Gut Shot
Well-known member
Yesterday was the Illinois opener. I've never killed a turkey on opening day, heck, I usually never hunt opening day. In fact I usually only get two or three days to hunt all season. Spring is just the wrong time of year for me to be hunting, especially with the silly rules in Illinois that end turkey hunting at 1:00PM. But everything aligned yesterday, I had the day off of work and it was too windy and wet to fix the barn roof that was damaged in the storms that blew through on Thursday. There were a dozen turkeys out in the field when I got home from dropping the kids at school so what the heck, I grabbed the shotgun and went after them.
The spotting was easy. The turkeys had been using the field since late winter. We had a flock of around 30 birds a couple of weeks ago but they have since broken up into smaller groups. There was a group of seven or eight birds near the north edge of the field. There was a chance I could sneak up on those birds.
The going was pretty easy. The rain from the night before and a stout breeze meant that I probably wouldn't be heard. I dropped into the ravine that lies off the north edge of the field and climbed the hill towards the field where I thought the birds were. Near the top I slowed and started scanning back and forth with the binoculars. A step up, scan back and forth, another step, more scanning. I came in just short of the two toms and most of the hens, they were another 50 yards down the field, but I had a couple of birds in front of me.
I started crawling forward slowly. The closer to the crest I got the lower and slower I moved. Finally I was on top several yards from the edge of the field. Some brush and a tree obscured my view of the main group of birds to my right so they weren't too much of a worry at that point. I would need to keep an eye on the two birds in front of me though. Both were in range, maybe 30 yards away, they looked like hens, one had a couple of inches of beard showing, a lightly colored jake maybe, it was hard to tell through the brush.
Now things really had to slow down. I was on my belly. Push the gun forward a few inches, push forward with my right foot. Always watch the birds in front of me. I was a few feet from the old barbed wire fence that ran the edge of the field when one of the turkeys in front of me saw me move. I froze as he approached, head bobbing trying to get a better look at whatever was in the woods there. When the breeze picked up and blew the branches around me I slowly looked down letting the brim of my hat hide my eyes and face. I could still see him with my right eye. He looked me over for a few minutes from the edge of the field and decided there was nothing to worry about. When he went and rejoined his buddy I started moving forward again.
The two toms hadn't moved, they were still fluffed up hanging out with the girls. I used a stick to prop up the bottom of the fence so I could crawl under. The jake saw me move again and started over to the edge of the field to find out what was moving around. I slowly lowered my head again, face in the dirt this time. I didn't need to see him this time, I could hear him softly clucking as he walked back and forth trying to figure me out from a few yards away. After several minutes I heard him cluck from farther away. I waited another few minutes before looking up. He was gone. I used the binoculars to scan the field but both of the turkeys in front of me had moved off.
I worked my way under the fence and got into position several feet from the edge of the corn stubble. I couldn't go any further without giving up the cover of the brush between me and the turkeys. Technically the toms were probably in range (I didn't dare fish out the range finder) but there were hens between us and too much brush. The big boys just had to move east ten yards and I'd have them. I thought about yelping or clucking on the slate call in my pocket, but why risk giving myself away when I had a half dozen turkeys within 50 yards. No, patients would win this game. The call would always be there as a final attempt if they moved away from me. I put my ear plugs in and pulled my elbows under me to get into the prone shooting position.
I only had to wait a few minutes until the gobblers started working to the east, strutting around the hens. They were in front of the gun now, I just had to wait for one to get away from the other so I didn't hit both. There it was, they were several feet apart when I lined the beads up on the head of the bird on the left and squeezed the trigger. He went down and started flopping. The other birds flew/ran west and watched the big guy flail in the corn stalks. After half a minute he was still, I flipped the safety on the gun and went to get my bird. My daughter still has a tag (we struck out during the 2 day kids hunt) so hopefully we'll get her a bird yet this spring.
Equipment and specs.
