Show Me State: One Last Blast

My final spring hunt of 2008 brought me to Missouri at the Four Seasons Lodge on Lake of the Ozarks. Following a pattern that has stuck with me all season, the weather was nice and stable up until I arrived, then all hell broke loose.

I arrived in wind and rain with subfreezing temperatures expected every morning, but warm temperatures by midday. My guide for this week was wildlife impersonator and NWTF Wild Turkey Bourbon gobbling champion Ralph Duren. I knew I was in for a treat as I had seen his very entertaining show at the JAKES day event at the NWTF National Convention.

"The birds have been gobbling well on the roost and shutting off as soon as the hens show up," Duren commented. "I hope you brought your cold-weather gear!"

Surprisingly, the birds were very vocal in the morning, with six gobblers hammering loudly to the chorus of owl hooting. Duren managed to get four barred owls within earshot to get into a very vocal argument, and with each round of hooting and hollering, the turkeys grew increasingly animated. Duren would smile and add fuel to the fire as he would answer every round with an aggressive hoot. I guess you could call it a hootnanny of sorts. Just as quickly as the gobbling rose to a crescendo, sunlight penetrated the chilly forest and the turkeys seemed to shut down. We heard a few flydowns, but little gobbling. We sat tight for the first hour of shooting time, in case one was to come in silent. It seemed that the birds were not interested at all with the calling, preferring to wait silently as the hens magically appeared wherever the toms flew down.

This pattern stuck for the first four days. There was lots of gobbling on the roost, and almost no action when they hit the ground. The toms were either henned up or not interested in our hot hen (Duren). However, it seemed every other creature in the woods would come and even reply to Duren's calling. Duren managed to call in several flocks of crows on successive days, a feral dog, a coyote and even a raccoon. Hawks would answer his piercing cry, Chuck-will's-widows would join his earl morning chorus, and American robins would vocalize his "cheerio!" challenge in the morning. He even had a male cardinal so angry, I though he would have pecked my eyes out if I had a spot of red on my clothing. Despite the fact he had just about every other creature in the woods conversing with him, the turkeys were definitely being antisocial.

The afternoons (when hunting stopped at 1:00 p.m.) were very enjoyable as the warm weather heated up fishing for crappie, bass and catfish. With the sun beaming, the hills lit up with shimmering-white blooming dogwoods and fiery redbuds, it was hard not to enjoy Lake of the Ozarks. A few lucky hunters also were finding fat morel mushrooms that popped up from all the recent rain.

Duren suggested a change in venue might change our luck and we hooked up with Keith Enloe, a local guide, whose two writers had bagged out early. We had to walk about a half-mile into rye and clover fields right between two active roosts along a small creek bottom. Not a place you expect to see turkeys, but they were definitely right on the edge of the field. Gobbling at the new spot started half-hour before sunrise. Duren did the usual job of getting the birds fired up on the roost. A monster gobbler and an entourage of hens were first off the roost. Another group of three gobblers jumped down near us and bee-lined to a squawking hen in the distance. The one big difference was that the gobbling never seemed to stop as toms let everyone know they were on a quest for hens. This definitely made Duren feel better as he was a little stung by the cold reception at the previous spot. Three birds hung up across the creek from us and let loose a barrage of 200 plus gobbles in an hour. The dominant bird finally broke rank and flew across the creek and landed about 100 yards from us. The next 45-minutes ended up nearly driving us crazy as the old wise bird never dropped his head and stared at us intently while mosquitoes were mercilessly drilling and extracting pints of blood out of every gap in our facemasks. He finally moved enough in the next 15 minutes, that I could comfortably take him with the Knight KP1 shotgun. I shot, watched the bird drop and felt myself collapse, since I had lost all sensation below my waist from sitting like a statue for nearly an hour. The 4-year old bird was 25 pounds, had a 10½-inch paintbrush beard and sported 1¼-inch spurs — a trophy bird in anyone's book.

I'd like to give special thanks to guides Ralph Duren, Keith Enloe, John Neporadny, Rob Schonfelt and Jim Divincen and Rebecca Green with the Tri-County Lodging Association. Visit the Lake of the Ozarks Web site for more information on a great hunting or fishing trip.

