Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine Fall 2001

HUNTING SPOOKED GOBBLERS

By Brett Berry

At the first hint of light that early May day, a gobble sounded from the tree tops some 150 yards away. As I raced to set my decoys, I could not help but wonder if he was the same gobbler that I had missed the year before.

When the decoys were in place I double-checked my setup to make sure I had a clear shot. With trembling hands I managed to scratch out a soft tree yelp with my Black Magic slate call. The gobbler’s instant response sent a somewhat soothing calm over me as I fought the urge to call again.

After what seemed an eternity, a black statue appeared in a small clearing 60 yards away. It was the gobbler, all puffed up like a giant balloon in a Macys’s day parade. Suddenly he turned and looked at my decoys, broke strut, and came at a dead run with his paint brush beard swinging from side to side. At 40 yards, he ran behind a large oak tree, giving me the chance to reposition my gun so I could take him when he came out the other side.

But he never reappeared. After 30 minutes of remaining motionless I began to realize he was gone. I believe gobblers have an uncanny ability to see through trees.

ANOTHER DAY

Two days later I found myself in the same area looking for the disappearing bird. I’ve found that after spooking a bird you can hunt him again, some times even the same day, but I usually like to give a spooked turkey a day or two of rest before going after him again. When hunting the same bird, it is usually best to try a new location and a different type of call. However, I’ve found that a different call is not as important as finding a new location to call from.

Another tactic is to hunt the gobbler at different times of the day. If you originally hunted and spooked the bird at first light, try waiting for him to fly down and track him through the woods with locator calls. He will lead you to an area where he feels safe; then you can set up and try to call him there.

This time I decided I would try a new location about 100 yards to the west of my first set up. At fly down he headed straight away from me. I let him go and waited an hour before I started calling. After letting out a series of aggressive cutts, he hammered back a gobble.

After working him for over an hour, he came in slow and began to circle my position. Finally the bird stepped into view. He had circled farther than I figured he would, and was standing 30 yards off of my right shoulder. As he came up over a little rise my decoys became visible to him, as soon as he saw the decoys he turned and ran back into the brush. I’d been hunting this gobbler for two years and this was the fourth time I had him in gun range. Twice the year before I missed him while he was displaying for three of my hen decoys. I believe that sometimes turkeys become decoy shy and that such is the case with this bird.

TRY AND TRY AGAIN

Over the last two and a half weeks of Ohio’s three-week season, I tried and tried again to take this long beard home with me. Each time I worked him he would gobble, work his way just out of view and circle. Where he would show himself was a guess. I actually had this bird in gun range of less than forty yards six different times, twice in the same day.

After calling a bird in and spooking him it is not always over, it is sometimes possible to work that same turkey back into gun range. So before you go tearing off looking for another turkey, just sit back, listen and wait. Your gobbler will move off and settle down and, after an hour or two; those matting urges will creep back in. Let him tell you when he is ready, often times they will move off to a strutting area they feel is safe and begin gobbling in hopes of attracting hens to them. Try easing into a new set-up and work him from there.

PERSISTENCE

I believe persistence kills more birds than anything else. On a tough old bird, keep trying to come up with a new game plan each time you hunt him. I knew where the turkey I was hunting liked to roost and I knew where he wanted to go each day. At fly down he would head for a five-acre field on an adjacent property that I was not permitted to hunt. With three days remaining in the season I decided to have a friend come along and see if we could take him. I had Gene set up within 100 yards of the roosted bird so he could work him off the roost and I set up in a creek bottom that he would sometimes use to gain access to the 5-acre field.

After about 3 hours I headed over to Gene's set-up. When I got there he said, " I worked that gobbler in off the roost just as if he were on a string, but just before coming into view he shut up. The next time he gobbled he was out in the field." It was time for a new game plan.

We decided to set up 40 yards apart and try calling him out of the field. The plan was every time I would cutt Gene would cutt in order to sound like two very excited hens that wanted some company now. This seemed to be working. With each series of cutts he gobbled, and each gobble was closer than the one before. My heart was pounding as I tried to figure out where he would show himself. But just like always he came only so close and began to circle. I was spinning around the tree like the second hand on a clock trying to track this old monarch. Then suddenly he came into view; he was 40 yards out and in full strut. What an exciting moment, there he was again in gun range, but this time the red dot from my scope was glowing on his wattles. I took a deep breath and slowly pulled the trigger. The gun roared and I saw the gobbler drop to the ground. I raced to the downed gobbler and after having him in hand I breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally mine! He weighed in at 21 _ lbs., had a 10 _ inch beard, his left spur was 1 7/16 inches and his right spur was broken but still measured over an inch.

Persistence really does pay off!