Finally on the last day.....
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:51 am
Last Monday was our first of five turkey season's here in the northern zone of IL. I've been going out on the weekends prior to then to scout for turkeys only to find they weren't in the areas like they had been in previous years or at least not as many.
Last Sunday morning I watched a bottom to see a couple toms following a hen around on a beanfield hillside about 150 yards out. We had had over an inch of rain the day before and the creek was too high to cross. I put a stick in the edge of the water before I left and was going to ckeck it out in the evening to see if it went down enough to wade across. Lucas went there that evening while I drove around to the back side of the property on a dirt road that was now mud. He said the creek had gone down about 3" and he was able to cross.
Sunday night we had another inch of rain and I knew the creek would be up again and I wouldn't be able to come in the back way so I put on my rain suit and loaded up the 4-wheeler. It was still raining at the time as I drive about 2.5 miles down the road and then went across the fields to get to where I wanted to be. I rode through 4" to 6" inches of water in the field at times.
I got set up in the upper end of a small hayfield between two hillsides of woods where the turkeys had been roosting in the past about a half hour before first light and waited. Long story short, didn't see or hear a turkey all morning and hunted till 12:00 noon. Here in IL. you can only hunt till 1:00 pm.
I didn't hunt Tuesday but went out Tuesday evening to try and roost some birds. Just before sunset I saw a tom and a hen come out into the far end of the field and watched them for a while when the tom headed north and the hen went back into the woods they had come from. Another tom came in from the east and went in where the other tom went.
The next morning I set up on a roadway along the edge of the field where the tom had traveled the night before. I was hoping the tom would come back to get with the hen again. When it started getting light, they started gobbling and I would give them a few soft yelps to let them know there was a new girl in town, but it didn't work, they flew down and went north instead. I didn't see one turkey that day after making 3 setups on the property.
Thursday morning I was able to drive in the back way and set up in a different area where they have come out into a field around 8 to 9 in the morning to strut and feed. There had been a lone gobbler off to my north east on another property but was enable to entice him over to my side. About 10:00 I decided to pack up and go home to do some things before I went to work. Just as I got to my truck, I heard the tom gobble closer and sounded like on the right side of the fence this time. I shed some clothes and my backpack and headed toward him through the woods. I was doing the slow sneak and had gotten close to where I though he was and sat down to call. He never would answer me so I decided after about 20 minutes I would leave. Just as I stood up, he gobbled just over the hill about a hundred yards away.
I started a very slow sneak toward him when I saw two big toms about 300 yards away on the other property across a wheat field. Since this tom wasn't responding to my calls I figured he had a hen he didn't want to leave. I sat my gun down by a tree and started calling to the two toms. They stopped and looked my way and then proceeded eastward. I pulled the binoculars up to watch them and heard that feared sound, Putt....Putt....Putt. The tom that wouldn't respond, decided to and was about 35-40 yards to my right. I started to reach for my gun but he was already walking away putting. I didn't have a shot so I stood still and let him walk. He was about 150 yards from where I thought he had roosted so I didn't want him to get too scared and I would set up on him differently the next morning hoping he would roost in the same place.
Friday morning, last day to hunt, I rode the 4-wheeler out so I could approach from a whole different way on this bird, provided he roosted in the same place he had been roosting.
I got my hen decoy out and ready so when I got to where I wanted to set up, I wouldn't make anymore noise or commotion than need be since he could possibly see me even in the starlight.
I sat and watched the first glow of light come up in the east and listened to the sounds of the woods. I had a coon come along the edge of the field and watched it walk up to within a few feet of my decoy and look it over. It then proceed toward me and got to about 4' and decided it would go another direction. As it got lighter, some turkeys off in the distance to the north and northwest started gobbling but nothing close to me.
Finally, after about 20 minutes of the other turkeys gobbling, a tom gobbled about 100 yards from me where I thought he might be. I gave a soft yelp and he didn't respond. I waited a while till he gobbled again and then gave another yelp only a little louder this time and he gobbled right back. He knew I was there so I waited a while and then did a simulated fly down sound by slapping my backpack. It sounds a lot like a bird coming off the roost and Lucas and I have used this several times before with good sucess.
It worked this time. I heard the bird come off the roost and saw him land in the field about 60 yards out. I followed him down while looking down the barrel of my gun. He stood and looked around for a bit and started to walk the other way. He stopped again and looked around and saw the decoy. He started heading toward it and just before some light brush in front of me got between he and I, I dropped him with a 3.5 inch load of #5's.