The Waiting Game

This week we were taping "Get in the Game" TV and "Turkey Call" TV in the picturesque hills and valleys of the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina near Brevard with the Pisgah chapter of the NWTF. We were showcasing some of the interesting techniques used by landowners in mountainous terrain to create food plots. Hydroseeding, a technique used to control erosion, is a great way to start food plots in remote and hard-to-reach areas. Watch for it on a future episode of "Get in the Game" TV on the Outdoor Channel.

"Turkey Call" TV featured a JAKES hunt with longtime member Austin Pettit. Brett Pettit, Austin's father, is a lifelong hunter and an active member of the Pisgah chapter of the NWTF. Through his network of hunting friends, he set our shoot up with NWTF member Mark Meadows on his property near Sapphire N.C. The area is simply gorgeous with waterfalls, mountains, pristine streams and towering forests as far as the eye can see. The conditions looked great with 70 F daytime temps, gobblers strutting in food plots and lots of activity--at least until it started snowing. Usually, cold temps shut things down for a day or two, but the toms stopped gobbling for four days straight!

When it comes to turkey hunting, no gobbling means bad luck. We decided to sit on strut zones and wait until a big gobbler arrived. We enlisted the help of Blake Meadows, a JAKES member since he was 8 years of age, to join us, watch over two plots and salvage a show out of the tough week. We spent hours in freezing conditions waiting on the gobblers to heat up. We called in hens, but the toms kept their distance and were quiet.

On day five we finally had some action as Blake had three gobblers working his plot. However, Austin's plot was quiet. When Blake's birds quit on him, he called and let us know that he was coming out. With only 10 minutes left in the hunt, I heard a bird noisily stalking the hill above of the food plot. After going through all but one of my diaphragm calls, the bird finally exploded with a hearty gobble to a Hunter Specialties Raspy Old Hen call. I nicknamed this call "Madge" a while back. Madge sounds like an ancient hen with a wheezy smoker's cough, but the big boy was into it.

The gobbler was high on a vegetation-choked ridge and started walking away, a sign that he wanted the hen to follow. Austin and I obliged for about quarter mile along a forest path below the gobbler. When it was obvious that the gobbler would continue to walk away, I decided to pull a fast one on him. I once chased a gobbler over three miles from the top of a NC mountain down to the valley and he still outran me, so this time I wasn't going to chase him.

I heated up the gobbler with a series of cuts and slowly walked back toward the food plot away from him. I wanted to give the gobbler the impression that I, the interested hen, could not find him, had given up and was walking away. I walked all the way back to the plot clucking and purring. Austin thought I had given up and was heading for the truck.

A few minutes later the hill echoed with the booming call of the anxious gobbler that was sprinting back to the food plot. He covered about 400 yards in about two minutes. I set Austin up next the path and quietly coaxed the bird within 20 yards of our position.

When he finally stepped out of the cover, he was less than 10 yards away. Austin's Knight KP1 roared and literally beheaded the gobbler. The trophy bird was 24-pounds (minus the head), had a 10-inch beard and sported 1-inch spurs. It was a fitting end to a five-day ordeal of no gobbling, freezing temperatures and no activity.

Lessons learned: Sometimes the best way to close the distance on a gobbler is to walk away from it. That call you never use at the bottom of your call pack may save a hunt.

Special thanks to the members of the Pisgah chapter of the NWTF, Mark Meadows, Blake Meadows, the staff at Burlingame properties, Austin Pettit and Brett Pettit for making all the arrangements.

D-Day

April 9: Last night my son Dennis came very close to shooting a turkey. We had closely watched a food plot for several weeks and noted that birds were coming to feed about 6 to 6:30 every night before going to roost. At 6:30 p.m. two gobblers came up on the food plot about 150 yards from the blind and slowly made their way down toward our end of the field. At 7:30 p.m. the birds made a sharp right turn about sixty yards from the blind, too far for his shotgun, and headed towards the creek bottom to roost. We had simply run out of light for a chance at the two toms! After the birds left, Dennis and I quietly moved our blind about 150 yards down the edge of the field. We weren't going to run out of light tomorrow.

