Last year was my first for Turkey Hunting. The weather was horrible ( 40+ MPH winds for three days straight ) and I resorted to my deer hunting MOA to sneak on and shoot a Tom. I was intrigued but it was more like spring deer hunting.

This year I bought a new shotgun, choke and settled on Heavi Magnum Blend. Myself and two first timers headed to West KS for a 2 1/2 day hunt on land we know well from a decade of deer hunting. I'm sure we looked like the 3 stooges trying to figure this out.

Day 1

I sat in my blind at dawn with 2 hen decoys and called very little and very lightly. We had a decent thunderstorm blow through right after setup. No gobbles at all. Just as we're getting restless three birds come out 300 yards away. They strutted and circled closer and closer till filled my tag with dandy Rio. He put on quite a show and had a 10" beard. It was pretty cool. I never hit the call after they showed up across the field and they came to the decoys on a rope.

Day 2

Same spot but a beautiful quite morning. We climb in the blind, I hit the call and the valley explodes with gobbles. There must have been 8-10 Toms sounding off with one directly above us. I hit it again and things go crazy, Toms, hens, owls, you name it and they were all screaming. At that point, I put the call away for the day. One by one they drop into the field. We now have 15 - 20 birds dancing around. A group of 5 Toms are doing the uniform circle and gobble routine, with all 5 sounding off simultaneously. Finally, a hen breaks from the flock and walks right through our decoys. The group of Toms follow and my buddy fills his tag. A Rio with a 9" beard.

Meanwhile, Hunter # 3 fills his tag with a Monster. It had a 10 1/2 " beard and a huge body. He was hunting a creek bed a few miles away.

I kept reading how over calling is a rookie mistake. I truly believe less is more. Time will tell if we're just lucky or on to something.

All three of us had a great time and we're now hooked. What a great way to spend quality time in the woods. I'll add pics when I get them downloaded.

Great story and congrats to you and your friends

Sounds Like a nice place to hunt. Congrats to you and your friends and hey we all learn something new every day

Congratulations on what seems to be a great place to hunt.
I always say let the turkeys determine how much to call.
It's like you're just answering them not you calling them. If they sound off you sound off if they are quiet it's time to shut up.
The more you call the more accurate they can pinpoint where you are exactly and you don't really want to do that cause they have keener brush sense than most people.

Sounds like a fun hunt. Every day in the turkey woods is a learning experience. Enjoy the rest of your season.

WOW,you guys hit the mother load it seems,great story ,can't wait to see the pics. Don't keep us waiting long,it's almost a sin to tell us about such a hunt and not post pics with smiling faces and great Toms before you.