He weighed 20.5 lbs and had two beards, one 10" long and the other one was 2.5"
Last Sunday morning I watched a bottom to see a couple toms following a hen around on a beanfield hillside about 150 yards out. We had had over an inch of rain the day before and the creek was too high to cross. I put a stick in the edge of the water before I left and was going to ckeck it out in the evening to see if it went down enough to wade across. Lucas went there that evening while I drove around to the back side of the property on a dirt road that was now mud. He said the creek had gone down about 3" and he was able to cross.
Sunday night we had another inch of rain and I knew the creek would be up again and I wouldn't be able to come in the back way so I put on my rain suit and loaded up the 4-wheeler. It was still raining at the time as I drive about 2.5 miles down the road and then went across the fields to get to where I wanted to be. I rode through 4" to 6" inches of water in the field at times.
I got set up in the upper end of a small hayfield between two hillsides of woods where the turkeys had been roosting in the past about a half hour before first light and waited. Long story short, didn't see or hear a turkey all morning and hunted till 12:00 noon. Here in IL. you can only hunt till 1:00 pm.
I didn't hunt Tuesday but went out Tuesday evening to try and roost some birds. Just before sunset I saw a tom and a hen come out into the far end of the field and watched them for a while when the tom headed north and the hen went back into the woods they had come from. Another tom came in from the east and went in where the other tom went.
The next morning I set up on a roadway along the edge of the field where the tom had traveled the night before. I was hoping the tom would come back to get with the hen again. When it started getting light, they started gobbling and I would give them a few soft yelps to let them know there was a new girl in town, but it didn't work, they flew down and went north instead. I didn't see one turkey that day after making 3 setups on the property.
Thursday morning I was able to drive in the back way and set up in a different area where they have come out into a field around 8 to 9 in the morning to strut and feed. There had been a lone gobbler off to my north east on another property but was enable to entice him over to my side. About 10:00 I decided to pack up and go home to do some things before I went to work. Just as I got to my truck, I heard the tom gobble closer and sounded like on the right side of the fence this time. I shed some clothes and my backpack and headed toward him through the woods. I was doing the slow sneak and had gotten close to where I though he was and sat down to call. He never would answer me so I decided after about 20 minutes I would leave. Just as I stood up, he gobbled just over the hill about a hundred yards away.
I started a very slow sneak toward him when I saw two big toms about 300 yards away on the other property across a wheat field. Since this tom wasn't responding to my calls I figured he had a hen he didn't want to leave. I sat my gun down by a tree and started calling to the two toms. They stopped and looked my way and then proceeded eastward. I pulled the binoculars up to watch them and heard that feared sound, Putt....Putt....Putt. The tom that wouldn't respond, decided to and was about 35-40 yards to my right. I started to reach for my gun but he was already walking away putting. I didn't have a shot so I stood still and let him walk. He was about 150 yards from where I thought he had roosted so I didn't want him to get too scared and I would set up on him differently the next morning hoping he would roost in the same place.
Friday morning, last day to hunt, I rode the 4-wheeler out so I could approach from a whole different way on this bird, provided he roosted in the same place he had been roosting.
I got my hen decoy out and ready so when I got to where I wanted to set up, I wouldn't make anymore noise or commotion than need be since he could possibly see me even in the starlight.
I sat and watched the first glow of light come up in the east and listened to the sounds of the woods. I had a coon come along the edge of the field and watched it walk up to within a few feet of my decoy and look it over. It then proceed toward me and got to about 4' and decided it would go another direction. As it got lighter, some turkeys off in the distance to the north and northwest started gobbling but nothing close to me.
Finally, after about 20 minutes of the other turkeys gobbling, a tom gobbled about 100 yards from me where I thought he might be. I gave a soft yelp and he didn't respond. I waited a while till he gobbled again and then gave another yelp only a little louder this time and he gobbled right back. He knew I was there so I waited a while and then did a simulated fly down sound by slapping my backpack. It sounds a lot like a bird coming off the roost and Lucas and I have used this several times before with good sucess.
It worked this time. I heard the bird come off the roost and saw him land in the field about 60 yards out. I followed him down while looking down the barrel of my gun. He stood and looked around for a bit and started to walk the other way. He stopped again and looked around and saw the decoy. He started heading toward it and just before some light brush in front of me got between he and I, I dropped him with a 3.5 inch load of #5's.
He weighed 20.5 lbs and had two beards, one 10" long and the other one was 2.5"
We start chasing them tomorrow here in Ohio. 
