king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated April/May 2008 - Index

water, and farm houses made quite a sight. It was neat
to be above it all, glancing down.
The turkeys became louder as the morning
light glowed throughout the beautiful valley. I had one
of the best turkey callers around right next to me, Jeff.
He started some soft yelping and the turkey continued
to gobble. I don’t know if I was prepared for what
would happen next. Suddenly, the large turkeys started
fl ying out of the huge maple trees and landing fi fty
yards in front of us. I could tell Dad and Jeff were
dying of excitement, and I was getting pretty nervous
and hoping for a good opportunity to shoot. Luckily, I
had my gun propped up on a stand and I was prepared.
There was only a small window where I could move
my gun and see down the barrel because my gun was
pointed up toward the hillside. There was a dozen or
so birds gobbling, strutting, and spurring each other
right in front of us! They were rapidly getting closer
as they responded to Jeff’s calls and started to chase
each other around the decoys. Their purple, green, and
brown feathers glimmered in the sunlight and, for the
fi rst time in my life, I thought a turkey was pretty. Dad
and Jeff whispered to inform me which of the turkeys
were jakes and mature toms. One tom appeared to
have a really long beard. The fl ock started to scatter
a little bit and headed for the ridge quite quickly. As
the big tom separated slightly from the rest, he stopped
for just a second only about fi fteen yards away on the
ridge line. He then started heading to the other side of
the hill when they both said, “Shoot him!” I tried hard
to squeeze the trigger slowly, but I knew I only had a
split second before the tom would be out of sight and
over the hillside. “Boom!” I shot and then saw feathers
fl ying in the air. Dad and Jeff said, “You got him, you
got him!” They were yelling, hollering, and hugging
me with excitement. They were so excited for me to
bag my fi rst turkey, and so was I. It was 6:30 a.m. on
opening morning and we already had a turkey down!
It was over so fast, just like I wished so many of Jeff’s
hunts would have ended. I thought to myself, “That
was easy.” To make things even better, when we got up
to examine the tom it was a really nice one. It was pure
luck. It just happened to be the biggest tom that gave
me the best shot. He had a ten-inch beard! We were
able to spend some time enjoying and watching the rest
of the turkeys feed and strut around across the valley.
The rays of sunlight were now highlighting the dew on
the grass, bushes, and trees and we had plenty of time
for some great photos in our Mountain Shadow.
We hiked out with the beautiful tom over our
shoulders and headed for home. Mom was surprised to
see us back so early. It was a successful hunt, and we
had a lot of fun together. Thanks Jeff and Dad! Although
my symptoms are a little more mild, I must admit I think
I caught a little of the “turkey fever” myself!
BY STEVE CHAPPELL
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Top Ten Tips for
Hunting Turkeys
Although turkeys can’t smell humans, their eyesight is
very keen. You must be in head to toe camo and use a
face mask. Setup in the shade if possible. A camoufl aged
shotgun is a good idea.
Setup with your back against a large tree for safety and
concealment. If you are right handed, position yourself at
about a 90 degree angle to an approaching turkey. Your
left shoulder should point at the turkey rather than sitting
face on to the turkey. This gives you the most versatility
to shoot.
If possible, locate Toms in the evening. You will hear
them “cackle” and fl y up to roost right before dark.
Turkeys will “shock gobble” at everything from a coyote
howl or crow call to a horn honking! Use a “locator call”
to locate toms in the evenings prior to fl y up or in the mid
morning. Then, go to your turkey calls once you are setup
and ready.
In the morning, sneek in under cover of darkness, and setup
as close as you can to the “roost tree” without spooking
the turkeys. 75 to 150 yards if possible. As daylight starts
to break, give some light hen yelps (“tree yelps”). Once
the gobbler answers you, call according to his response.
You don’t want to jump all over him, but you can also be
too timid. If he is liking your calls, keep him fi red up.
Decoys can work great to distract turkeys coming to
the call. You can use just hens, a hen with a jake, or
we’ve also found a gobbler decoy (B-Mobile) to be very
effective. Position the decoys where you will have a good
open shot when the tom gets to them.
Learn to use a slate call, box call, and mouth calls if
possible. Some turkeys will prefer one sound while
others will like something else. This will make you more
versatile and more successful.
Once hens get bred and start going to sit on their nests in
the morning use this to your advantage. Gobblers will be
out looking-this is when hunting mid-morning all the way
through afternoon can pay off big.
Never wear or carry anything red, white, or blue when
turkey hunting since these are the
colors of a gobbler’s head.
When carrying decoys or a turkey
out of the woods, drape them with
fl ourescent orange for safety. Have fun
and enjoy your time in the woods!
See Extreme turkey hunting action
“Western Style” on the new Extreme
Gobblers DVD. Ordering information
in the Video Vault on page 80.
April/May 75