with us, and heading towards the bottom of the field that we had just left. A last ditch attempt at calling, only sped up their rate of travel. DOH!
This is the face of a turkey junkey who realizes he has just been had by a bird with a brain the size of a pea.
We tried to figure out where these birds might have gone once they walked within 20 yards of where we would have been tucked into the bushes, hiding, waiting malice in our hearts.
On the way out, we did find a beautiful example of Kansas state reptile, the ornate box turtle.
Although we didn't get a turkey today, the fact that Aaron got to flick his safety off as the jakes strolled by at a safe distance was a great bonus. I figure any day you get to spend with your favorite hunting partner is fantastic!
