Now my Hazel Creek Jake has taken a beaten this year as normal, but I have been surprised at how hens and gobblers are taking out their frustration on my Hazel Creek Hen decoy.
Yesterday, my Dad and I filmed a hen strutting in a dominant pose around my hen. She then slapped her with her wing and started to peck her a few times. Real cool video to watch.
My Son (Toxie IV), my Dad (Toxie Jr.), and I (Toxie III) went on our annual spring turkey hunt to the Whitehead farm in North Central Mississippi. Tad always has a fun time because he can act like a country boy. He fishes, drives golf carts, 4 wheelers, shoots guns, etc…
The first morning of our hunt, we decided to setup in a three way intersection on top of a hill. I had killed 2 turkeys there the previous year. Sure enough, at daybreak, a couple of turkeys started to gobble. They were a little farther than I would have liked but we decided to stay put in our setup. We started to call and eventually we got one to start coming. Now Tad was the shooter with my Dad backing him up and I was running the camera. The turkey started coming into the right down the road out of our sight. He gobbled once and then he would drum. I was the only one hearing him drumming, which told me he was getting closer.
We called to him one more time and he committed to coming in, as shown on the video. He came right up to our Hazel Creek decoys. My son got excited and rushed his shot shooting over the bird. My Dad followed up with two quick shots as the bird was running away and he rolled him with his second shot. Tad was mad but understood what he had done wrong.
I would have liked to have gotten a little more video of the turkey interacting with the decoys but this is one of those hunts we all will remember forever.
Note: This article was written for the May 2010 issue of HuntX3 (www.huntx3.com) – View the pretty magazine layout PDF version here.
I know “what’s in your turkey vest?” is a rhetorical question but it makes you think about your own turkey vest and what equipment you have in it. Since there is no way for me to know what you have in your vest, than I am going to talk about what’s in my vest and what equipment I use. I got the idea of writing this article when I started to pack my vest for the upcoming season. I am always adding things to my vest especially when I talk to other turkey hunters or watch them in action on TV. Maybe this article will help out new turkey hunters and might even offer suggestions to an old veteran hunter that he or she might not have thought of before.
Obviously you need to start with a turkey vest. Turkey vests have evolved from being simple thin layered vests having a couple of pockets to having zillions of different size pockets hidden all over the place with comfortable flip out seats. Some of the new vests come with instructions to explain where all the pockets are located and what equipment can go in them. This year I have even seen a new vest that comes with mesh materials on the back that you can pull over the top of you to make yourself into an instant portable blind. Wow! What evolution the hunting industry has come up with!
Now that we talked about the importance of a vest you are asking yourself, “what do you put in it first?” It is not what you think; no calls or shotgun shells but instead my Thermacell with all of its refills and a can of bug spray. My theory is to be successful in the woods, you need to be comfortable and any type of bug buzzing around your head is not going to allow you to be comfortable. Any experienced turkey hunter has forgotten their bug repellant at least once and know what I am talking about. Along these same lines, I carry a portable rain suite. No one likes wearing wet clothes and a good rain suite can make your life more comfortable in the wet woods.
Next I gather all my calls and put them in my vest. I use primary box calls and I like to carry many of them because of their different sizes and makes. They provide me with different tones and pitches. I have had times when I had a gobbler stalled out at 60 yards not wanting to come in and just by switching to a different call pushed him over the top and he came on in for the shot. I also carry box calls that do not use chalk and are waterproof for those rainy hunts. Another good rainy day call that I carry is a slate call and sometimes I use it to simulate fighting hen purrs. My last calls consist of shock calls such as my gobbler, crow, coyote, and owl calls.
I also believe in a good pair of binoculars. I pack these in my vest so I will have them there when I need them. I also like to carry a laser range finder. If time permits, I will range my decoys and various surroundings to get an idea of how far I can shoot. Knowing this range can be the difference in harvesting a bird successfully versus shooting too early when you “thought” he was in range. In my experience judging distances in large open fields can be misleading and a range finder can alleviate this common error.
Another must carry for me is my portable GPS. I hunt some big tracks of land and sometimes when I am chasing a gobbler, I can get turned around and can lose my bearing. By having a GPS unit in my vest, I have the confidence to worry about the gobbler instead of constantly worrying about my location.
