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 Friday, April 30, 2010
Timber in the Nick of Time
Posted by Brian Lovett
I'd blown the morning hunt at Terry Drury's farm, so we were up against the
wall.
Several attempts to strike a bird fell flat, so Mark and Terry Drury, and Steve "Coon Dog" Coon and I took a break for breakfast and a strategy session. At about noon -- with one hour left to hunt -- the weather seemed to let up, so we hit the woods. At our first stop, Mark struck two gobblers on a distant ridge. Trouble was, the birds were off the property, and a county road plus two fences separated us from them. Still, it was the only game in town, so off we went.
After one aborted setup and a couple of quick moves, we had gone as far as possible and had to make a final stand in some pretty timber. Mark float-called behind me and videographer Aaron Bennett, trying to pull the
gobblers to us. The birds responded well, and after a few minutes, it became
obvious they were coming.
Soon, close-range gobbling shattered the air, and I nervously looked left
and right for the approaching birds, which had crossed the road and were
trying to navigate the fence. Finally, a big light-bulb head appeared at the
edge of the woods. Then No. 2 popped up. The longbeards gobbled three times
on camera as they eased to their left and strode into the open. When the shot rang out, the strutter flopped, and somehow -- thanks to
Mark's world-class calling and maneuvering -- I'd rescued the day after my
morning gaffe.
Oh, and it was 12:59 p.m. We'd done it with one minute to spare.
Never give up. Ever. 
Friday, April 30, 2010 5:06:10 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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Can I Get a Witness?
Posted by Brian Lovett
After Steve Stoltz and I pulled a rabbit -- er, turkey -- out of the hat, I joined the Drury Outdoors crew to hunt a couple of days at Terry Drury's northern Missouri farm.
Light rain greeted us the first morning, so Mark Drury and I huddled in a ground blind while Terry Drury and Steve "Coon Dog" Coon filmed the action from a nearby box blind. Despite the weather, a lone gobbler hammered from the roost, flew down and started making steady progress toward us.
Within minutes, we heard drumming as the bird worked behind us. Then, it circled to our left and popped out in the field.
"There he is," Mark whispered while filming the action. "He's coming perfectly."
He sure did, strutting, gobbling and taking his sweet time walking to the call. When the longbeard was about 31 steps away, Mark cutt hard on his mouth call, and the bird raised his head high.
And then I missed him. On camera. Actually, on two cameras, because Coon Dog was also filming.
As the gobbler sprinted toward a nearby woods, I looked down in disbelief and tried to explain to Mark how I'd goofed up a fabulous hunt and phenomenal video. I'm pretty sure my words fell flat.
"Well, we'll just find another one," Mark said.
I nodded in agreement. Yet as the wind blew and the rain kept falling, I wasn't so sure I believed it.
Friday, April 30, 2010 5:01:28 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Thursday, April 29, 2010
Weather Marathon Goes Down to the Wire
Posted by Brian Lovett
When I reached Missouri, I found a classic spring low-pressure system camped
out over the state. In other words, we were in for rain and wind. Lightning,
too. Even some hail.
The first day, I sat in a blind with Steve Stoltz -- world-champion caller
and Knight & Hale pro-staffer -- for almost five hours. The result? Two hens
observed. No gobbles.
The second day, the rain stopped long enough for Stoltz and I to get on some
gobbling birds. Trouble was, they were across a flooded creek, and we never
seemed to get the right setup on them. Mark down another zero.
The third day was even nastier than the first, so we again sat in a blind
till we couldn't stand it. After we could take no more, we grabbed a hot
breakfast and then drove around the countryside, hoping to spot a gobbler on
one of the properties Stoltz could hunt.
At about 12:30 p.m., we struck pay dirt when we glimpsed three longbeards
easing down a long pasture point. With no time to lose -- hunting in
Missouri ends at 1 p.m. -- we bailed out of the truck and raced toward a
timbered bottom. Along the way, we actually spotted another gobbler
strutting for two hens.
Stoltz and I set up as close as we dared, and Stoltz uttered some soft
yelping. Within seconds, the hens broke, and the gobbler was in range. At
12:45 p.m., I pulled the trigger and ended what seemed like the longest,
wettest Missouri turkey hunt of all time.
