Tim Herald

Wow, what a wild trip. We got to OK, and it was mid-80' s, but it stormed the night before season. The wind blew hard, and it was overcast all morning. I only heard one bird gobble 3 times on the roost. I set up where the outfitter had been seeing 2 big birds, and eventually called up 2 jakes that strutted and gobbled like big dogs. We got good video, but no longbeard. In the afternoon we were driving around and spoted two turkeys a mile off. We could tell they were males, but that was it. So off we go. We slip down a creekbed to about where they were originally, but they weren' t there. Finally we got a gobble across the creek and up a hill. There was a 1/2 acre opening at the bottom of the field so I decided we should try them from there. I got them going with an aluminum and diaphragm, and within about 5-10 minutes, they emerged on the far end of the opening. The outfitter was back about 50 yards with binos, and when one strutted, he told the camera guy that it was a good, shooter bird. I worked them on up, and the strutter spit and drummed non-stop. I could see his fan and head, but I was in a briar patch, and that was all I could see. He got to 7 steps at the edge of the briars, raised his head and looked in for the hen he heard. The camera guy told me to shoot, and I thumped him with my muzzleloader. He ended up to be a 17 pound full fanned jake. I was sick, but he put on a great show.

Next day, I called up 2 jakes early, and that was about it. The camera guys headed to KS about 1:00 PM. Soon after, the outfitter and I were driving across a plateau and spotted a strutter. It took about 35 minutes to work to where we thought we were within 100 yards at the edge of a wooded draw. I sat in some cedar branches, and the outfitter climbed into the cedar so hopefully he could see the bird coming if he responded to my calls because we didn' t know where he was. It was again 20+ mph winds, so I let go with a long loud series of yelps on a mouth call. GOBBLE...He was at 30 yards on the other side of the point. I immediately heard him spitting and drumming hard. I called softly, and he gobbled again. He spit and drummed non-stop. I could tell he was coming, so I got ready. He stepped around my cedar at 5 steps, and I leveled him with my muzzleloader. He weighed 18 1/2 pounds, had 3/4" spurs and a 10 1/2" beard.

Day 3...I was let out on a plateau near where we had seen some birds the afternoon before, but we had no idea where they were roosting. At daylight two toms fired up across a flat from me at the head of another canyon. I moved around and got within 200 yards. I crawled out and set up a hen and jake decoy, and sat in some brush. Eventually a much louder bird gobbled another 200 yards past the first two. I did a bit of tree talk, and the birds answered. So did some hens that were 60 yards from me. We talked, and the hens got cranked. The birds gobbled hard, but the two close gobblers pitched down in the canyon. I saw a hen follow, and I knew the jig was up. I kept calling, and the gobblers in the canyon would answer, but they were moving off. I hit some loud yelps on the aluminum call (20 mph winds again and 41 degrees), and the big loud bird gobbled about 150 yards out on my plateau. I called and he gobbled closer. Shortly I saw his fan on the horizon. Here he came spitting and drumming. When he could see the jake deke, he dropped his tail and sprinted in. I swung my gun to the right, and he threw on the brakes. That was it. The old 870 with Winchester Supremes knocked his block off at 16 steps. He weighed 17 pounds 10 ounces, had a 10 1/4" beard and sharp curved 1 1/8" spurs. I was done with my 3 bird limit at 7 AM.

It was a wonderful trip though the wind was rough, and the temps dropped 15 degrees each day. The hunting was pretty tough because of the weather, and it hurt the gobbling and hearing. I feel truly blessed to have been so fortunate on the short hunt. I' ll try to get some photos up tomorrow evening...

Deleted User

[Deleted by Admins]

BearMt

Hey Tim, Sounds like it was awesome. I saw that big storm on WX channel and was thinkin of you guys. Glad it didn' t mess you up to bad. Send me some pics or post some. ten more days for me. I hope there' s still some birds left. lol

Adrian J Hare

Glad to see ya got a couple Tim. Congrats...BT

MOTurkeyTamer

Man, you' re having quite a spring so far Tim!! You' re livin' the dream, hunting from state to state in the spring. I' m jealous! Anyway, congrats again on the nice birds.