Turkey Season - A tale of two birds

April marks the home stretch and final month of turkey season, and many hunters have notched their box call with success, while others are still paying dues towards harvesting a tom. It's not too late to get started with hunting wild turkeys because the cool and wet spring thus far may have hampered peak gobbling activity. Oh there have been a few good days of gobbling activity - when woodsman were thanking their alarm clocks for waking them up prior to the cacophony that is daybreak for a longing and lovesick longbeard! Sometimes a hunt is mano y mano versus the turkey and sometimes the buddy system works best. Turkey hunting enthusiast Scott Hammond told me that he harvested a nice bird while hunting with his father on Wednesday April 1. Hey, Scott tells me about all his birds - not that we are in a yearly competition for bragging rights.... After a morning filled with on-again off-again rain where they never heard a gobble before 11 a.m. - Scott managed to call in a 20-pound tom sporting a 10.5-inch beard and 1.5-inch spurs. Persistence paid off in this instance - and one of Scott's five turkey tags was filled. Lucky for me I filled a tag just the day before on March 31, while hunting with Julian Clark - actually he was doing all the calling. Our hunt was a bit more "textbook" with the tom gobbling from the roost, before being seduced by Julian's slate call, and came strutting and gobbling to within 35 paces where I held up my part of the job. The longbeard weighed 18-pounds and carried a 9-inch beard and 1.25-inch spurs. No doubt the turkey season holds a few more surprises for Lowcountryoutdoors.com, but these two birds are not likely to be "topped" and they both merit the honor that comes from dueling with mature gobblers.
To view past blog entries about turkey hunting stories click here.

Photo by Julian Clark shows Jeff and his bird; Photo by Don Hammond shows Scott and his bird; Photo by Jeff Dennis shows 8-month old Chester playing with his turkey wing