My friend looked over at me and in a hushed voice he said, “They’re right on top of us!”.
For those who enjoy the outdoors, the arrival of spring is like the return of an old friend. The woods come back to life as winter begins to loosen its grip—how tight that grip is, of course, depends on where you reside.
For wild turkey hunters, spring marks a period of time we’ve been waiting on all year. It’s a magical period, where the anticipation is half the fun. I’d venture to say that you’d be hard pressed to find a hunter who hasn’t started preparing his gear well in advance of the season.
I was lucky enough to be introduced to the thrill of chasing gobblers by my father at a young age and was immediately hooked—or should I say “spurred.” We hunted hard in my home state of Minnesota every spring, with some seasons being more successful than others. As time went on, I was lucky enough to accompany my father on trips to other states in pursuit of longbeards, only further fueling my addiction.
The act of having a guiding hand to introduce me to this passion has inspired me to try to get someone else involved in the world of the heart-pumping gobbles and fired-up toms. I couldn’t help but think of one of my good buddies who had a remarkable big-game resume. He had hunted brown bears in Alaska, braved the rugged terrain of the Northwest Territories for Dahl sheep, and had harvested numerous mature bucks in Wisconsin.
Of all the epic hunts he’d experienced, I couldn’t believe that he’d never chased gobblers. That fall, we devised a plan to hunt his piece of land in Buffalo County in Wisconsin the following spring, and I’d show him what all the hype was about.
Luck was on our side from the beginning, and we both got drawn for our preferred season in the first week of May. We spent the first afternoon hunting a field edge. Although we weren’t able to pull any birds in close, I was able to glass a group of hens heading to roost on the ridge situated above us.
The morning alarm sounded early the next morning, and we headed back to the area where we thought the birds had roosted. I opted to go with a full strut tom decoy perched above a breeding hen, a combination that few dominant toms can resist.
A great combination for this type of set-up is the MAD Spin-N-Strut tom and Shady Baby Breeding Hen decoys to fool that springtime tom into shot range. The Spin-N-Strut features a reliable pull-string operation that allows you to create natural movement without any “tomfoolery.” The Shady Baby is a must have for any decoy spread and creates an urge for toms to breed based upon the breeding position deployed by the decoy.
And our presentation worked. We tucked back into the timber on the field’s edge. Before I could even rest my head on the oak behind me, the first gobble boomed through the woods. As if on cue, three more distinct gobbles rang out, each one louder than the next.
My friend looked over at me and in a hushed voice he said, “They’re right on top of us!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle and recall my first spring morning in the turkey woods. I knew that the job was far from over and began to call softly to the group. The responses were immediate, and our hearts raced with each thunderous gobble.
As the sun began to crack above the horizon, I could hear the birds began to get off the roost. I began to cluck more aggressively, knowing the birds were close.
After 10 minutes of silence, I started to get nervous. Had the toms left the area with the hens we had also heard that morning?
I began to doubt our spot, but just then my pal grabbed my arm and motioned to the corner of the field. Sure enough, four longbeards had appeared about a hundred yards away. I watched as they strutted, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before they noticed some competition.
They detected our decoy spread almost instantly and made a beeline towards us. I glanced over at my partner and watched his eyes widen as the beards swung with each step. We had briefly discussed the scenario of having more than one shooter in the spread, but in bated breath I told him we’d pull the “one, two, three, shoot” method when the birds got close enough.
In under a few minutes, all four gobblers were a mere 15 yards away, taking turns squaring off with the tom decoy. We managed to each pick out a bird, and I gave the fatal countdown. The hunt was all over before 6:00 a.m.
We both exchanged shaky high-fives as we picked up our birds, and needless to say, he was hooked, or “spurred.” Our trip to Wisconsin’s bluff country has now become an annual affair. The feeling of getting someone else addicted to this great sport was even better than harvesting a big gobbler. This spring get someone else involved in the wonderful world of turkey hunting, you won’t regret it!