2013 Wild Turkey season cooled down by wet weather

I found this shed antler near to my swamp gobbler

The 2013 wild turkey season came along right when the drought-busting rains fell in South Carolina. The Lowcountry saw an average of 11-inches of rain in February, but it was the continuation of cloudy grey days with smaller amounts of rain that added up to SCDNR declaring the drought over. Weather will always play a part in the outdoors, but wild turkeys seem to gear up to gobble better during clear sunny weather. The 2013 season was a time to pick your hunting days wisely, since plenty of wet days cut down on the hunting opportunities. As we reach the conclusion of the S.C. season on May 1, I am hearing reports that some turkeys have still not mated, and that the reproduction season is being pushed back by the weather. Either way, outdoorsman are reporting water laying up in places they have not seen in many years, which is another sign of groundwater recharge. Overall I can report that plenty of success was found by those with a serious turkey hunting agenda, and I believe that turkey stocks in general are on the rise. Turkey managers will be looking for a dry window to sow this year's chufa seed in May in order to attract wild turkeys for next season. It was on April 3 when I was hunting over a food plot and a gobbler began to sound off at 9 a.m. in an area that I knew was holding turkeys. The gobbler stayed in the woods despite my changing positions on the edge of the plot and varying my turkey call selection. Making the tough decision to move towards the tom, I found that he was tucked away in a hardwood run beyond the pines where he was comfortable in his strut zone. After a stealthy approach to the edge of the hardwoods, I set up and began calling. The tom would answer with a gobble but would not come to me. I could see that he was strutting, and that no other turkeys were around. About 30 minutes passed because I could not move again, and it was simply a waiting game now to see which way the tom would move. At 10 a.m. he shut down his gobbling and began drifting down the hardwood bottomland towards my position. He did not come directly but more in a satellite type approach. Coming into the clear at 46-paces, my turkey load found its mark for a clean kill, and the memorable duel was complete. A hunt experience like this one keeps one looking forward to the 2014 wild turkey season!

To view past blog entries about the 2013 wild turkey season click here.