The gobbler silently stepped from the thick brush 25 yards away, looking for the hen that had been calling intermittently. He had called to her early, but she had not come to him as he’d hoped. Now, after the initial breeding period, he had come looking for her. I slid my hand silently along my leg until I grasped my shotgun, taking the safety off as I did. If this was going to happen, it was going to be quick.
It is no secret to my friends and family that I love spring turkey hunting with a blinding passion. It took me five years to bag my first spring gobbler. In the decades since I have striven for the perfect hunt.
Hard lessons learned through failures sufficient to fill several volumes have helped me become a better hunter in every sense of the word. For me, the “limit phase” ended quickly, but my desire to take at least one gobbler each spring burns hotter than ever. As my abilities as a hunter have increased, so has my willingness to handicap myself—to use smaller gauge shotguns to limit my optimum range, and eventually to consider forsaking my favorite calls and attempt to call in a gobbler with just my voice.
My main turkey gun is “The Big Dog,” my 3 ½”-chambered Beretta Onyx, which has cleanly taken a turkey at 50 yards. My 20-ga. Browning Citori has patterned effectively out to 35 yards. Last year I carefully patterned a NWTF Stoeger SxS .410 and learned that I could ethically take a gobbler at 25 yards.
For about a decade I have tried to call turkeys using my voice, but never without having my favorite calls with me. Turkeys would respond to my attempts at calling, but my calls were always at hand and invariably used. Only once had I called a turkey into shotgun range using only my voice, but I had already taken a tom that spring and was hunting pigs when I enticed him in.
This year, it happened, though I cannot say I planned it beforehand. In my rushed packing to get to the lease, I didn’t check the contents of the bag that “always” holds my two favorite calls. They weren’t there. To make matters more challenging, I was carrying my .410, having already taken a nice gobbler with my Citori. In fairness, having “a bird in hand” was a huge factor in this attempt.
So, I decided to heck with it, time to find out if I was a good as I thought I was – I would rely on my voice alone. It was windier than I would have liked, which meant an approaching tom would be less likely to gobble on his way in – vigilance would be the key.
I began calling once it was light enough to shoot. I heard a gobble and responded, but with no reply. A little later I heard the same gobbler, and this time we traded calls for a bit. The tom was gathering and herding his hens for the initial breeding period. He would spend time with them before considering looking for a hen outside his orbit, so I did not try to pressure him. I called every few minutes to keep him thinking about me and to pinpoint my general location. Forty-five minutes after we first talked, there he was to my right, angling in front of me.
No matter how skilled, patient or persistent, luck plays a significant role in the success or failure of an individual encounter with a spring gobbler. A tom could have appeared from any direction on the compass. This one showed up from the best possible angle – I just needed to play my part by remaining motionless and picking him up early. Fortunately, both happened.
I raised the shotgun and only had to move the muzzle six inches. He looked my direction at the move, head fully extended. The little gun seemed to fire itself as soon as the sight picture was perfect. Just like that it was over, less than 15 seconds from when he first appeared. He fell where he had stood, 18 yards away.
If that weren’t enough, under the leaves nearby was the arrow I’d shot clean through a doe last year! A little added bonus.
Texas in the spring has a beauty that can be breathtaking, and the gobbles of spring add to that beauty. I intend to enjoy both, to cherish both, as long as I am able. I hope to have many more spring adventures with the wild turkey; I do not know if I can ever surpass the experience of this hunt, but it sure will be fun to try.