April 10: Got off work, picked up Dennis and scrambled to the blind by 5:30 p.m. No birds were in the field when we arrived--whew! I stuck the Featherflex hen decoy out at 10 yards and snuck into the blind to catch my breath, I handed Dennis my H.S. 'Ol Mama Hen box call, showed him how to lightly yelp on it and told him to do this every 15 minutes until the turkeys showed up. I was confident that something was going to happen tonight. I knew those two gobblers would arrive directly across from the blind at about 6:30 p.m. Dennis dutifully worked the call at 5:45, 6:00, 6:15 and 6:30 p.m. I watched with eyes forward beaming like lasers. At 6:35 p.m. I heard the unmistakable purr of a turkey to my left and to my surprise three jakes were sprinting down the road and heading right to the hen. I quickly motioned Dennis to pick a bird and shoot, as two were point-blank in front of the blind scrambling to climb on her back! One jake was in full strut, another was belly-to-belly with the decoy, while the third was lagging behind his brothers.

BOOM!!! was all I heard as I quickly peered out of the blind to see a lump of feathers laying next to the decoy. Success! Dennis was beaming ear to ear as he slipped out of the blind to collect his first turkey--a jake. We took photos and Dennis commented how heavy the bird was as we exited the plot. A gobble thundered to our left, followed by a few putts as the gobblers that were supposed to enter the plot at 6:30 p.m. let us know that they were still there. As far as I am concerned, my season has been made with Dennis' bird.

Here are a few tips when taking a child out turkey hunting:

1. Trying to keep still is a lot harder for children compared to adults. If possible, use a blind to allow greater freedom of movement for young hunters. They'll learn to sit still as they grow older.
2. Give them things to do when stuck in the blind for several hours such as books, small toys and puzzles. We play tic-tac-toe in the sand, identify the sounds of the forest (birds, frogs, insects and mammals) and even have our decoy set up on a motion sled to allow him to play with the decoy.
3. Bring snacks and drinks.
4. Never look a gift jake in the beak. Don't worry about shooting a trophy. If your state allows it, let the child shoot a jake if it gives you an opportunity. The child will only notice the difference if you point it out.

Knight's KP1 in South Carolina's Low Country

A slew of cold fronts and rain pulled into S.C. and stalled over the East Coast, shutting down the birds. After pilling in a lot of hours at the office trying to get JAKES magazine ready for publication, I headed to S.C.'s low country to test out Knight's new KP1 shotgun with retired S.C. Wildlife Officer Pel Bradford.

Pel's first words out of his mouth was, "Getcha self a smoked turkey sandwich and a drink son!" Pel introduced me to his other guests in the camp.

My week's hunting guide was none other than NWTF Wild Turkey Bourbon Champion of Champions contest winner, Kerry Terrell! Wow, I'm getting to hunt with one of the best turkey callers on the planet! The other guide on the hunt was NWTF Wild Turkey Bourbon owl hooting champion, Mark Prudhomme. It turns out that the Knight & Hale team was filming with NRA's "American Hunter" and Knight rifles.

We set up a few targets and checked the pattern on the KP1. At 40 to 45 yards, the KP1 shotgun with a 3.5-inch Federal Premium Magnum Shock Turkey Load delivered a lethal pattern that meant only one thing — dead turkey!

Kingstree is a great low-country town that is simply covered up in wild turkeys. My neck was literally getting sore swiveling back and forth watching all the groups of wild turkeys clustered on fields, food plots, power lines and swamp-lined private roads all over Williamsburg County. All this was happening in the pouring rain, so there were lots more huddled in the woods. We scouted a number of private properties owned by some very generous local folks who were allowing us to film, photograph and hunt. Special thanks to Pel Bradford, Hardy Brown, Tommy Brown and Clint Crick for their kindness.

"Want to get a swamp gobbler?" Terrell asked me. It turns out that Kerry grew up hunting swamp turkeys near his home in Brooklet, Ga.

