Finally Tagged Out

Finally Tagged Out on a tree line that divided two freshly planted corn fields.  I placed my Peep-n-Tom and Pretty Penney decoys out and sat about 30 yards inside the tree line.  I called sparingly every 20-30 minutes.  Around 5:10, I did some cutting on my Aluminum Magnum.  I put the call down, glanced up, and there he was about 120 yards out.  He was looking around, but started to feed in the opposite direction.  I picked up the Magnum again and did 3 clucks.  That got his attention.  He put that head up and started looking my way.  I started to do a little purring and he started walking my way. 

He finally spotted the decoys and came in on a dead run.  He stopped about 15 yards to the right of the decoys.  I did not give him a chance to fight or spook.  He was 22 pounds, with a 9 3/4 inch beard and 1 inch spurs.

 

First Illinois Spring Turkey Hunt

My first turkey hunting trip to Illinois turned out to be one of the most exciting hunts that I have ever had.  I had a game plan set up to hunt a corner where the farmer’s son had been seeing birds for the past two mornings.  I held tight to this original plan until I drove to another spot on the farm just before dark and had a longbeard gobbling to every little sound.  After roosting this bird, I called my friend Scott Cronin for some advice.  We concurred that I needed to set up on this hot bird.  Another close friend of mine, Brent Lynch, was going to sit with me the next morning.  Brent and I snuck in when it got dark and set up a Primos Vision blind in the middle of a cut soybean field.  All we had to do was try to get some sleep that night.

Brent and I got to the blind about an hour before daybreak.  We did not want to take a chance of spooking that bird off the roost.  I set out a Peep-n-Tom and Pretty Penney decoy and we sat in the blind waiting for the day to break.  Lucky for us, we had a mouthy owl in our area and he started hooting early.  When he started, he got the boys fired up.  Not one gobbler was roosted close by, four of them where in the area.  They gobbled continuously on the roost and did not shut up when they hit the ground.  I was using an Old Growth Spur slate/glass and Mahogany Magnum Aluminum/glass.  I called softly with the Old growth pot to let them know I was in the area.  All the gobblers stayed in a hardwood bottom, gobbling every time I called.  I stopped calling, not wanting the gobbling to attract live hens and take the birds the other way.  Too late.  We heard some live hens start calling from where the gobblers were located.  It sounded like the gobblers were heading away from us, so I broke out the aluminum mahogany and did some soft yelps and clucks.  After 10-15 minutes, Brent saw a hen enter the field.  Two more hens came out and we heard a booming gobble in the woods.  I told Brent he would be coming.  About that time, Brent’s eyes got big and he said, “Big gobbler, here he comes.  I said, “How close.”  Brent said, “He is right there.”  I peeked around the blind and the gobbler was in a sprint for the decoys.  He puffed up and strutted to the Peep-n-Tom.  He flogged it and brushed up against it, then he pecked him a few times.  Finally he stepped back just enough to allow me a shot.  He went down in his tracks.  The longbeard weighed 21 pounds.  His beard was 10 1/2 inches and he had 1 1/4 inch spurs.

Brent had a great time.  It was the first time he got to see a successful turkey hunt.  What a hunt it was.  Derby City Calls were very successful in bringing those birds to the field.  Good scouting, good calls, and patterning your gun all pay off.  These three things were extremely important in helping me fill my first Illinois turkey tag.