Written 6/3/2017
On Thursday, May 18th, I was able to squeeze in one last hunt for the season. I woke up around 3:40 AM and took a peek outside. The wind was blowing at a steady pace of 25 mph and I could already tell in the moonlight that it would be overcast at dawn…not exactly your ideal turkey hunting conditions. Reluctantly I got ready, loaded the truck, and headed for my best public land spot. There wasn’t a soul to be seen as pulled into the parking lot of the county conservation area. As always, I started at the top of a hill where the main access gate is, listening intently for the first gobble as daylight broke. 5:30 AM rolled around and nothing…5:45 AM, nothing. Finally at 6:00 AM I headed towards the spot where I had missed the gobbler just a few days earlier. Arriving at that spot after a short brisk walk, I stopped and listened. Although it was hard to hear with the stiff wind, there was a faint gobble back to the west. I took off towards the bird and cut the distance in a hurry.
Closing in to 200 yards he gobbled again. Stopping at the tree line, a lonely crow flew by and sounded off causing the bird to triple gobble. I pressed on into the timber and at 150 yards (or what I thought was that) I found a suitable hickory tree to lean up against quickly. I made a few soft yelps on my slate call after I had settled and he quickly cut me off with a gobble that was to the southwest of my position on the neighboring ridge. From there, 10 minutes lapsed without the tom making a sound. Another crow flew over and made his presence known causing the bird to shock gobble. He was now to my northwest and it became apparent that he was following the top of a wooded ridge that would eventually lead him to a crop field. Fortunately it had rained over an inch the night before, allowing me to slip down into a ditch and creep up the side of the ridge that the bird was on. I made another set of soft yelps as I slowly walked toward a tree that would conceal me. Immediately he gobbled and had to be within 60 yards. I cut and yelped again on my mouth call and he answered. A matter of seconds later I saw his tail fan as he slowly strutted over the crest of the ridge looking for the hen. He had now closed the distance to approximately 30 yards and as soon as he cleared some brush in between us, I squeezed the trigger. BOOM…the bird flopped over and gradually the woods grew still again. I sat there in disbelief and thanked God. I got up from my position to retrieve my prize. A dandy late season Iowa gobbler that weighed in at 23.1 lbs and was armed with 1 1/8” spurs.
There are a few factors that made this hunt a success. The first one was the bird. That gobbler kept gobbling, plain and simple. It allowed me to keep tabs on his position and slip up on him as a result. The second factor was the rain. The night prior to this hunt it rained well over an inch and made the forest floor very quiet. This masked my approach towards the tom and allowed me to get inside his bubble. The third and final factor was the foliage on the trees. Mid to late May in Iowa means that the trees are pretty well leafed out. If this hunt would’ve occurred earlier in the season with less foliage I would’ve been easily seen. That wraps up my turkey season here in Iowa. .
