Turkey Scouting Pays Off!
On the 1st day we glassed a large Tom cruising around a woodlot that is flooded only giving him one way out. So my plan was to run around the woodlot and set up and give a couple yelps and wait, but 1/2 way around I ran into about 10 birds and hit the dirt. Me and my camera man buddy Lee crawled up to a big hay bale and I started calling. They all came right over... Every one was a hen! So now we didn't know if thew big Tom had made it threw the gap yet and raced over there hoping to beat him. I got set up against a tree all contorted and twisted, but in the only good position where I could get the camera over my shoulder and have good shooting. I gave a couple soft calls and got no answer, so I waited a bit and then turned up the volume. No answer. Waited and then with the end of the day approaching decided to take a peak out into the field. I told the camera guy my intention and then got up and stuck my head out to peak into the field and guess what? Here comes that big ol Tom heading right to us on a dead run about 50 yards out. I spun back to my position and looked at the camera and said INCOMING!!! As soon as I got situated and turned on my own gun cam he was already in front of us. He slowed to a walk and started pecking at the ground and then looking around for the hen. When he was in the middle of the opening at 25 / 30 yards, I put the bead on his head and..... MISSED! What the heck? I never miss!
It was a long walk back to the truck, but hey, what good is a turkey video without a miss or two. When we got to the truck we could hear a gobbler lighting up the woods in another spot on the farm where I had been seeing a huge Tom. The next morning I had to work, but after work we spotted a tom out in some grass on our way to hunt the Tom from the night before. We had to park on the other side of this farm cause it too is just tree lines and brush. after a long sneak and one wet river crossing, I got into position and started calling. Within minutes two hens came running in and flew across a ditch and landed 10 yards from me and started yelping and looking around for the hen they had heard. I looked up and saw two dark birds that defiantly were not hens coming in from where the hens came. They came all the way till they were about 7 yards away. Jakes. I was enjoying them when 2 large Toms strutted out from where the Jakes came from and heading my way. They held up at about 65 yards. When they went to leave I tried calling to them even though I had the jakes right next to me.
No dice. The Jakes just stood there looking at me, but the Toms would not come over, even with all the live bait. As I got up to leave the jakes still just stood there as if they new they were safe. I headed over to where we heard the Tom the morning before and we glassed until we found him near that woodlot. I devised a plan and we drove around to an access about 3/4 of a mile from him, but the only way we could use to slip in without being noticed. After along crawl over a hill and along a sparse tree line we could hear him gobbling like crazy unprovoked from us. As we slid into a lying position in some briar's 100 yards from the bird I turned and looked at Lee one last time and whispered "Dead bird" just after he sounded off with another double gobble.
I did one soft yelp and it was responded with 2 quick gobbles and almost instantly the big bird walked into the field. I could not call no more because we were lying face down and would have been busted with no tree behind us... But no more calls were needed. He came all the way to 40 yards and ate lead. Woooowhooo!!!!
