Daryl Bauer, Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
I have heard that May is “bird month” in Nebraska, Nebraska Bird Month. Looking back over the years, I am sure I have killed more big toms in May than other months during spring turkey season.
Guess May is “bird month”!
Already blogged about taking one turkey this spring, Little Fan. Having the time and opportunity, and not having had near enough spring turkey hunting, I decided to get a second permit again this spring. That gave me an excuse to spend more time listening to turkeys gobble and observing them and all their spring antics. Punching another tag would be just the cherry on top.
Spent one evening close enough to watch the show, but not close enough to crack a primer. Enjoyed every minute of that and not only learned where the birds were hanging out, but also knew there were at least three mature toms still in the area. One was definitely dominant and spent a lot of time putting the others in their place.
That scoop gave me an idea where I wanted to set up and how I wanted to hunt the next trip. . . .
Knew the big tom was hanging out doing some strutting and gobbling in a particular area. Also knew I had a familiar place to sit there, one where I could be very well concealed. Having watched his behavior, I also judged that decoys were going to be part of my strategy, including a jake decoy.
Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that a person is often more likely to kill a spring tom by setting up in a good spot and staying there. Sure, there are times when the strategy needs to include being mobile and going after birds, especially gobbling birds. On the other hand, patience is a virtue.
Decided I was going to go to the spot I had in mind, put the decoys out, and then sit and see what happened. That is what I did, for over two hours.
Sure, there was a tom that showed up in front of me, likely a sub-dominant bird I had seen earlier. He wanted no part of the jake decoy I had out. Then there was a hen that quietly walked in and spent a half hour or so keeping me and my decoys company. By the way, the big chicken sub-dominant tom did not like the live decoy either!
Other than a couple of gobbles I could hear in the distance, that was the only activity I had for over two hours. The faint gobbles were to the north and west. I could have gathered up my gear and gone chasing after them, but I figured those birds would eventually show up in front of me. . . .
They did.
Eventually, the yelping was closer, just around the corner to the west. I replied and struck up a conversation with the hen who was doing the yelping. We conversed for several minutes and a jake and gobbler chimed in a couple times. I kept expecting to see birds coming down the field edge towards me, but after some time they quit answering. I had not seen them.
Waited for another twenty minutes or so until finally spotting a hen out in the field. Soon there were two jakes and a strutting tom behind her.
We struck up a conversation again. Game on!
By this time, I thought those birds might drift past me and head towards the creek bottom where they often roosted. Instead the hen kept talking and started walking straight towards me. Jakes were trotting to keep up. Big tom strutted along behind.
None of the birds came all the way to the decoys. They all started milling around no more than twenty-five paces in front of me. Milling was exactly the problem. At any time I could have taken my shot at the big tom, but there were always other birds nearby. No worries, all I had to do was wait. . . .
Tom strutted constantly. At twenty yards he turned and started strutting away. Again, no worries, he was still plenty in range. Soon he turned, about 30 yards out. I started calling to try to get him to break strut and stick his head in the air. Finally, he stretched his neck just a little bit. I took the shot.
Turkeys went running everywhere. Big tom dropped to his side and then also started running.
AAAARRRRRGGGGggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
I carefully aimed and shot a second time. Then the tom was into the tree line and out of sight.
In my opinion, there would have been nothing worse than hitting a bird and then having him get away. Fortunately, in all my years of spring turkey hunting, that has never happened. Was terrified that was exactly what I had just done.
Fed a couple more shells into the shotgun and went forward to where I lost sight of tom. Upon entering the trees I immediately heard wings flapping. He had only gone a few yards and was flapping up against a large tree and old fence. He was flapping his last.
Whew!
I cannot tell you the last time I had to shoot more than once to kill a spring turkey. It has been a lot of years. This year, I had to shoot multiple times at both toms I harvested. It is important to look back at those shots and critique what I should have done better. I will over and over again.
For now, very thankful that I was able to give both birds a ride home in the back of my pickup!
Stats on this bird: 21 pounds, a beard a little more than 9 1/2 inches, both spurs a sixteenth or two larger than an inch.
Cannot get any more permits for this spring’s Nebraska turkey season. Nevertheless, you can be sure I will spend some more time with the birds even though no more powder will be burned (good thing, I might run out of shells!). And, I cannot wait until next spring and next year’s “bird month”!