My Opening Day of Turkey Season

Ah, out turkey hunting at last!

Saturday was a great day in the spring woods! Although I didn't get a gobbler, the action was exciting and I had the pleasure of introducing someone to the sport of turkey hunting. This hunt was another great example of how our time outdoors provides opportunity even if we don't tag that trophy.

Jason's first turkey hunt.

My friend Jason has been hunting before. He hunts deer and he does it the hard way -with a stick and string on the ground! But never before had he been turkey hunting. So a few weeks ago, we made plans to get out in the woods and see if we could trick an old tom into range.

"Painting waiting to happen"

In the pre-dawn darkness, we talked some turkey strategy. I showed Jason how to use a slate call and he practiced as we rumbled down an old county highway in my truck. Once we got there, Jason made the comment as we geared up outside the truck, "this morning sky was a painting waiting to happen." Between the valley fog, frosty grass, dawn color and broken sky it was truly a beautiful sight. And believe it or not made it worth it to wake up at 4am.

Gobbles echoed almost continuously until sunrise. We located a couple toms and snuck within 200 yards, but they were on the bordering property and getting any closer would undoubtedly spook the deer in the fields towards the gobblers. So we set up, and called for a bit. I was getting a response about every 5th try, but they never closed the distance. After an hour or so we tried a new spot.

Too bad those are just my decoys...

The frosty pastures that morning seemed to keep the turkeys in the woods, because it wasn't until mid-morning that we were seeing them work the ridges. We walked around a bit, calling from time to time and at one point, we were ambushed by three jakes. I made the mistake of hitting the yelp when we weren't set up-just to see what was around- and less than 100 yards away the hillside erupted in gobbles! Jason and I had just enough time to kneel down before three red periscope heads poked up from the pasture. They literally ran at us to about 75 yards before they began to act nervous about the two weird looking bushes holding the turkey decoys. The only other turkey encounter we had was close to noon when a big tom with an 8"-10" beard came out into the pasture working the ridge-line and feeding. At first, he'd stop every time I called, but eventually he ignored my calls and kept feeding until he was out of sight. He must not have liked what I was saying...

Old Morels. These guys are 2 weeks
old and I'm losing faith in my forecast
of a second morel season. My spots
shut down once the cool April showers
came in.

So we didn't get a turkey, but it was a great morning in the woods! We found a deer antler shed, a few old morels and made some new memories along the way. With the weather pattern swinging wildly the next few weeks, I hope you can squeeze in a few chances to enjoy good weather in the outdoors. Good luck!

-Chris