Horsing Around for Turkeys

It was a fifteen minute walk to the private property this writer had permission to hunt, because you had to travel across a WMA to get there. The lunchtime drill was real simple: don’t spend too much time looking for turkeys because it’s technically during lunch break. After parking the car, this hunter put on his camouflage, his turkey vest and took off down the trail with his shotgun. This was the first attempt at the 2013 spring season for Tennessee turkeys, and the hunter didn’t know what to expect once he reached the view of the property line back toward the river. The writer was about to have an encounter with several animals, but they weren’t turkeys.

Having neared the opening of the property line where there was a big field, the writer was about to cross a horse trail when he heard horses. There were about five or six people, possibly all family members, on a leisurely ride through the WMA. “Great” he thought, “that’s going to make for a splendid hunt,” knowing he probably wouldn’t see anything now that they had come through. No sooner had that thought left his mind, the gentleman on the front horse said “I heard a gobbler about fifteen minutes ago back toward the river, and he was pretty close!” He went on to describe to this hunter how to get back there without being detected. What he didn’t know was this writer had hunted in the exact spot he was talking about last year with his mother, Kathy Butt, veteran outdoor writer and wildlife photographer. The turkeys had given us the slip on that hunt, but this was a new opportunity.

This hunter thanked them for the information and pondered if he should go with the man’s suggestion or go check the field on the private property. Hmmm, decisions! The gut instinct was saying “listen to the man on the horse; at least he heard the gobbler, because who knows where else other birds might be.” After going with that decision, this hunter snuck up to the small circular patch of trees at the top of the corn field in order to peek around the other side to see if the gobbler was in view. When nothing was visible, a setup was procured in the same spot this writer and his mother had been last year.

Instead of putting on a facemask, this hunter decided to make a few calls on his trusty slate. With the gun propped up in the lap, a few delicate yelps and cuts were made to see if the gobbler would answer. Having made about four series of calls, it was beginning to make this hunter wonder exactly where this turkey was. About five minutes into the setup, the thunderous gobble erupted from just off to this hunter’s right from the corner of the corn field. Without any hesitation there was a desperate scrambling for the facemask which was placed on the head just in time to catch a glimpse of the tom. He was making his way toward the sound of the deceptive slate call this hunter had used just seconds ago. The time elapsed from the sound of his gobble to the time he appeared to this hunter was approximately ten seconds. There wasn’t even enough time to make sure the facemask was tied tight around the head.

The gobbler made his way closer to this hunter with a couple of other birds with him, though it was uncertain whether they were jakes or hens. This writer’s guess is that they were jakes the way they were coming in to the call. This hunter was so focused in on the tom that the other turkeys were afterthoughts. As he approached the direction in which the gun barrel was pointed, the audible tones of spitting could be heard when he would pull his neck down into his strutting body. This bird was about to be as close as he was going to get when he pulled his head down one more time as this hunter swung his gun around to take the shot at twenty-five yards. Cancel Christmas!

Approximately ten minutes had elapsed from the time this hunter sat down to the time the bird was successfully harvested. It doesn’t happen much quicker than that. When moments like that take place it makes you think about all the times you go out in the field without seeing or hearing turkeys. There are simply times when the action happens fast, so you better take advantage of those moments when they come.

Scouting for turkeys helps in preparation for the upcoming season, but who in their wildest dreams would ever think that some random horseback riders would be the ticket to helping you locate a bird? The next time this writer blows a locator call, it is very possible that the noise which actually comes to mind is the blowing of the horse on the trail. Who needs a crow or owl call when a horse will lead you to a turkey?