We finally found a nice little sagebrush flat, set out our decoy and found a place to hide in the edge of some oak brush. I began scratching out my music and several toms took turns answering. One even came in close enough that the command to be still like a statue was issued. However, we couldn't get him to show himself and he eventually lost interest and moved along. My little guide also began to lose interest so I decided to go on the march again.
Old Three Toes
- Thread starter SureShot
- Start date
We gathered up our things and began to slowly hunt towards another tom that was particularly vocal. We closed the gap until he was less than 80 yards in front of us, hidden in the brush. We crouched down and tried to coax him out with some soft clucks and purrs, but he wanted nothing to do with it and actually moved further away. So, we circled way around and tried to get in front of him. It turns out we didn't circle far enough and as we bobbed our heads over a little rise, he was bobbing his head over the same rise coming from the opposite direction. Our eyes met and his bobbing immediately changed directions and increased in speed. I pulled up my gun and thought about shooting, but without being able to get a good look at his beard and tail feathers, I didn't want to risk the disappointment of shooting a bird that wouldn't make a good mount.
The next couple of hours were more of the same. A fair number of birds were talking, but none of them wanted to come and introduce themselves to our decoy. A big snowstorm was starting to come in and my boy, although he had been true to his commitment, was obviously ready to call it quits. So, we picked out the sound of one of the few gobblers that was still sounding off occasionally that happened to be in the general direction of our parked rig and headed toward it.
Just about this time, the first snowflakes began to fall. They were big and firm and made a fairly noisy landing as they hit the brush and ground. The noisy snow, combined with the wind, masked our noise as we moved along. Probably because of this and our Indian-like footsteps, we walked right up on a small group of turkeys that had sought shelter in a group of oak brush. They weren't quite sure what we were, but they knew they didn't like that shelter anymore and immediately began to search out a new one.
Two big, red-headed toms moved off to the left towards a small opening about 25 yards away, while the rest of the group retreated deeper into the brush. I could see that the closest one to me had a nice beard on him and they looked like twins, so I figured either one that gave me a shot opportunity might be in trouble. As it turns out, they both moved to the small opening and stayed in it for a couple of seconds as they moved straight away. I raised my gun and followed them with my bead as a million thoughts went through my mind. The close encounters we had had earlier that morning...the thrill for my boy of being there when I killed a turkey...the desire to shoot a bird in full strut that I had called in...the uncertainty of not being able to see what condition their tail feathers were in...the uncertainty of not being able to hunt again until the final days of my season...the reality that my former neighbor and his son-in-law had hunted hard their entire season and never got a shot opportunity...and why are those dang birds standing right in line with each other so I can't shoot?!?!
Finally, after another step, the tom that was further away stepped off to the side and into the brush, leaving me with a split second to decide what to do before the other one did the same. Instinct kicked in, the trigger pulled back, the gun barked and the tom went down. We both walked forward with adrenaline rushing through our veins as the old boy thrashed around on the ground. As soon as I could safely get a hold of him, I quickly fanned out his tail and breathed a sigh of relief as I saw his tail was in excellent condition.
Cameron Hunt
New member
NIce Job Sureshot Great looking bird. I was wondering why so many reply block though? I read that you called this guy three toes, do you know that all turkeys have three toes though?
