Coastal Outdoors

It was the second week of the season and I had been working a bird for four days both morning and evening with no luck. In fact as I rode to the woods well before daybreak I was rather depressed over the whole matter, especially since I hadn't heard this old bird for the last two days. Anyway, I decided to give it one more try.

Since the last two days hadn't given me a clue where this old bird was roosting, I decided to move a little further to the south, hoping that I would find him in the back of an old pond. I had gotten there a lot earlier than I needed and since the moon wasn't up I had to wait a little while at the edge of the field so I could find my way through the woods.

Standing there waiting for day a thousand thoughts rushed through my mind. Had someone else killed the bird, had the bird moved his roosting place like I suspected, or was he using his old hangout and just not gobbling? Suddenly I found myself not at all comfortable with the strategy that I was using. Turkeys are birds of habit. This old bird had roosted in the same spot for 2 years. Why should he change now? I had done nothing to spook the bird. The bird had just not been gobbling and now I had gone too far away from his old stomping grounds to hear him if he did. I immediately took off in a fast walk to the area that he normally used. Upon arriving I stopped and listened.

The crows had not yet begun their early morning crowing that normally got the old gobbler going. After about 15 minutes the crows began. I listened intently and thought I heard a gobble far away. I immediately moved a couple of hundred yards closer and listened and again I heard a gobble but this time it was very clear. Again I moved closer to position myself within working distance of the bird. I was lucky in that the bird continued to gobble while I was moving, thus allowing me to know his whereabouts at all times.

The bird had flown down onto a small logging road and was strutting back and too while surrounding hens yelped and headed his way. I quickly set up a decoy short of a curve in the road that separated me from the bird and sought a place to hide near by. I grabbed my slate, made a few clucks and he quickly responded with an earth-shaking gobble. My major concern was all the hens that I heard around me. Why would he leave the hens to come to me? Again he gobbled, this time a little further away. A hen to my left was calling franticly and I decided to just let her do her thing. Certainly she was better at this sort of thing than I was. I figured if she couldn't call him in, I sure couldn't.

Much to my dismay the gobbler was going the other way carrying his flock of hens with him. The road that he was following led to a field not too far away. I slowly moved to the field and sure enough there was the gobbler in full strut with his harem of hens. I was pretty well hid so I called and watched Mr. Gobbler strut for about 30 minutes, but he never offered to come my way. Knowing that the birds probably would not come back my way I decided to go around and get on the other side of the field in front of them. I slowly eased back to the little road that I had came in on and made my way around the field.

Upon arriving where I thought the birds should be I set out two decoys, made a good blind, and began to call. Suddenly the bird responded with a ground-shaking roar. I was closer to the birds than I thought and I had apparently gotten the old gobbler's attention. I waited a few minutes before making another call and he responded again, this time some fifty yards in front of me. In fact the bird was now standing in the road that I had just come in on. The next time he gobbled he had moved even closer to me but more to my right. I knew that he was coming and I slowly eased by gun to my shoulder, letting the barrel rest on my knee. Several minutes passed and not a sound.

I knew the bird was close and probably looking for me. Suddenly I heard a sound to my right, "tick" "tick" a strange spitting sound. I slowly eased by head to the right to find myself looking face to face with the gobbler. He suddenly roared a deafening gobbler that almost scarred me to death. The bird was so close that I could hear him breathing and to make it worse my gun was pointing away from him. Believe me I learned a long time ago that when you are in this sort of situation with a gobbler your only option is to be still. There is no way you can out draw a turkey! Trying to turn quickly and make a hasty shot will result in a missed bird every time. I sat as still as I could not having any control over the shaking that I was doing from having the gobbler so near. Suddenly the bird spotted the decoys and began to move towards them. This was exactly what I wanted. He moved slowly but steadily from my right to my left towards the decoys. The bird stopped directly in front of me behind a bush. I could see the body of the bird well, he was well within gun range, but I couldn't see his neck or head. I made a few soft clucks with my mouth call which was exactly what was needed. The bird took a step forward from behind the bush, looked directly down the barrel of my Turkey Gun and BOOM, it was over. What a hunt, what a morning!!

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About the author: Captain William H. "Bing" Phillips is an accomplished hunter and charter captain. He serves on CCA's Board of Directors and Executive Committee and is the Chairman of the Tag and Release Committee. Bing also serves on the Saltwater Advisory Committee for the Department of Natural Resources and is the recreational representative on the Gray's Reef Sanctuary Advisory Committee. He sells insurance for a living from his business in Statesboro, Georgia. You can contact Captain Phillips at (912) 764-6567 or email him at ringo@bulloch.com