Having never hunted a swamp gobbler, "YES!" was the only answer I could (and wanted to) give. Terrell explained that many hunters did not enjoy hunting swamp birds. Too many bugs, too wet and too tough are a lot of excuses that are given not to hunt swamp birds. Terrell pointed out that swamp birds are confined to the swamp, are not pressured like other birds and you can get closer to them with all the thick cover. Plus, the chances of shooting a whopper are real good.

The next few days were just a continuous string of wet and miserable days chasing wet turkeys. Despite the great numbers, the birds were definitely turned off. Fortunately for us, the great food, accommodations, camaraderie and good company at the hunt camp made up for the lousy weather.

After being soaked with three days of solid rain, we had a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon without showers and a little sun. We found three gobblers without any hens basking in the sun and working a plowed field bordering the edge of a swamp. We parked the truck and snuck around them (about a half-mile walk). Luckily, I had Kerry Terrell in my corner. We set in the tree line just off the field. Terrell called with a diaphragm mouth call and got the lead gobbler to change his head color. He then pulled out a trumpet call, got the bird gobbling and strutting, and pulled in the whole group. I picked one out at about 40-yards and dropped the hammer on the KP1. The boom of the gun was followed by a satisfactory thud and flapping of a downed turkey. The tom weighed about 19 pounds with a 10.75-inch beard and 1.25-inch spurs, an awesome swamp gobbler!

After a quick photo session, the clouds returned and the bottom dropped out of the sky with torrential downpours, thunder and lightning. I was real lucky to shoot a gobbler in that small slice of sunshine.

Lessons learned

1. Persistence does pay off. Don't get discouraged by bad weather.
2. When birds are not active, stealth and woodsmanship are critical for the set-up.
3. Set-up as tight as possible on passive birds and hunt routes rather than roosts.
4. Meals and good friends make any turkey hunt memorable.

April 1 — Yer Outta' Here!

After my youth day disappointment with my son, I was determined to get one for my next hunter, Sharon. Sharon works on our graphic design team and we have been trying to get her a turkey for the past three years. She has worked hard to pattern her gun, worked out in the preseason to get in shape and really made an effort to be ready. She deserves a bird more than anyone I know.

Last year I had a hot gobbler coming to us on final approach. Basically, I was braced with my fingers in my ears waiting for the concussive blast from Sharon to finish the deal. Of course, things did not go as planned. My hunting buddy across the field about 300 yards away opened fire on a different turkey at that exact moment, emptying his gun (missed) and spooking our gobbler into the next county.

This year, Sharon and I had dibs on the first bird that gobbled. He was hot on the roost, gobbling loudly at 6:45 a.m. and jumping down before we could properly set up on him. My first mistake (strike ONE) was not moving in on him quicker and setting up in an open area. We were stuck in the middle of an overgrown field. The gobbler came in running and hung up at about 75 yards at the edge of the field. For the next 30 minutes I could not convince him to break strut and come into Sharon's gun range, plus we were not in a position to get closer. Instead of just continuing calling, we backed off the bird and decided to come in at a different angle. The gobbler lost interest and walked back toward his roost. I swapped calls, changed my cadence, circled the gobbler and resumed my calling, mixing in the occasional kee-kee of a lost hen. The gobbler quickly reestablished contact with me and figured I was another hen coming from a different direction.

Our next set up appeared better, open woods with a sloped bank dropping off into a creek bottom. The gobbler was only 100 yards away and was double and triple gobbling to my calls. One nice thing that happened was that a lower-level tom had also joined the dominant gobbler and was adding a few high-pitched chuckles after the big boy. I could hear them steadily moving toward us. Sharon was set up about 10 yards in front of me and could hear the spit and drum of the dominant gobbler and even its feathers rattling. I cut off my calling and pretty much braced for the boom of Sharon's gun. As I scanned to my left I noticed a red flash of a head, which quickly turned the bright white of a 2-year old bird sneaking in about 20 yards on my left. Sharon could see it too, but could not swing around to shoot it because the dominant bird was in full strut, spitting and gobbling in front of her — too far to shoot and hidden by the sloping bank!

