"All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth,
and the floodgates of the sky were spread."
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Genesis 8:11
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It was around 11 AM on Friday April 27, 2001 (opening day), and I had just
pulled into the area where I was to meet John Heffelfinger and his son Chip
(who is a Flagstaff police officer) for my first spring turkey hunt when the
heavens opened up and the rain and hail began. For the next 50 minutes I
sat there and wondered why I subjected myself to such abuse. I had never
before put in for the spring turkey hunts mainly because of the
unpredictability of the weather. But since I am now retired and had no other
major commitments, and because the season was a full month long, I assumed
that I could get in some hunting time no matter what the weather. This was
not, however, an auspicious beginning.
After the rains let up, I looked out the window and there were John and Chip.
Even though they were parked not more than 100 yards from me, they were all
but invisible to me during the downpour.
John had arrived the day before to do some scouting and Chip met him there
for the opening morning hunt. I was a late arrival because the night before
was the final night of my Thursday bowling league and, as team captain, I
had to be there to pick up the team prize money. The plan was to meet at
noon on Friday to pick a campsite and finalize the hunt strategies. While
doing some exploring on Thursday, John managed to bury his brand new truck
in the mud twice and had to expend $20 in quarters at a Flagstaff car wash
to get it cleaned up. Based on John's experience and today's downpour we
decided to camp right where we were rather than risking the dirt roads
looking for a better campsite.
John and Chip had hunted in the morning and heard some gobbles but had not
seen any turkeys. Between getting camp set up and the wet weather, no more
hunting got done that day. The serious hunting would start the next day,
weather permitting.
In addition to my regular hunting outfit (including full camo), my turkey
hunt equipment included a Remington 870 pump action 12-gauge shotgun that
my daughter had foolishly stored in one of my gun cabinets. I commandeered
it, gave it a camo tape job, installed an H.S. Strut Undertaker Super Full
Turkey Choke Tube, Total Super Sling 2 and a set of Tru Glo Magnum Gobble-Dot
fiber optic shotgun sights. Ammo was Winchester Supreme XX-Turkey 3 inch
shells throwing 2 ounces of #4 shot. This combination put approximately 50%
of the pellets in the large (10" diameter) circle on the NWTF official World
Wild Turkey Still Target at 30 yards. The bulk of the pellets impacted
slightly above the center of the circle. I had a borrowed homemade wingbone
call; a M.A.D. Calls slate with multiple strikers and an H.S. Strut push
button yelper.
We were hunting in Unit 5B South, just south of Happy Jack. This is the same
area we have been archery elk hunting for the last 10 years or so. Last
September we found a spot with a lot of droppings and feathers on the ground
that we assumed was a roost area. This roost area was to be our starting point
for this hunt.
John and I have been hunting together for about 30 years and pretty much know
what the other is going to do in the field. We usually let each other know the
general area where we intend to hunt and then go off on our own. We are both
"still" hunters. That is, we like to slowly pussy foot through the woods as
opposed to hunting from stands. We usually hunt hard from early in the AM until
mid morning. We then make our way back to camp for lunch and rest/camp chores.
Most days we go out again for the late afternoon/evening hunt until shooting
light gives out.
Since this was to be my first real turkey hunt (the only other times I had
turkey tags were during archery deer or elk hunts) I really didn't know much
about the turkey's habits. What time did they get up in the morning? When
did they leave the roost? Where did they roost? What did they do in the
middle of the day? What time did they go to roost in the evening? Etc.,
etc. Unfortunately I found that most of the instructional tapes and TV
programs tend to deal with calling techniques and assume the watcher knows
the basics. Some magazine articles are a little better but still leave a lot
to be desired from the tyro's point of view. Oh well, I was here to learn.
SATURDAY
The rain had stopped and we were walking to our hunting spots before the sun
came up. Crossing the first ridge out of camp I started hearing some far off
gobbles but nothing close and nobody returned my calls. Down in the valley I
finally saw a hen. She was on the move about 150 yards out and heading up the
hill where I had just come from. That was it for the day. Opening day of the
hunt was pretty much of a bust. John and Chip were in the same boat, heard
some gobbles but didn't see any birds. Unfortunately this was also Chip's last
day for this hunt. He was working the night shift and could not get away for
the rest of the week.
