woodster
05-08-2014, 09:33 AM
Well, Cory and I were up at 3:30am... again, headed in to to take a last run at our big tom that's been giving us the slip. Three mornings we've either seen him or his hens, and three mornings he's done something completely different. About 10 days ago I missed him with my bow, put a shaft almost right through his beard. The next time we went in, he held up about 70yrds out across a draw. We were on one side, he was on the other, and his hens were in the bottom. He put on a hell of a show for the video camera, but once his hens were done feeding, they worked their way up to him and just like a bull elk, he rounded them up and they took off up the ridge to their nests. The next day we saw him come off roost, hit the ground, strut a little bit and he was off trolling for hens, no shot, no hens around.
So we gave it a few days and went back in yesterday morning. We're getting later in the season and we were thinking that a lot of the hens probably have their clutches laid and are probably not so interested in Tom anymore, and that maybe we have a chance to call him in. Hiking in it was pretty quiet, we were starting to get worried that they had vacated the small valley we had been seeing him in. But, when we got within about a 1/2km to his roosting area he started to light up, gobbling about every 30 seconds or so as we slipped into a spot near one of the areas they like to feed in. He was pretty active in the tree and I could hear a couple of hens chirping softly, not nearly as aggressively as they had been previously the week before.
The hens came out of their roost first. They opened their wings and sailed over our heads and down the valley, headed for a different feeding area further down the ridge. A few minutes had past and the big tom was still in his roost, gobbling his head off now, ready to come down and look for some ladies. Well, he's not nearly as graceful as the hens, his wings flapping hard, trying to defy gravity long enough to sail to the hens. He only made it over our heads and onto the far side of the ridge behind up before he hit the ground. He was back to gobbling and strutting immediately and Cory and I figured he would be working that ridge top down to the hens. We took off down the trail we had come up on, paralleling the ridge he was on. When we figured we were about half way between him and the hens we took off up the ridge to head him off. He was coming quicker than we thought, and as we hit the top of the ridge he was almost on top of us, he gobbled about 50 yards from us, just on the backside of the ridge. Cory had been running video pretty much the whole time so I got ready, flipped the safety off and let out a soft run with the mouth reed.
I could see his tail feathers fanned out as he strutted toward us behind a fir tree, not much of a shot, but he was inside of 25yrds now and I wasn't going to mess around, waiting for strutting footage for the camera. Another soft run with the mouth reed and I saw his tail feathers go down and his bright red head popped up over a log, searching for the hen. 20yrds, full head exposed, done deal!
I know this is pretty long winded for a turkey hunt, but I don't have to get up at 3:30am tomorrow!!
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/1798636_794905963852962_4805703361235733226_n.jpg
So we gave it a few days and went back in yesterday morning. We're getting later in the season and we were thinking that a lot of the hens probably have their clutches laid and are probably not so interested in Tom anymore, and that maybe we have a chance to call him in. Hiking in it was pretty quiet, we were starting to get worried that they had vacated the small valley we had been seeing him in. But, when we got within about a 1/2km to his roosting area he started to light up, gobbling about every 30 seconds or so as we slipped into a spot near one of the areas they like to feed in. He was pretty active in the tree and I could hear a couple of hens chirping softly, not nearly as aggressively as they had been previously the week before.
The hens came out of their roost first. They opened their wings and sailed over our heads and down the valley, headed for a different feeding area further down the ridge. A few minutes had past and the big tom was still in his roost, gobbling his head off now, ready to come down and look for some ladies. Well, he's not nearly as graceful as the hens, his wings flapping hard, trying to defy gravity long enough to sail to the hens. He only made it over our heads and onto the far side of the ridge behind up before he hit the ground. He was back to gobbling and strutting immediately and Cory and I figured he would be working that ridge top down to the hens. We took off down the trail we had come up on, paralleling the ridge he was on. When we figured we were about half way between him and the hens we took off up the ridge to head him off. He was coming quicker than we thought, and as we hit the top of the ridge he was almost on top of us, he gobbled about 50 yards from us, just on the backside of the ridge. Cory had been running video pretty much the whole time so I got ready, flipped the safety off and let out a soft run with the mouth reed.
I could see his tail feathers fanned out as he strutted toward us behind a fir tree, not much of a shot, but he was inside of 25yrds now and I wasn't going to mess around, waiting for strutting footage for the camera. Another soft run with the mouth reed and I saw his tail feathers go down and his bright red head popped up over a log, searching for the hen. 20yrds, full head exposed, done deal!
I know this is pretty long winded for a turkey hunt, but I don't have to get up at 3:30am tomorrow!!
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/1798636_794905963852962_4805703361235733226_n.jpg