With the evolution of the turkey vest, bigger pockets in the back have allowed me to carry soft turkey decoys without adding much additional weight. I personally like to use the real mounted turkey decoys but in my experience you do not always have them on you due to their bulkiness and weight. But I do have a couple of soft decoys stuffed in the back that I can quickly deploy if the opportunity presents itself; especially during those “running and gunning” hunts.
Now I am going to talk about the items I call the accessories. My number one accessory is a half roll of toilet paper. You never know when Mother Nature strikes you and any good woodsman is always prepared. Another must carry is a couple sets of gloves and a head mask. Turkeys have unbelievable eye sight and everything you can do to combat that is a must. I also normally pack 10 shotgun shells in my vest which I feel is more than enough plus extras for those unexpected situations. I like to carry a couple of flashlights. I carry a LED flashlight for early mornings because it has a tendency not to be as bright and I carry a more powerful flashlight for coming out of the woods at night. I also like to carry a monopod gun rest in the back of my vest. You never know how long you might have to hold your gun while the gobbler moves into position and this can help you with those long periods of time to steady your shotgun. My final accessory and one that I added last year is a set of brush trimmers. These are handy for making ground blinds and can be used quickly to trim shooting lanes when that gobbler has responded to your call and is on his way. The trimmers also store very easily in my vest.
There are other things I carry that deserve to be mentioned but these are the little things that support all the other equipment. These are: box call chalk, a turkey tote for carrying out a bird, extra batteries for my red dot sight and flashlights, a sewing tape measure for scoring your harvested turkey, bottle of water, goggles for keeping dirt and debris out of your eyes in those windy hunts such as in Texas, a hand towel for sweat and other things that might need wiping, and often some type of snacks for those all day hunts.
So, in conclusion, everything you put in your vest has a purpose with a goal of helping you be successful in harvesting that big Ole’ Tom. Now that you have read about what is in my vest, go over to the forums at HuntX3 (www.huntx3.com) and discuss with me and other fellow thunder chicken hunters what you have in your vest. I look forward to learning new possible items that I can add to my vest. Good luck this season fellow turkey hunters!
I recently went hunting with a good buddy of mine because he wanted me to video him shooting his first turkey with a bow. As some of you might know, shooting a turkey with a bow is a very challenging endeavor. It was foggy and raining that morning and we both situated in a tent blind. As you can see in the video, my friend shot over the bird into the turkey’s left wing. Afterwards we talked about it and he said he had shot his 20 yard pin and that is why he was high. Another thing we neglected, was to run out when the bird hit the ground and make sure he was dead. We were both caught up in the moment not realizing the turkey had just been stunned and that there was not a lethal shot. It happened so quickly. Even though we did not harvest the bird we still had a great time.
For the past 2 years, I have been giving a free turkey hunt away at our Sunday school Christmas party. At this party last year, 2 guys fought hard to get the hunt. I felt bad for the guy who lost, so I decided to take both of them. Bobby’s hunt came up first and we headed to my FL club. It had just stopped raining and the weather man called for it to be clearing up.
We got settled in that morning and we did not hear any gobbling off the roost. We had some hens come by our setup. One stopped to peck my hen decoy in the head. Then about 9:30, we heard a gobble down the road. I called to him for about 30 minutes and he would not commit. I changed to a different box call and he came in like on a string, as you can see in the below video.
One thing interesting about this hunt was the fact that this 2 year old came to the real hen decoy and tried to breed her. I have never seen that before. Normally they try to go over and beat up on the Jake decoy first.
Anyway, Bobby made a great shot and bagged his first turkey. You can tell he was a happy hunter in the video.
I took a deer hunting buddy turkey hunting for his first time to our club located in middle GA. Now hunting Easterns during the early season in GA is some of the hardest turkey hunting out there. We spent three days chasing them. The only ones that were gobbling were staying in a big cow pasture on someone else’s land.
Since they were not working the calls, we decided to setup a tent on a trail they like to travel. As from the video, you can see my tent is not the best. We were very cozy in this small tent. I am going to have to buy some better tents next year.
Anyway, we had a nice gobbler come through but he hung up and never gave us a good shot. There were a couple times we could have pushed it but decided not to. So, in the video, you can see him ease around us. I am not sure if he was wary because of the tent or just a subordinate bird afraid of my decoys.
