5/17/2017
Well, it’s been almost a month since I’ve posted anything on the blog. Due to my work schedule, I’ve had very little time for hunting. However, I’ve been vigilant in frequenting my public land spots to glass and keep tabs on the few birds that I have been able to locate. I had the good fortune of hunting a friend’s farm down in southern Iowa during the last Sunday of April. The turkeys did not disappoint on the roost. I’m sure that morning I heard roughly 7-8 different birds and collectively they probably gobbled over 300 times. It was one of those high pressure mornings following a weather system where it’s crystal clear with virtually no wind. Unfortunately, once the birds were on the ground they seemed to shut up almost immediately.
My second hunt was this past Friday. I located two toms right next to a piece of public ground that I had continued to scout with my new Covert cameras. The photos revealed that they were frequenting a pinch point that led to a field edge. The birds were there and gobbled some but my bad luck continued as the birds pitched out on to some private property and never showed themselves. Later in the morning I stopped by another familiar public spot that I had mentioned in my very first blog post. Upon arrival I glassed a couple of mature gobblers in one field and a group of 6 jakes in another. After watching them feed off, I made a loop around them to try and cut both the jakes and toms off. My first mistake was not taking my decoys with me…as I found a great hidden field that I sat up in. After some short yelps and clucks I had 10 jakes at about 50-60 yards. They milled around in the field for another 15 minutes or so and then eased off into the timber.
By this time it was 10:30 am. I decided to stay put as I had not located the two gobblers that I had seen when I first arrived. Although I've never like blind calling, I threw a bunch of yelps, clucks, and purrs out there on my slate. Right before 11:00 am I picked up my phone to check my work email, this was my second mistake. Looking up from my phone about five minutes later, I noticed that those two toms had worked their way into the field. At this point they were at 65 yards. I was able to drop my phone without them noticing and get my shotgun almost into position. At 50 yards, with no decoys, they saw something they didn’t like. I made a quick move, pulled up my shotgun, and fired at what appeared to be the biggest bird. It was nothing but a big swing and a miss. I am quite certain that I lifted my cheek up off my gun when I squeezed the trigger causing my shot to most likely go high over the bird.