It Ain’t Over Yet!

…with a spring turkey permit still in my pocket, my personal goal this week was to spend a few mornings chasing turkeys – it didn’t last long…

Full Moon Over the Turkey Woods

…the alarm went off at that ‘way-too-early’ time Monday morning and it was with some internal-struggle that I finally got out of bed…the wind wasn’t blowing, it wasn’t raining – what more can you ask for from Nebraska’s weather?…camo’d and cold caffeine in-hand I pulled out of the driveway 20 minutes later…

…my chosen hunting spot was a friend’s farm where the birds had bested us earlier in the season – however, they gave away the location of a preferred roosting site…

…the grass was wet as I got my gear ready – maybe it was just a heavy dew or the effects of the 3+ inches of rain that fell in the days before…either way, as I headed into the river-bottom woods, I knew I’d have to find either an area of very short grass or hunt the edge of the crop-field – turkeys hate getting their feathers wet in the thick stuff…

…as can be the case in late May, the first muffled gobble came a bit later than I expected – but I knew from experience that late season toms often have to travel more looking for willing hens, causing them to do more talking once they are out of the tree…to my ears this bird was a ways off, but green leaves can absorb gobbles making birds sound farther away than they actually are…

…I chose a cedar tree to lean up against that kept me in the cover of the woods, but also gave me a small a view into the newly planted cornfield – but only after I busted a turkey out of a nearby tree…the scared bird sailed across the river - hope it was a hen…a few more gobblers woke up, but none closer than the first I heard – he was to be my game this morning…

…he only gobbled a few times on the roost, but his gobbles didn’t sound any further away once he hit the ground – in fact, once in awhile he even sounded like he was moving closer…his gobbles didn’t have the intensity of a mid-April tom that has his share of the hens, but seemed to contain the desperate rattle of a lonely bird – maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part…

…my calls would sometimes bring a response from the unseen gobbler…I was calling sparingly in hopes that he would come searching for me – the same reason that I left the decoys at home…soon enough I was hearing the second most popular turkey sound – the spit & drum…a loud pleading gobble confirmed the big boy had made his way to the field I was guarding…I couldn’t yet see him but his gobbling increased – he was after the hen he had heard and was doing his best to draw her out of the woods…

There Are No Words

…the tom stayed just out of sight for several minutes gobbling, spitting & drumming – which gave me enough time to get excited as well as calm myself down…then I saw that beautiful red, white & blue head scanning my direction – desperately looking for the hen…the next few minutes I got to see the show all turkey hunters dream of as I let the big bird close the distance even more…

…the turkey season is winding down – but it ain’t over just yet!…if you find yourself headed into this holiday weekend with an unfilled spring turkey tag don’t let the opportunity to head to the turkey woods slip by…the turkeys are still there and many of them still have love on their minds…hey, it’ll be a long time before next spring, too!…

hershy