Thursday, April 29, 2010 10:56:43 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Positive Thoughts
Posted by TTH Staff
By Daniel Schmidt, editor
I've said it many times when preparing for deer hunts, and will now adopt
the phrase as a point of motivation when things get tough during turkey
season. "You just never know."
I said it first thing this morning when exhaustion begged me to ripped the
alarm clock's cord out of the wall and roll back to sleep. It was only the
second day of my Wisconsin turkey period and, after being completely dissed
by numerous gobblers yesterday, I assured myself today could bring different
results.
I said it again after hearing the morning's first two gobblers sounding off
from across two nearby roads and a creek. They were off my property, but I
was going to call to them anyway.
Because you just never know.
When they did gobble at my soft yelps, I decided to shut up and hang tight.
Sure enough, they eventually crossed the roads and the creek. But then they
hooked up with some hens and faded into the distance. Desperate to bring
them in for a look-see before the party was over, I yelped louder. Then
cutt. Then realized the merry band wasn't coming any closer.
After sitting tight for another hour, I tucked my diaphragm call between my
lip and gum and reached for the slate. I hadn't purred to these gobblers all
morning and figured, "What the heck ... you just never know."
Guess what? Those birds did an about-face -- leaving the hens and making a
bee-line for what they must have thought was a sure thing. Within minutes, I
was cutting apart my crow call's lanyard so I could tied my tag to the lead
bird's leg.
When I called my wife, Tracy, with the good news, she quickly informed me
that she'd be fixing the year's first asparagus crop to go with the
pineapple-grilled turkey breast. She also reminded me where we'd be sitting
next Wednesday morning when it's her turn to sit behind the shotgun.
I'd tell you the logic behind that decision, but you probably already know.
Thursday, April 29, 2010 10:33:52 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010
One For the Road
Posted by Brian Lovett
Good news: Three gobblers were choking themselves in a tree 90 yards away.
Bad news: I had about two hours to kill one and then hit the road for my annual Missouri hunt.
Tick, tick, tick ... .
It was the second period of Wisconsin's Spring 2010 turkey season. I'd struck out the first day, leaving myself only a quick morning hunt before heading south. Thankfully, I was on the same ridge with the gobblers, and they were pepper-hot.
The birds seemed to hang in the tree forever, even though I'd only tree-yelped to them once. Finally, at about 6:30 a.m., I saw the lead gobbler pitch off the tree and fly toward me. His buddies followed. I yelped softly on a mouth call, and the birds hammered back.
The gun came up, and my heart rate quickened. Drumming filled the morning air, and I peered intently through the trees, looking for the telltale softball head.
I yelped again, and the birds gobbled from the same spot, not 50 steps away.
"Come on," I thought. "Don't blow this one."
Just then, I saw the dark form of a gobbler trotting toward me. Two others followed. The lead bird stopped for a second, blew up into strut, and then stepped into the open to look for the hen he'd heard. Remington's Wingmaster HD No. 6 shot brought the hunt to a quick conclusion.
"6:35 a.m.," I thought. "Plenty of time to clean the gobbler and maybe even catch a nap."
Sure enough, I even got on the road early. When I reached Missouri, however, I didn't like what I found.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 7:17:58 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Friday, April 23, 2010
Salter and Culpepper Win Beards or Bust
Posted by TTH Staff
by Brian Lovett, editor
Eddie Salter and Phillip Culpepper, Team APG, recently won Realtree's Beards or Bust turkey competition, defeating Jeff Shepard and Daniel Thomas, Team AP.
The teams competed April 9 through 19 while each trying to bag a grand slam. ten-day long yelp-fest that will cut through the country in pursuit of the infamous Grand Slam. The first team that made it home with their turkeys was declared the winner.
Click here for details.
Friday, April 23, 2010 3:44:42 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Spurless Gobbler
Posted by TTH Staff
by Brian Lovett, editor
Here's a cool footnote to my recent Kansas hunt. The first gobbler I shot
had no spurs. They weren't broken off, either. The bird never grew them.
Only the small bumps of the spur caps were visible on its legs.
How rare is that? I asked Lovett E. Williams Jr., our resident turkey
biology expert.
"I haven't kept up with the exact percentage, but out a sample of approximately 2,000 adult gobblers I have examined, only three had no spurs," he wrote. "But I have heard of at least 10, not counting scores of Gould's."
