# Public Land Turkey Success!



## manysteps (Sep 28, 2009)

I left the house at about 4:45 AM yesterday which put me in prime time to be setting up before fly down.

I had a spot in mind that I wanted to set up, and I hiked my butt off to get there in time... actually hiked past it, and had to back track.

The first gobble happened while I was setting up the blind, but that was fine, they couldn't see me where I was...

As daylight dawned, I realized I was actually in a pretty crappy spot, but I stuck with it anyway... sometimes crappy spots pay off.

One thing I learned was where the roost is... I was close enough I could hear the hens in the trees, and I heard them fly down, so this is good future information.

I never could get one to commit to coming in to my spot, and since the gobbling pretty much quit by 8:30, I decided I needed to go to them.
After taking the blind down, I hiked straight up the hill to see what I would see, and I saw some pretty awesome areas.

I worked my way along in the "high country" heading in the direction back to my truck, but since the birds were still being silent, I had a change of heart.

I knew that I would be bringing my kids up Saturday and Sunday, and I need to learn more about this potential fly down location, so I decided to hike back down the the "well beaten path" of the main trail to head back up there.

I'm still hunting of course, so every 200 yards or so I would call to see if anything responds on my way.... (insert crickets)

I get to a point where I'm almost exactly North of where I had my blind all morning, round a bend in the trail, and out in the open meadow in front of me is a tom turkey 150 yards away.

HOLY CRAP!

I hit the deck.

Carefully looking through the brush, I can see he's still there... he didn't spot me... phew!

So, on my hands and knees, I sneak up the trail to find some cover to call from.

[Quick break from the story to tell you about terrain]

The main trail is elevated from the meadow by about 10 feet, and there's quite a bit of brush along the trail that offers cover, but in some points, you may as well be waiving a red flag to tell them where you are.

[/end break]

Ahead of me, I can see some trees with plenty of cover around that is a perfect spot to call from, so I continue my crawl... My main concern at this point is them seeing my backpack...

[Backpack description break]

I have a day pack on and attached to that is my seat cushion, as well as a fold out blind in a jet black case... I'm a total hunchback.

[/end break]

I *finally* make it to my spot, and now I need to pull out my call... "crap! it's in a front cargo pocket in my pants... well, let's just roll to the right a bit..." [this is when my whole pack situation shifts, and makes way more noise than I care for]

So, instead of trying to deal with the pack situation, I unbuckle it, and let it roll off of my shoulders... now I'm free to go about by business.

I slide the call out, and give a really soft yelp... nothing.

A little louder yelp... nothing.

An even louder yelp... still nothing.

"I know he heard me, what the heck?"... so I belly crawl to get a window to see if he's even still in the meadow...

200 yards ahead of me, the tree line makes a point, and I can see the fanned out feathers of a tom working his way around it.... away from me. frown emoticon (crap, did I get busted?!)

From my belly crawl, I slowly raise up... and I see turkeys still in the meadow! YAY!

I watch them for a moment or two and it "appears" they might be feeding my direction! (good news, because if I move 2 feet further they'll see me without a doubt)

At this point, I have one "plan"... "hope" they are actually going to feed along the edge of this meadow, and "pray" that they won't see me when they're right in front of me.

I backwards belly crawl back to where I left my pack... it's a perfect ambush point...

When I get back to my pack, I'm really pleased that I made the decision to carry my bipod attached to the pack, so I unhook it, and set it up to hold the front of the shotgun barrel.

From there, it's just a matter of resting my weight on my elbows, my cheek on the stock of the gun, and wait.

... and wait...

... and wait...

... and wait....

I really don't have any idea how long I waited in that position, but I know my hands went completely numb from a lack of blood, and my patience was wearing quite thin... (ARE THEY EVEN STILL THERE?!)

One thing I know is, numb fingers and triggers don't get along really well, so I slowly let the gun rest on the ground (it isn't that far, I'm laying prone).. and I was able to stretch my arms out a bit to get some blood flowing.

When I could feel my fingers again, I slowly raised myself up with a pushup, and 35 yards away through the trees I can see a turkey... I don't even care if it's a hen or a tom... they're coming in just like I hoped!

I resumed my earlier position and waited longer.

Give or take 10 minutes later, I can hear soft clucks and other assorted noises from a hen, and shortly later, there she is... 10 or 15 yards in front of me...
There's a problem though...

Where she is, is NOT where my gun is pointed.

Sure, she's straight in front of me, but she's closer, and more importantly BELOW my point of aim (by at least 6 feet)

There's nothing I can do about that though... if I move, she'll see me, and the game is off.

She moves out of site, and then another hen moves in to view...

At this point I have a plan B... if I get busted, I'm jumping up with the gun at my shoulder to pop the tom as he runs away if I can get a clear shot.

The second hen disappears, and now I'm just waiting on the tom...

I kinda expected he would be out further in the meadow strutting his stuff, but no... he shows up on the exact same trail as the hens took... No strut, just feeding along... 9" beard dragging on the ground.

He's RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! HOLY MOLY!

I have to adjust the gun to put the bead on him, but I do it anyway... He didn't even notice.

Now, I have leaves, branches and way more material between us than I care for... UGH!

Then a thought dawned on me... he's 10 or 15 yards away... you can shoot through leaves...

BOOM!

He flops like a sack of potatoes, I dropped the gun and RAN to get my boot on his neck... and he and I had a fun 15 minutes of me shaking like a ***** in church while he finally gave in to the inevitable.

So there you have it, the full unrated version... I don't know about you, but I LOVE this story... be prepared to hear it if we're having beers. grin emoticon


----------



## #1DEER 1-I (Sep 10, 2007)

Congrats, I haven't even had time to get out yet, hoping to do so tomorrow.


----------



## manysteps (Sep 28, 2009)

#1DEER 1-I said:


> Congrats, I haven't even had time to get out yet, hoping to do so tomorrow.


It was my fourth trip out with a gun, and the seventh if you count the LE with my son, and the youth hunt with my daughter.


----------



## silentstalker (Feb 19, 2008)

Congrats on a great bird. Really enjoyed your story too.


----------



## Dukes_Daddy (Nov 14, 2008)

Congratulations. Great story.


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Way2go weasel!!


----------



## RainbowJunkie (May 6, 2016)

Congrats man and great story. Went out today and no luck :/ saw a couple hens from the road but nothing out in the woods


----------



## hawglips (Aug 23, 2013)

Congratulations!


----------

