I just returned from my Missouri Turkey hunt and even though I have good news, it might not be the ‘good’ news you would expect to hear. I was not able to close the deal and kill a turkey, but I still had an unbelievable time. I mean a really good time. Turkey hunting was like nothing I have ever experienced. We had turkeys all around us most every day and I did witness an event that I will never forget. More on that in a minute…
We hunted in the very north part of the state, in fact we were only 50 miles or so from Iowa. The terrain up there is lots of agriculture and rolling hills (even though rolling felt like VERTICAL most of the time!), just beautiful country. From just over the Kansas line all the way east to where we hunted was large bean, wheat and corn fields surrounded by large stands of hardwoods. There were lots of creeks and streams providing the much-needed water to this type environment as well. The property my cousin owns has plenty of diversity, too, from CRP to very mature hardwoods. And the weather! The nights and mornings were in the low 40’s and then it would get up to the high 60’s or low 70’s the next day, just gorgeous!
As I mentioned previously, this was my first turkey hunt and I did have a wonderful experience. I feel like I was able to experience everything about turkey hunting except killing. And I did stop judging the quality of my hunts by the kills a while back. This hunt was full of time spent with family I have not seen in a long time and even new additions that are already almost grown! It is truly crazy how time flies by.
Back to my experience. We were able to roost birds almost every evening…that part worked well. The challenge for us was getting on them the next morning and setting up where they would come to us before they found a hen. The second morning worked out almost perfectly. Ok, the birds did THEIR part, it was us who goofed! We had roosted several birds the night before, including some gobblers. We circled back around early the next morning to get set up in the creek bottom next to where they were. As the sun started to rise, the gobblers back on the ridge behind us that had fooled us the day before, as well as at least two other gobblers close by, sounded off early. Not our boys. Did we spook them the night before as we attempted to back out of the area? Did coyotes come in the middle of the night and scare them? Or did we bump them as we tried to sneak in that morning? All of these questions plus lots more were spinning in my head as we waited for daylight. One really good question was whether we should have gone back to the area we had the close experience the day before. Those two Toms were gobbling almost non-stop this morning! As my mind raced and daylight greeted us, something else happened that caused me to panic.
Let me take just a second to express again how awesome the hunt was. I prayed for two things (at least hunting-related) on this trip; 1. To be able to really experience turkey hunting and 2. To have a turkey gobble in close range. The turkeys I mentioned we roosted the night before I was actually able to watch them fly up to roost. This may be something a lot of you seasoned turkey hunters have seen, but I found it just incredible. I duck hunt a lot and I know how much noise a duck can make getting off the water and rapidly beating their wings to gain altitude. But a turkey? Wow! It was like a Harrier taking off. So, to me…that prayer was answered! Back to the hunt.
We actually set up RIGHT UNDER one of the gobblers roosting and just after daylight, he took off and flew the other way, across the CRP and way away. I was sick. We worked so hard to get on these birds and then we goofed by getting too close. Not 5 minutes later, we heard more birds fly down and…gobbling! Here we go. Pat hit the call and they responded immediately. And they were not even 75 yards away! Things got quiet just before even more madness. Pat was in the middle, I was on one side of him about 10 yards away and Pat’s son Justin was sitting on the other side. I saw Justin raise his gun quickly and then a turkey flying off. This bird had come in quiet and when he appeared, Justin was not ready. The ole tom did not wait either! I think we were all about ready to go back to bed and try to forget this hunt, when my second prayer was answered.
Just a few minutes after that one decided to leave, more gobbling. This time, really close. This big boy came through the woods and let out a gobble when he was about 25 yards away and it was like thunder. He then stepped out into the open, fanned his feathers and went to strutting. I was in complete amazement. This was one of the most amazing spectacles I have ever seen. I looked over at Justin and he was ready this time. He had his gun up, bead on him…then the sound we all know. The sound of a firing pin falling on the primer but no explosion. This bird also had enough and decided our fake hen may not be worth it. What a hunt!
It turns out Justin had not closed the action on his gun all the way. He was trying to be quiet as he loaded a shell in the chamber and it did not go all the way forward. Very disappointing, but a lesson learned (I guarantee you he will never let that happen again!) and another great experience for me. The sound of that turkey gobbling in the timber and seeing him strut is forever etched in my memory. I have rerun that image over in my mind one hundred times already.
We decided to make this hunting trip an annual tradition. So, until next year, I’ll be thinking of something I have never thought of before…gobbling and strutting turkeys. I can’t wait!
