Yesterday marked the end of our spring turkey hunt here in Michigan. We had an excellent season with 7 out of 8 getting Toms. We tried right till the last day to get Tony a bird, but glitches in our plan kept him from filling his tag. My brother Darryl volunteered to be Tony’s guide this past week, and we figured Tony had a good chance, seeing that Darryl is part turkey himself.
I already related the story about our Tuesday morning hunt, where we heard them gobble on the roost, but seen no birds. Saturday morning I couldn’t go, so I ran my Remington 870 x 3-1/2 inch magnum out to Tonys with a box of shells, Friday night. Tony met up with Darryl around 4:30 a.m. Sat. morning, and then drove Darryl’s truck from his house. Tony threw his gear into the back seat and off they headed for the turkey woods.
When they got there Tony discovered he had grabbed the wrong gun from his truck. He has a similar model Remington, but it’s chambered for only 2-3/4 inch shells, and it was in a green case, just like mine. The 3-1/2 inch shells weren’t going to work, so Darryl searched his truck for a shell that would . He found one! They weren’t about to turn back, so off they went with their one and only shell. You know whats going to happen don’t you? Early on Darryl called a hen and jake into position, but they were seeing a couple long beards off in the distance. Tony choose to pass on the jake, and Darryl kept working the call. Eventually there were between 15-20 birds in a field north of their position. Two long-beards, a few jakes, and several hens were about 150 yards away, and getting no closer. Darryl decided to do a sneak through the woods. They got to within about 50 yards, and were pinned down by a nearby hen. Tony decided to take the shot, and when he did, all the toms started fighting with one another. Tony missed, but the birds never spooked! In fact they were able to get another 25 yards closer, after the shot. They must of known Tony had no more shells. What a predicament, to have all those birds in your lap with no ammo.
Yesterday (Sunday) they went back to the same spot, with the right gun and ammo, but there wasn’t a turkey to be seen or heard! Don’t ya know that’s the way it is when your trying to outwit wild critters. There are no guarantees or gimmies when it comes to the outdoors. No matter, it was a year to remember in the turkey woods.
Mike