Williams mentioned Gould's, of course, because many adult Gould's gobblers have no spurs. In fact, the only other spurless turkey I've encountered was – surprise! – my Gould's, which I shot in Spring 1998 in Sonora, Mexico.
And here's an amazing coincidence: Just four days after I shot the spurless
Kansas turkey, Turkey & Turkey Hunting designer Dustin Reid shot a Wisconsin gobbler with no spurs.
Learn more about Lovett's hunting techniques in this collection of Online Courses.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 8:23:44 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Going Two for Two With One
Posted by TTH Staff
by Brian Lovett, editor
Even after our memorable two-bird morning hunt, Kansas didn't let us slow down.
The first afternoon, Tad Brown slipped into a beautiful green field below a sheltered ridge, and then called in and shot a gobbler. The next morning, we returned to the field, hoping Brown and Todd Wilson could pull off a double. One caveat: Brown shoots a single-shot Thompson/Contender. Therefore, it was no sure thing.
Turkeys gobbled like nuts on the ridge above us, and soon after flydown, a parade of hens and strutters passed along the far edge of the field and into a creek bottom. Soon, however, two black forms slithered down the ridge, and raucous gobbling followed.
After the birds saw the Flambeau decoys, they raced together toward the setup. Brown let the lead gobbler flog his King Strut decoy, and then shot the bird. Then, he purred aggressively on a mouth call while handing his gun to Wilson.
Trouble was, Wilson was trying to jam a shell into the gun before the spent hull had been pulled out. He finally made the switch, though, and shot the second bird as it started to turn away.
How good is Kansas? My friends took a double with a single-shot. Enough said.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 5:18:41 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Winning the Waiting Game
Posted by TTH Staff
With one Kansas gobbler in the bag, Tad Brown, Todd Wilson and I faced a decision: check another spot or hope that lightning would strike twice.
"This is a really good area," Wilson said. "I wouldn't mind sticking tight for a bit to see what happens. Turkeys always filter through here."
Who was I to argue? But after an hour with little gobbling, the prospects seemed bleak, and it was time for a bathroom break. We left the blind, stretched and surveyed the landscape.
"It seems like turkeys always show up when you do this," Wilson said.
Cue the turkeys. Three previously unseen hens spotted our movement and slowly rubber-necked to the fence line. No harm done. At least there weren't any gobblers nearby.
"What's that?" Wilson said, pointing to a dark hump just over a rise 120 steps away.
We dove back into the blind, and somehow — probably thanks to the windy conditions — the gobbler didn't see us. Actually, it was two gobblers with several hens, and they were angling our way.
After some excited calling, three hens and two longbeards stood just steps from the blind. When the toms separated, gobbler No. 2 was down.
It was 8:45 a.m. the first morning, and my Kansas season was finished. However, the adventure wasn't.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 3:32:16 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Monday, April 19, 2010
Blinded in Kansas
Posted by TTH Staff
 It didn't take too much imagination to get fired up for my hunt in northeastern Kansas. In fact, as Tad Brown, Todd Wilson and I got out of the truck, a bird gobbled less than 200 steps away.
OK then.
We set up a blind at a fence row on Wilson's grandfather's farm, and then posted three decoys — a flocked Flambeau jake, hen and King Strut — in front of our setup. Brown, of Flambeau Outdoors, began to call, and several birds responded. However, they seemed to fade after hitting the ground. Then Wilson looked up.
"Two birds," he whispered. "Both gobblers. And they're coming."
I glimpsed two black specks racing down the creek bank 150 yards away. Then, I watched two white heads pop up on the other side. Before I knew it, a strutter was purring aggressively while challenging our jake decoy. Two shots later — yes, not sure how that happened — and the gobbler was down.
"Those birds had to come from across the road," Wilson said. "They were at least a quarter-mile away."
I couldn't have asked for a better start to our Kansas adventure. Of course, I couldn't envision what was going to happen next, either.
Monday, April 19, 2010 8:33:32 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Friday, April 16, 2010
Rio Roundup, Day 3: Hangin' at the Condo
Posted by TTH Staff
Bill Sugg steered the truck down a dusty two-track, slowing momentarily by a huge clump of cedars.
"There's the blind," he said. "I call it The Condo. All it lacks is running
water."
