Pulled the boys out of school at 11 am Fri and headed to the Texas Panhandle to chase turkeys for the weekend.
The Set Up - The property has a creek running through it and is a primary roosting area for several square miles. There is a 70-80 acre open grass field on one side of the creek and parallels the creek. The birds use it to strut and feed in after coming off the roost. There is also a small ½ - ¾ acres clearing on the other side of the creek with a water trough in it. The birds come and go all day long and never really stray more than a couple hundred yards from the creek. After the hens are bred, they nest in the tree line off the creek between the small clearing and the large grass field.
Arrived late Friday afternoon. I planned on shooting the 1st tom within range with my bow in hopes of not spooking birds in the area and give one of my boys a chance to shoot next. 20 minutes after setting up and calling in the small clearing, 3 hens and 2 big mature gobblers showed up. The toms were fanning and strutting 45-50 yards from the blind, but stayed hung up with the hens. Another gobbler and hen showed and the bigger toms ran him toward us. I shot gobbler #3 with my bow at 12 yards. The bow kill did not spook any of the birds in front of us. In fact, the toms came to check out my dead bird. It pulled the toms inside of 30 yards, My 7 yr old was up next and couldn’t get settled on the biggest bird. The toms moved to the back of the clearing out of range. I started softly calling using purrs and clucks and pulled in another tom. He came in and stopped exactly where gobbler #3 stopped. My 7 yr old dropped him in his tracks. 2 nice gobblers on the ground in the 1st hour. We slipped out of the blind and carried the dead toms off so as not to further disturb any other birds in the area wanting to roost on the creek.
Saturday morning – in the blind at 6 am. I counted 6 different groups of birds roosted around the property. About 8:30, 13 jakes showed up with 2 juvenile hens. They milled around for about 2 hours. Once they drifted off, we slipped out of the blind. Went to town for lunch.
Sat afternoon – got to the blind at 3:30 pm. Started calling around 3:45. Pulled in a huge tom and a single hen. My 10 year old was up to bat. I couldn’t get the mature tom inside of 50 yards. More calling and eventually the hen didn’t like it and left with her tom in tow. I let things rest for about 30 min and started with a series of yelps and cutts. 2 more toms and 6 hens arrived. Never could get them inside of 40 yards. They stayed until 8 pm and then moved 100 yards down the creek and roosted.
Sun morning – Moved our set up a little bit. I made a decision to call as aggressively as I could starting while the birds where still on the roost. I had a tom close by and he was fired up. He would sound off every time I hit the call. I could then hear a hen yelp and echo me. They came off the roost and the hen came looking for me. She was hot!! The tom came in, but was where my blind was the day before. We basically switched places. Still 50 yards out. After about 10 min the birds moved off. They moved inside the tree line. He fanned the whole time about 70 yards away. I started getting aggressive again and then the hen sat down and let the tom breed. I guess she showed me. My boys were losing focus after getting to bed late and up early two days in a row. I couldn’t keep them quiet. I told my 10 year old to straighten up around 8:45 am. I felt the birds would start heading to the water trough. He wouldn’t listen. I told him to get out of the chair his hunt was over. I was actually going to let him think about if for 10 min or so then I saw a hen slipping through the trees with a gobbler in tow. It was like 2 min after I pulled Ethan from the chair. I started to calls very softly. Purrs the whole time. She came into the clearing then the tom cleared the trees. I shouldered the gun and shot the tom. A tough lesson for my son, but one I felt he needed to learn. Act right or lose your privileges. Our hunt was over. 3 birds in the bag with decent beards; one 9 inches, 8.5 inches and one 8 inches. We loaded the truck and headed home.
Looking back, it was a great hunt. I really enjoy sharing the woods with my family. Would have loved for one of us to have shot one of the bigger birds in the area, but we’re happy with the overall experience.
The Set Up - The property has a creek running through it and is a primary roosting area for several square miles. There is a 70-80 acre open grass field on one side of the creek and parallels the creek. The birds use it to strut and feed in after coming off the roost. There is also a small ½ - ¾ acres clearing on the other side of the creek with a water trough in it. The birds come and go all day long and never really stray more than a couple hundred yards from the creek. After the hens are bred, they nest in the tree line off the creek between the small clearing and the large grass field.
Arrived late Friday afternoon. I planned on shooting the 1st tom within range with my bow in hopes of not spooking birds in the area and give one of my boys a chance to shoot next. 20 minutes after setting up and calling in the small clearing, 3 hens and 2 big mature gobblers showed up. The toms were fanning and strutting 45-50 yards from the blind, but stayed hung up with the hens. Another gobbler and hen showed and the bigger toms ran him toward us. I shot gobbler #3 with my bow at 12 yards. The bow kill did not spook any of the birds in front of us. In fact, the toms came to check out my dead bird. It pulled the toms inside of 30 yards, My 7 yr old was up next and couldn’t get settled on the biggest bird. The toms moved to the back of the clearing out of range. I started softly calling using purrs and clucks and pulled in another tom. He came in and stopped exactly where gobbler #3 stopped. My 7 yr old dropped him in his tracks. 2 nice gobblers on the ground in the 1st hour. We slipped out of the blind and carried the dead toms off so as not to further disturb any other birds in the area wanting to roost on the creek.
Saturday morning – in the blind at 6 am. I counted 6 different groups of birds roosted around the property. About 8:30, 13 jakes showed up with 2 juvenile hens. They milled around for about 2 hours. Once they drifted off, we slipped out of the blind. Went to town for lunch.
Sat afternoon – got to the blind at 3:30 pm. Started calling around 3:45. Pulled in a huge tom and a single hen. My 10 year old was up to bat. I couldn’t get the mature tom inside of 50 yards. More calling and eventually the hen didn’t like it and left with her tom in tow. I let things rest for about 30 min and started with a series of yelps and cutts. 2 more toms and 6 hens arrived. Never could get them inside of 40 yards. They stayed until 8 pm and then moved 100 yards down the creek and roosted.
Sun morning – Moved our set up a little bit. I made a decision to call as aggressively as I could starting while the birds where still on the roost. I had a tom close by and he was fired up. He would sound off every time I hit the call. I could then hear a hen yelp and echo me. They came off the roost and the hen came looking for me. She was hot!! The tom came in, but was where my blind was the day before. We basically switched places. Still 50 yards out. After about 10 min the birds moved off. They moved inside the tree line. He fanned the whole time about 70 yards away. I started getting aggressive again and then the hen sat down and let the tom breed. I guess she showed me. My boys were losing focus after getting to bed late and up early two days in a row. I couldn’t keep them quiet. I told my 10 year old to straighten up around 8:45 am. I felt the birds would start heading to the water trough. He wouldn’t listen. I told him to get out of the chair his hunt was over. I was actually going to let him think about if for 10 min or so then I saw a hen slipping through the trees with a gobbler in tow. It was like 2 min after I pulled Ethan from the chair. I started to calls very softly. Purrs the whole time. She came into the clearing then the tom cleared the trees. I shouldered the gun and shot the tom. A tough lesson for my son, but one I felt he needed to learn. Act right or lose your privileges. Our hunt was over. 3 birds in the bag with decent beards; one 9 inches, 8.5 inches and one 8 inches. We loaded the truck and headed home.
Looking back, it was a great hunt. I really enjoy sharing the woods with my family. Would have loved for one of us to have shot one of the bigger birds in the area, but we’re happy with the overall experience.
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