I cussed myself for not seeing the drop off (strike TWO) and froze as the 2-year old bird walked past me and came up behind my tree purring like an excited kitten. He was constantly looking back in the direction of the dominant gobbler to see if he could pull off his daring attempt at stealing a hen. It was pretty cool to see up close. He kept purring and whistling at me expecting me to run off with him. I checked with Sharon and she could not pull off her shot, but gave me the thumbs up to blast the sneaky cuckholder behind my tree. So I slowly turned around, slid my Remington 870 around the trunk, locked the front bead on his neck and missed (strike THREE! YOU'RE OUT!). In my excitement to shoot, I forgot to drop my head on the stock and sailed the pattern high. Needless to say our hunt was over. Sharon was very excited to get to hear a gobbler going berserk right in front of her and watching a bird sneak past us. We'll try again in a few days.

Lessons learned:

1. Don't spend too much time analyzing a gobbler — set up quick!
2. Look over your set up, especially the approach angle of the bird for obstructions, logs, ditches, fences and other obstacles.
3. Get your head down on the stock! Practice trigger pulls on snap caps if you get worn out and shell-shocked by shooting live ammo.

Bad Doggy!

My son Dennis and I were ready and in the blind an hour before sunrise of his youth hunt. About 7 a.m. the birds on the satellite roost, a group of three two-year old toms were noisily gobbling to hens, including the two fake ones in the blind. As soon as they hit the ground I heard a noise that made my heart skip a beat -- the long drawn out howl of an excited beagle in that same river bottom as my birds! At first, the birds continued to gobble and move our direction, but I could slowly hear the dog close in on their positions. The woods went silent and then the next sound was, "BWOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! BOWOOOOO!!!!" as the dog found my birds and proceeded to scatter them all over the river bottom.

After the dog passed, the woods were quiet and continued. No amount of yelping or lost calling (kee-kees) could get a response. Our hunt was over for the morning. We still have the rest of the season to get a bird, but it really upsets me when people are that careless with their pets.

This isn't the first time a dog has ruined a hunt for me. Here are a few things to keep in mind when dealing with unruly dogs (and owners).

1. Document every time you see or hear the dogs. If you are part of a hunt club, log into the daily hunt report every time you see or hear the dogs on the property. Include complete descriptions of where the dogs were located, breeds, colors and even the colors of their collars whenever possible.
2. Locate the owners of the dogs if possible, to work a solution out for everyone's benefit.
3. Suggestions may include offering to split the cost for kennels to at least keep the dogs on property during hunting season.
4. If friendly negotiations fail, call your local animal control officer. They will officially document their visits to catch the dogs when they visit the property.
5. If the dogs are caught, many county animal control agencies will levy fines on owners that let their dogs roam loose. If fines from animal control fail, call your local law enforcement officer. Provide your written log and have animal control confirm that they have dealt with the dog issue as well. The police may issue a citation on the dog owner for violating the leash law (if applicable) and trespassing.
6. If no dog owners are found, a professional trapper may need to remove the offending animals.

I know more than a few readers may say that shooting the dogs would be easier than going through all the trouble, but there have been documented cases across the country where angry landowners have killed roaming dogs, faced serious civil litigation and lost lots of money. Shooting a dog that has an owner carries a lot more baggage than using your local officials to do the work for you --they only cost time, not money. For more information, visit the University Extension Web site.

March 28, 2008 — Blind Ambition

The landowner called and said that the mobs of turkeys were marching right past one of my blinds today. They did not act like anything was amiss and continued to strut, scratch and socialize without any problems. The forecast will be warm in the morning with rain in the afternoon the morning of the youth hunt.