After Sugg dropped me off and parked the truck, I learned that he wasn't
kidding. The spacious cedar clump offered shade, cover and several
comfortable tree trunks. It was a prime spot for an afternoon nap - er,
hunt.
When Sugg - president of Mossy Oak and the company's first true employee - returned, we settled in and started calling. We heard a few gobbles in response, but none of the birds moved closer. Eventually, the action slowed, so Sugg and I started discussing previous hunts.
Halfway through a tale about Florida, Sugg stopped and raised his binoculars.
"Turkeys coming," he said. "Hens. Two gobblers behind them."
Sure enough. Several hens trotted across the open Texas landscape and headed down the road toward us. The gobblers stayed well behind them and started to drift to my left.
Soon, drumming filled the air, and I was staring down the gun barrel at two
strutters 20 steps away. Trouble was, they were behind thick cedar brush. I
strained to find an opening, but any shot would have been iffy.
"They should move to the right toward the hens," I thought.
They did, but they also came closer ‹ much closer. Within seconds, they were about seven steps from our blind, peering inside The Condo. The lead bird got nervous and began to walk away. The strutter also turned to leave, and I let him walk a few steps ‹ before shooting him at about 12 yards.
"The Condo pays off again," Sugg said as we hoisted the longbeard into the
truck.
Absolutely. However, I felt a tinge of regret for missing that nap.
Friday, April 16, 2010 10:11:28 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Thursday, April 15, 2010
Day 2 Dawns at the Rio Roundup
Posted by TTH Staff
by Brian Lovett, editor
Dustin "Shed" Whitacre had a quandary.
"How close do you want to get to these turkeys?" he asked.
Before I could answer, someone else chimed in, "Close enough to grab their
feet."
We chuckled and drove to a roost Whitacre, of Mossy Oak, had pegged the
previous evening. As we walked in, however, the sky began to brighten, so we had to consider the question again.
"Well, better safe than sorry," I whispered. Whitacre agreed, and we set up
100-some yards tom the big oak grove. Within minutes, a gobble echoed from the trees, and I felt good about our decision.
The birds never really cranked up. In fact, the gobbling actually waned and
then stopped for several minutes. But at flydown, several turkeys pitched
from the treetops, flew toward us and landed near a water tank. A gobbler
immediately began strutting for several hens and ignored our calling.
However, another gobbler circled around some mesquite trees and ran to
within 70 yards of us. He started to strut but then raised his head to check
out the other gobbler, which had likely kicked his tail several times.
The standoff lasted for several minutes, until the longbeard eventually
started moving to his right. When he reached 45 steps, my borrowed Remington 887 barked, and Rio Grande No. 1 was down.
"I'm glad we sat where we did," Whitacre said as we recovered the gobbler.
"Yep," I replied. "And we still got to grab his feet."
Better, my luggage arrived that afternoon, so I'd be fully loaded for Day 3.
Thursday, April 15, 2010 4:50:15 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Monday, April 12, 2010
Riding Off to the Rio Roundup
Posted by Brian Lovett
When the baggage carousel finally stopped, I had to face the obvious.
"I'm not getting my luggage and gun, am I?"
Nope.
No matter. They'd be there the next day, according to the friendly airline representative, so I'd still get to hunt. It would just have to be in blue jeans and a polo shirt the first evening.
Well, not exactly. I had joined several friends from Mossy Oak and Under Armour for the 2010 Rio Roundup near Eldorado, Texas, and they had plenty of gear to spare. After arriving in camp, I threw on some borrowed camo and boots, bummed a couple of calls, grabbed a loaner gun and headed out.
Maybe the new duds were lucky. Before my guide and I had walked 100 yards up a ranch road into a pasture, we spotted the fan of a strutter 75 steps away. We quickly ducked into a small oak grove and set up shop.
Soon, several more turkeys appeared behind the gobbler, and within seconds, only three jakes were visible. Apparently, the youngsters had run off the longbeard and felt like strutting for the hen they'd heard.
After an hour-long stalemate, the jakes finally walked away, and we slipped out of the area, hoping to find a gobbler. We never did, but that was OK, because we had two more days in camp.
And maybe, I'd get to hunt in my own clothes at some point.
Monday, April 12, 2010 8:26:07 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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