BritChaser
Well-known member
My hunting buddy and I were out at zero dark thirty on opening day in western Kansas. We hunted the same place we have hunted for over 15 years. It's a great place for turkey. Lots of cottonwoods along a creek and nearby grain fields for feed. Kind of secluded too. All good. In years past we've seen 140 turkeys in this flock. This year we saw 12. I guess nature waxes and wanes.
We put out our decoys and settled in the brush for the wait. We began calling when they started gobbling while still in the trees. Fly down started a bit before sunrise and by sunrise three toms and a harem of hens could be seen in a little patch of alfalfa 200 yards south of our set up.
We got lots of gobbles in response to our calls but the toms stayed with the harem. We kept calling, they kept gobbling for a half hour, and then the hens headed west, the toms following. We left our hide to scout where they had gone and, seeing none, went back to our hide and resumed calling. In a few minutes we spotted a lone tom who appeared to be heading out way.
Incoming!
The lone tom kept up a steady pace until he came to the dirt road between us where he paused behind a thin line of kochia. It was my buddy's shot and he was not a mouth caller so with his hands busy with his gun I took over calling. I called and the tom gobbled back. Then he came out from behind the kochia and stepped toward the decoys but stopped out of range. A familiar scenario. I called again and he strutted but did not move in. I waited, then called again, he strutted again, and then came in slowly toward the decoys. My buddy knocked him cuckoo.
We put out our decoys and settled in the brush for the wait. We began calling when they started gobbling while still in the trees. Fly down started a bit before sunrise and by sunrise three toms and a harem of hens could be seen in a little patch of alfalfa 200 yards south of our set up.
We got lots of gobbles in response to our calls but the toms stayed with the harem. We kept calling, they kept gobbling for a half hour, and then the hens headed west, the toms following. We left our hide to scout where they had gone and, seeing none, went back to our hide and resumed calling. In a few minutes we spotted a lone tom who appeared to be heading out way.
Incoming!
The lone tom kept up a steady pace until he came to the dirt road between us where he paused behind a thin line of kochia. It was my buddy's shot and he was not a mouth caller so with his hands busy with his gun I took over calling. I called and the tom gobbled back. Then he came out from behind the kochia and stepped toward the decoys but stopped out of range. A familiar scenario. I called again and he strutted but did not move in. I waited, then called again, he strutted again, and then came in slowly toward the decoys. My buddy knocked him cuckoo.
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