Perfect, the only things I had to do before youth day was to double check the blinds, drop off chairs, check the blinds for shooting fit and meet with the other guide and youth hunter for a strategy session.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when hunting from a blind:

1. Make sure blind is securely staked and tied down the night before the hunt. More than a few hunters have arrived on the dawn of a hunt to find the blind completely collapsed, or worse, missing from a gust of wind that came and sent the blind hurtling into the nearest tree. I tie off on trees, logs, large stones and even sometimes resort to rebar stakes to keep a blind tied down. I also will pile branches around the base of the blind to help hide the movement inside the blind and hold down the blind in the wind. I installed my blinds this week in 15 mph winds with 25 mph gusts. All three were intact and ready for opening day.
2. Clean up the floor of the blind of any dead leaves. The last thing you need is the sound of crackling leaves as you and your youth hunter shuffle to get into shooting position.

3. Check your youth hunter's shooting fit out of the blind windows. Kids come in all sizes and so do the heights of blind windows. If a youth needs to get on their tiptoes to shoot out a window or can't easily shoulder a gun in a seated position — you've already lost the battle. Bring in appropriate seats that are comfortable and give the child a good vantage point to watch the action and shoot comfortably.

4. Go over shooting scenarios with your hunter and/or their parent before the day of the hunt, so they understand exactly when to move, which window to shoot from, when to shoulder the firearm and when to shoot. Miscues can ruin a hunt.

My son and I have our fingers crossed!

March 25, 2008 — Almost Time

Less than a week before my son's opening day. Our scouting looks promising as we are finding many tracks, strut zones and droppings. Our host has done us a big favor and burned the area we planned to hunt. Some may question that a prescribed burn so close to turkey season would ruin our hunt, but the birds are still out there even while stumps and slash piles are smoldering around them.

The prescribed burn has cleared off a lot of the brushy undergrowth, pine needle duff and opened up the forest floor to the warm sunlight awakening seeds that have not seen sunlight in years, perhaps decades. Within weeks, the burned area will be covered in a bright-green growth that will be ideal nesting and brood habitat for turkeys. Check out how prescribed burns help turkeys to learn more on burn benefits for turkeys:

I have five separate strut zones and three blinds to set up this week. Set up No. 1 will be directly between two roosts (primary and secondary). There's a nice tom that struts up and down a planted access road with a mob of hens. Set up No. 2 will be located in a strut zone just off a secondary roost where another gobbler has been courting two or three hens. Set up No. 3 will be on a satellite bird that struts alone on one of the wheat food plots uphill and about 200 yards from the two roosting areas. My two youth hunters have a good shot of possibly taking their first birds this weekend on South Carolina's youth turkey hunt.

One more thing you probably want to check before going full bore this season is your spare tire. My front-right tire flattened out on a nail or tree root about a mile from the nearest paved road during my last scouting trip. My spare, one of these goofy-looking doughnuts, has always been pumped up and ready, at least it seemed so in the trunk. After swapping it out and carefully driving on it for 100 yards, it lost tire pressure and went flat as well. My father-in-law, a mechanic, told me that if those doughnuts aren't pumped up to about 60 psi, they slip on the rims pretty easily and go flat. He told me, after picking me up and getting my tire fixed, to get a full-sized spare tire considering how much I drive on gravel and sand roads chasing turkeys. Good advice!

March 14, 2008 - Pre Season

If you haven't wandered in the woods yet, get out and start scouting for spring turkeys! Depending on where you are in the country, flocks should be breaking up and males are jockeying for prime strut zones and the woods are starting to fill with the aggressive noises of gobbling, scratching and wing-slapping. Look for tracks, strut zones and droppings to key in on where turkeys are spending their time. My youth hunt and opening day spots are flush with active birds, at least for now. I'm starting to bring my sons (4 and 8 years old) on my scouting trips to teach them how to identify tracks, tell hen tracks from gobblers and even how to make really annoying sounds that make turkeys gobble — kids love crow calls!

Our hunting club has been trying to finish up our prescribed burning for the year. If you burn your property regularly, then you already know the benefits of what a prescribed can do for better deer and turkey habitat. It reduces the chances of catastrophic wildfires (the kind that destroy all habitat), creates turkey habitat for nesting and brood-rearing, and encourages the growth of desirable plants for many wildlife species. I noted many cases where turkeys will immediately move into a burn while the brush piles and stumps are still smoldering to feast on toasted insects and once-hidden acorns.