With the recent rain and humidity, it seemed as though the leaves were melting.  Drops of water were falling all around us, and the wetness in the air made it feel as though we were hunting in the Everglades, rather than in Southern Michigan.  I’m sure, if I would have tried, I could have taken my hunting knife out of my pack, and easily sliced a hole through the air.  But since it was the last opportunity my wife would have to bag her first turkey, we were not going to be deterred.  We settled into the blind about 5:15am, and waited for what the morning would bring.

It didn’t take long before we heard the first gobble pierce the morning silence.  Of course, this bird, and all the other gobblers we heard this morning, would be at a distance.  We were still pumped, though, because during my wife’s last hunt, we didn’t even hear one gobble – not one gobble.

As the sun broke through the morning dampness, we finally had a little action.  Jeff’s call caused a bird that was roosted nearby to break from its roost, and head to the ground.  I was pumped to see the bird land within 30yds of the blind, but after further inspection, we had to let the hen move on through the woodlot.  We couldn’t believe it – considering we had already killed three toms from this location – that this hen was roosted by herself.  But she was.  And there was nothing we could do about that.

For the next hour or so, we tried to stay positive.  But knowing the history of this spot, none of us were feeling very confident about being able to persuade a tom to leave the hens we were sure he was already with, and head in to our setup.

With that we decided to patrol the edge of the property, calling sporadically as we went.  But with nothing answering our calls, we decided to grab some breakfast, and head to one last spot before giving up for the morning.  All of us had prior engagements we had to get to, but we wanted to give it one last try before calling it a day.

As we drove down the road that runs parallel to the property, I noticed feathers sticking up above a slight mound in the field.  I grabbed Jeff’s coat, and wondered why he wasn’t stopping.  I knew if we drove on any further, because these birds were so close to the road, we would spook them and send them into the next field we couldn’t hunt.

We backed up slowly, turned around, and headed to the entrance of the property.  With guns loaded, and gear at the ready, we snuck through the small woodlot to hopefully intercept the birds as they walked into the property.  Experience had told us that, since these two gobblers already had hens with them, we would have a much better chance of setting up where we thought they would go, rather than trying to call one of the gobblers away from his hens.

But sometimes the best laid plans…..

We got into the back corner of the property undetected, sat down against the best trees could find in the area – and right in the middle of wettest part of the property (I was soaked through my clothes) – and waited.

We tried calling.  We tried being quiet.  And while the birds did make their way to within about 50yds of us, finally, as turkeys do sometimes, they turned around and began to feed through the corn field away from us.  We made one last ditch effort to cut them off in another part of the woodlot, but as we arrived at the new location, and peered out into the corn field, we noticed, in the words of the Da Yoopers, that “There they was, gone!”

And, with that, went my wife’s turkey season for the year.  We tried, and we failed, but he had a hell of a time trying.  And listening to my wife gobbling back to Jeff’s slate call will be something that will stay with me forever.

Next hear, Hun, I promise, we’ll get you that bird.

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The SimplyOutdoors’ crew is on a roll this year.  First it started with Tyler’s bird, then Jeff’s, and then mine.  Then, just this morning, Justin, one of the SimplyOutdoors’ crew,  put another longbeard in the freezer – and, so far,  it was the biggest bird of the year.

Apparently this big boy was roosted very close to Justin’s blind, answered a bunch of his calls from the Cottage Craft Works Half Moon, but ended up flying down and landing about 100yds. away from Justin’s setup.

Not to be deterred, though, Justin kept after him, and eventually called him back in even though a raccoon managed to chase him around for a little while too!!

It sounded like it was a crazy morning in the turkey woods, but, ultimately, Justin prevailed.  And I ‘m sure Justin is feeling pretty good – especially since he let a bird walk earlier in the year because he couldn’t get the kill on film.

The cold hard facts:  10 1/2 in. beard, 1 in. spurs, and 22 1/2 lbs.

Congrats again, Justin.  That is one nice bird!

Now if we could manage to get my wife a bird this weekend, and if  Justin can get my sister a bird, life would be good.  I hope our luck hasn’t ran out yet!

Wish us luck!

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Jeff missed out on this hunt, and the opportunity to get it on video, because he and his wife welcomed their new little one on Saturday afternoon – an 8lb, 5 0z little girl.  Congrats to both of you.  She’s adorable, and she and mom are both doing great!

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Heal to toe.  Heal to toe.  I was saying that to myself over and over, as I crept closer and closer to the blind.  I was trying my hardest to keep quiet on this still morning, knowing that, within 100 yards or so, there could be roosted birds.  One wrong step, or one stray snap of a twig, and all the effort would be moot.

Heal to toe.  Heal to toe.