SUNDAY
Another early morning. This morning we saw a herd of about a dozen elk
feeding on the power line road as we were walking to the place where we
entered the woods. (Query - why don't elk feed on the roads during elk
season????). Other than these elk, the only animals I saw all day were a
couple of does. I did get two turkeys to respond to my calls near the roost
area midmorning but I never saw them. I assumed these were what I termed
"shock" gobbles i.e. instinctive reactions to a noise which the turkeys made
before they had time to think about it. After the initial response, neither
turkey made another sound.
MONDAY
Off again at 0 dark hundred. This morning when I got to within 100 yards of
where I had seen the hen on Saturday, I heard a coyote yipping and several
gobbles. I headed toward the noise and shortly spotted 2 toms break out of
the brush in front of me. They were headed up the hill on a dead run.
Unfortunately they never got any closer than 75 - 80 yards. I knew I couldn't
keep up with them so I decided to continue on to the area where I had heard
the coyote. Within 5 minutes, I spotted the coyote which caused the turkey's
exodus. The coyote also spotted me and decided it was time to leave the area.
While he was watching me he almost ran over John who had also heard the
commotion and was approaching from a different direction. As luck would have
it, this was the one day that John had elected not to carry his .22 pistol.
So much for the morning hunt. That afternoon I sat a tank. Saw a nice pair
of mallards and several doe but no more turkey.
TUESDAY
The elk were out again this morning. Today we saw several herds on the power
line. One herd had several bulls in it. Tried some new areas behind camp but
no luck. Bummer of a day.
WEDNESDAY
This was to be my last day of this hunt because of a previous commitment in
Phoenix the next day. I had already decided to go back to the same area where
I saw the hen on Saturday and the 2 toms on Monday. My plan was to plant my
butt under a pine tree and sit out the morning. No wandering around today.
Shortly after sitting down I spotted a herd of elk 150 yards out and was
watching them when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Looking around
I saw a turkey coming down the hill approximately 80 yards to my right. I was
sure that I could see a beard but no matter what I tried I could not get a
response to my pathetic attempts to sound like a horny hen.
After about 15 minutes he finally wandered out of sight without ever getting
any closer than 75 yards. When I started looking around again I saw another
herd of elk watching me watch the turkey. (Do elk get a copy of the hunt
regulations? Do they know when it's elk season?). Oh well, I was here for
the entire morning.
After a while I started calling again. I was using the wingbone call because
it had the most volume when I heard a far off response. I kept calling and he
kept responding. It was clear that the responses were getting closer. All of
a sudden there he was about 150 yards out.
By this time I was on the slate and he was still responding. He would strut,
fan his tail, gobble, come forward another 10 yards or so and wait for me to
call again. Once I spotted him, I started using the yelper because I only
needed one hand to operate it. The shotgun was up on my knee and I was in the
perfect position, the bird was walking directly at me.
I called, watched, waited, and called some more until the tom was about 35
yards out. He still hadn't seen me and I thought I could get him closer but
decided that he was well within range based on my pre-season sight in. I
pulled the trigger and the tom flopped and dropped.
He did not expire immediately but the point of my knife in the back of his
skull ended it quickly. I tagged him and hiked back to camp for the field
dressing. John got back to camp just as I was finishing the cleaning. After
taking some pictures we put the tom in an ice chest and broke camp.
The next stop was Verde Valley Taxidermy in Camp Verde. I left the wings,
tail and beard for a shield mount and bundled the rest off to home for
butchering. I contemplated plucking the bird for roasting but finally decided
that skinning was the way to go. During the skinning/butchering I noticed that
all pellets had hit either the head or neck. There were no hits in the breast
area or legs. Half of the boned breast went to John and half is still in my
freezer. The neck, back, thighs and drumsticks were cooked by various methods
and thoroughly enjoyed.
All told it was a good learning experience with a lot of beginners luck thrown
in (several people have told me they don't always come to the call so easily).
Needless to say I'll be putting in for more spring turkey hunts in the future.
Let it rain!