We were very disappointed about not getting this bird and with all this regret built up, we decided to go back in the morning and try to get him. Sure enough, he popped out where we last saw him leave the evening before. I could not get the camera over to film him. He was showing that same distance wariness so we decided to shoot him. Well, Bill decided. In the video I was trying to suggest that if he goes back in the woods shoot him but I think he will settle and come to the decoys. I did not get that all out when BOOM, Bill shot the turkey. Bill had a lot of pent up anxiety and he let it fly with his Beretta and 3 ½ inch turkey load. It is not great video but the story is great.
I would have loved for him to have shot one off the call that was strutting away, but sometimes you take what you get. This hunt was very unique. I will remember this hunt always especially since it was his first bird and the fellowship shared.
Have you ever been so smart about something that you talked yourself into doing something dumb? Well, this video is my personal occurrence of this principle.
This happened on the afternoon hunt of opening day after my son had killed his bird. It was the same situation as the morning; a mad Tom trying to beat up on our Hazel Creek real decoys. He charged the decoys so fast it was hard to get ready. He was literally gobbling mad as you can see in the video.
I talked myself into shooting high and catching his head with the bottom part of the pattern so not to hit the decoy. Well, I did and he jumped to spur the decoy and as you can see the majority of the shot missed him. Then I shot him high with second shot and missed with a third. I tried to chase him down, but he was too fast. This whole situation makes me sick to hurt an animal and not harvest him, but if you hunt long enough it is going to happen. My dumb smart thinking still makes me mad and it will not happen again. Don’t laugh too hard at the video.
My 10 year old son, Tad, shot his first mature gobbler opening morning here in Florida. He shot a Jake the previous season but he really wanted a “big ole Tom”. Boy did he kill one. This gobbler had 1 inch spurs and a double beard measuring a total of 16 inches (main 10 inches, second 6 inches). Those are really good measurements for an Osceola.
The video below shows the hunt. As you can see, real decoys are the way to go. The gobblers we have killed over them get so mad when they see the Jake decoy puffed out with a hen. We use the real decoys from Hazel Creek (www.hazelcreekinc.com). Go to their Website and let Cally Morris hook you up.
Anyway, in all the excitement I did not see the gobbler knock down my hen decoy so when he shot I thought the feathers flying were her’s. Instead they were the gobbler’s after Tad had strategically put his #4s from a youth model 20 gauge shotgun into the turkey’s vitals. This was a really fun hunt one that I will remember forever. Enjoy.
I was doing some more scouting on my Osceola Hunt Club, located in Hastings, Florida, when I saw this gobbler bringing up the rear of 9 hens that were feeding at the wildlife feed station. He strutted a little but they have not yet started their full mating ritual as of this date of February 27. It had been raining so some of the footage was done free hand until I could get the camera back on the tripod. Still pretty cool footage. I zoomed in trying to see how big his spurs were and I concluded he is a 2 year old bird. Enjoy the video.
A fellow member of my Osceola Hunt Club, located in Hastings, Florida, informed me that he had seen a bearded hen back during deer season. I personally had only seen one other bearded hen during my 37 years on this planet and it was an Eastern turkey located in middle Georgia. So once I heard this, I immediately put some trail cameras on our wildlife feed stations in hopes of getting a photo of her. It did not take long before I got the following pictures of her:
I “Googled” information about bearded hens and I was amazed at how few articles and information I found. Now, it is legal in some states to shoot bearded hens, including Florida. Florida regulations read that it is legal to harvest any gobblers or bearded turkeys. So I wanted to see how rare these occurrences are in the wild. What I found was a big discrepancy of what percentages of hens have beards. Florida biologists claim on the Florida Game and Fish Website that 2 to 4 percent of hens have beards. Now on the NWTF Website, they claim that 10 to 20 percent of hens have beards. Through my personal experience and hunting logic, I would say I believe in the less than 5 percent logic. Anyway you look at it, a bearded hen is a rare occurrence.
I then wanted some video of her and I decided to setup with my camera on the wildlife feed station where I got trail camera pictures of her. After a couple of hours past daylight, she came by and fed at the station for about 5 minutes. You can view the video below. She has a remarkable color about her. Not too black like a gobbler and not as light grey as a normal hen, but more of a darker charcoal grey. Her beard is remarkably thick and long when compared to the research I did on other bearded hens. She also has a vertical marking around her eyes that is very distinguishable. View the video and you will see what I am talking about.
Now for my dilemma, do I shoot this bird and have her mounted? I am torn half and half. Part of me says leave her alone, but then she is also an older bird and probably does not have many years left. The other part wants to preserve her rare beauty and celebrate her life. Opening day of season is March 20th. I will update everyone later in the season.