Gun: Mossberg 9200 12ga screw in full choke
Load: Remington 2 3/4" #5 turkey load
Other equip: Nikon monarch 8x42 bino.
Range was a little over 40 yards.
Turkey weighed 26.9lbs according to the bathroom scale. beard was 10" (though kinda scraggly and thin) and spurs were 1 1/2" each.
The spotting was easy. The turkeys had been using the field since late winter. We had a flock of around 30 birds a couple of weeks ago but they have since broken up into smaller groups. There was a group of seven or eight birds near the north edge of the field. There was a chance I could sneak up on those birds.
The going was pretty easy. The rain from the night before and a stout breeze meant that I probably wouldn't be heard. I dropped into the ravine that lies off the north edge of the field and climbed the hill towards the field where I thought the birds were. Near the top I slowed and started scanning back and forth with the binoculars. A step up, scan back and forth, another step, more scanning. I came in just short of the two toms and most of the hens, they were another 50 yards down the field, but I had a couple of birds in front of me.
I started crawling forward slowly. The closer to the crest I got the lower and slower I moved. Finally I was on top several yards from the edge of the field. Some brush and a tree obscured my view of the main group of birds to my right so they weren't too much of a worry at that point. I would need to keep an eye on the two birds in front of me though. Both were in range, maybe 30 yards away, they looked like hens, one had a couple of inches of beard showing, a lightly colored jake maybe, it was hard to tell through the brush.
Now things really had to slow down. I was on my belly. Push the gun forward a few inches, push forward with my right foot. Always watch the birds in front of me. I was a few feet from the old barbed wire fence that ran the edge of the field when one of the turkeys in front of me saw me move. I froze as he approached, head bobbing trying to get a better look at whatever was in the woods there. When the breeze picked up and blew the branches around me I slowly looked down letting the brim of my hat hide my eyes and face. I could still see him with my right eye. He looked me over for a few minutes from the edge of the field and decided there was nothing to worry about. When he went and rejoined his buddy I started moving forward again.
The two toms hadn't moved, they were still fluffed up hanging out with the girls. I used a stick to prop up the bottom of the fence so I could crawl under. The jake saw me move again and started over to the edge of the field to find out what was moving around. I slowly lowered my head again, face in the dirt this time. I didn't need to see him this time, I could hear him softly clucking as he walked back and forth trying to figure me out from a few yards away. After several minutes I heard him cluck from farther away. I waited another few minutes before looking up. He was gone. I used the binoculars to scan the field but both of the turkeys in front of me had moved off.
I worked my way under the fence and got into position several feet from the edge of the corn stubble. I couldn't go any further without giving up the cover of the brush between me and the turkeys. Technically the toms were probably in range (I didn't dare fish out the range finder) but there were hens between us and too much brush. The big boys just had to move east ten yards and I'd have them. I thought about yelping or clucking on the slate call in my pocket, but why risk giving myself away when I had a half dozen turkeys within 50 yards. No, patients would win this game. The call would always be there as a final attempt if they moved away from me. I put my ear plugs in and pulled my elbows under me to get into the prone shooting position.
I only had to wait a few minutes until the gobblers started working to the east, strutting around the hens. They were in front of the gun now, I just had to wait for one to get away from the other so I didn't hit both. There it was, they were several feet apart when I lined the beads up on the head of the bird on the left and squeezed the trigger. He went down and started flopping. The other birds flew/ran west and watched the big guy flail in the corn stalks. After half a minute he was still, I flipped the safety on the gun and went to get my bird. My daughter still has a tag (we struck out during the 2 day kids hunt) so hopefully we'll get her a bird yet this spring.
Equipment and specs.
Gun: Mossberg 9200 12ga screw in full choke
Load: Remington 2 3/4" #5 turkey load
Other equip: Nikon monarch 8x42 bino.
Range was a little over 40 yards.
Turkey weighed 26.9lbs according to the bathroom scale. beard was 10" (though kinda scraggly and thin) and spurs were 1 1/2" each.