After settling into the blind, while darkness still surrounded me, I heard the distinct “put” of a female turkey.  The calls were incredibly quiet, and I at times thought I was hearing things, but I just felt birdy – like the way a Brittany Spaniel gets right before it goes on point.

At first light, a lonely tom broke the morning silence from a nearby woodlot.  With enough light finally making its way onto the ridge, I pulled out the Cottage Craft Works call and softly sounded off.  Nothing.  I hit the call one more time, and the gobbler that answered the call rattled my soul; it couldn’t have been more than 30yds away.  I hit the call again, and got another response…..from two birds.  And then the next call sequence made the same two birds answer, as well as two more gobblers who were farther off.

It was definitely going to be a good morning.

As more light penetrated the woodlot I was in, I could make out the distinct form of a male turkey roosted not 30 yards in front of the blind; he was at full strut while perched on a limb not 15 ft off the ground.  It was very similar to the footage from Jeff’s hunt a week prior, and I was hoping it would end in the same result.

I hit the call again, and received an immediate response from the roosted bird.  With my gun propped up on one side of me, my call resting on my other side, and a definite gobbler roosted in front of me, I caught movement at the bottom of the ridge.  It was another tom on the ground already – at full strut – and closing to within 50yds or so.

It was starting to get a little hairy.  I was running out of hands, and I was definitely wishing that Jeff was filming this whole episode as originally planned.  Of course, babies don’t exactly cooperate, so Jeff – instead of filming me on this perfect morning – was at his wife’s side waiting for their new daughter to be born.  We were both having incredible mornings!

I began to work the call again, and got an immediate response from both birds – the one on the ground, and the one on the roost.  The next call sequence didn’t produce any gobbles.  What it did produce was a dominant response from a hen that was nearby, though.  She began to answer me yelp for yelp, and I was starting to get concerned that she was going to pull both of the strutters way from me.  I knew, even from my limited experience in the turkey woods, that if she was the dominant hen in the area – as I began to think she was – that I needed to match her dominant yelp for dominant yelp.

And that I did.  And I knew my plan was working when she flew down from her roost, and landed…………..right in front of me!

She hit the ground amongst my decoys, which weren’t 5 yards in front of the blind.  As she moved from left to right, I knew it was game on.  And I knew that the tom, which was still strutting from his roost, wouldn’t stay there for long; not with a real live “decoy” inviting him to give chase.

Within 5 seconds of her hitting the ground, Mr. Gobbler flew down in pursuit.  I raised the gun as she continued moving off to the east, slowly pointed it out the necessary window, and before the longbeard could take his third or fourth step in pursuit, buried the bead of the 870 right at the base of the neck, and slowly pulled the trigger.

My first longbeard was on the ground, and it was only 6:16am.

It was an incredible morning – a perfect morning – and as I put the safety back on, smiled, thanked God for sweet success, and gently laid the 870 beside me, gobbles were still permeating the woods.

And you couldn’t have wiped the smile from my face if you tried.

Official stats:  9 and 1/2 in. beard, 7/8in. spurs, and one unique fan.  He was missing many feathers, and his whole fan assembly was quite messed up.  Apparently the other fellas and him hadn’t been treating each other so friendly.

Now, I just need to get my wife her first bird.

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Since it’s almost Friday, I figured I would provide a little treat for all of our readers.

First, you can sit back, relax and watch Jeff’s stepson bag his first thunder chicken.

Second, if you have more time, you can kick back, relax and watch Jeff put his 2010 bird on the ground.  This video proves that hunting, under any conditions, can definitely pay off.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

The wife and I will be out this weekend trying to complete our season, and maybe create our own video.

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The weather forecast for Saturday was grim – 25mph sustained winds, with up to 40mph gusts, 30 degree temps, and rain.  The wife and I awoke at 4:30 that morning to hear the wind howling outside the window.  It sounded absolutely nasty outside, and with that we went back to bed.

Jeff didn’t though.

Jeff took Matt along with him, set up in the blind that we would have hunted, and shot the only bird that was in the area on this absolutely nasty morning – a nice 19lb tom, with a 9 inch beard, and big limb hanger spurs.  I guess it goes to show you that you can’t kill turkeys when you’re in bed.

Was I a little envious?  Of course I was.  But in retrospect I think it will work out for the good.  I got to spend an entire day with the wife and Abby, and Jeff can now focus all of his attention on filming the rest of us.

And, of course, on Sunday I hunted the same spot where Jeff killed his bird on Saturday, and went to our Mother’s Day festivities bird-less; not only bird-less, but without seeing a bird at all.

The wife and I still have plenty of season left, though, and it’s good to know that the SimplyOutdoors’ crew already has two birds on the board.

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