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 Wednesday, May 26, 2010
T&TH Contributor Has Golden End to Season
Posted by Brian Lovett
Scott Bestul recently finished his Spring 2010 turkey season in colorful
fashion.
Bestul, a contributing editor to Turkey & Turkey Hunting, shot this odd-colored gobbler while hunting in northern Wisconsin. The bird has blond
or almost golden secondary wing feathers.
"There have been several of these birds shot in the area in recent years, so the genome for blonds must be there," he said. "You can't see it well in this photo, but even the quills of this bird are almost golden." Noted turkey biologist Lovett E. Williams Jr., also a contributing editor for T&TH, described the gobbler as "a partial albino with some erythrism." Erythrism is an unusual reddish pigmentation.
Great bird, Scott! 
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 2:18:38 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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Sunday, May 23, 2010
Ending With a Whimper
Posted by Brian Lovett
I rang out several yelps on my glass call, strained to hear something through the wind and then slowly turned toward the truck.
That was it. My season was finished, and it was time to put up the calls and move on to summer pursuits.
When I reached my truck, however, there was a message from a friend on my cell phone.
"Got a strutter located," it said.
Whoa. That changed everything. But the message was an hour old. Was there still time? I turned the truck eastward, intent on finding out.
When I reached the area, the strutter was gone. No matter. He'd probably just walked into the woods, so I'd strike him there.
However, after a long walk and several calling sequences, it became obvious he wasn't around or at least wasn't answering.
And with that, the season was truly finished. I trudged back to the truck, thinking about the highs and lows of the spring: good hunts, bad hunts and mundane moments. The last-ditch effort was certainly one of the latter, but with summer knocking at the door, it was still time well spent.
Sunday, May 23, 2010 8:08:44 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Some Like it Hot ... Not
Posted by Brian Lovett
Here's a new one.
This morning, I was slipping along an open ridge at midmorning, calling now and then and hoping to strike a gobbler. After hoofing about 250 yards, I was baking in the hot sun, so I decided to lose my Under Armour shirt.
I threw off the camo, peeled away the Under Armour and then prepared to stuff the undergarment in my vest. As I bent over, I heard something rustle in the leaves and then watched a gobbler take flight 20 steps away. Apparently he'd been coming to my calling from five minutes earlier, but I never had a clue he was nearby.
"Well that's that," I thought, turning around in preparation for the long trek to the truck.
Will I wait next time to change clothing? Maybe. Will it help? Come on.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 7:34:07 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Monday, May 17, 2010
Feeding the Ticks on a Spring Day
Posted by Brian Lovett
Here's a pop quiz for you veteran turkey hunters: What do you get when you spot a gobbler and three hens in a wheat field?
Of course, the answer is three hours of pain and frustration.
I reminded myself of that the other day, after driving by a favorite hunting spot. The birds were in the middle of the field, so I parked out of sight, slipped through the woods to the corner, spied the turkeys at about 90 yards and set up.
After calling for about five minutes, the gobbler stopped strutting and started feeding. Then, he turned and fed toward the other side of the field. Soon, however, he worked back toward the woods about 100 yards to my right. I backed out, slipped through the timber and got within 65 yards of the turkeys.
Then, the gobbler and hens half-sprinted to the other side of the field again to feed.
As I watched and waited for the next hour, the birds slowly fed toward me. When they got within 80 yards, however, they disappeared behind a small rise and apparently entered the woods. I never saw them again.
Three hours of slipping and slithering through the woods had netted me nothing but a few deer ticks and possibly some poison ivy. Oh, and a better appreciation for the unpredictable nature of turkeys.
Monday, May 17, 2010 4:09:03 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Maybe We Should Have Slept In
Posted by Brian Lovett
After our just-miss morning hunt, Paul Smutz and I kept at it in hopes of
tagging a Michigan gobbler. Trouble was, the gobblers were done gobbling.
"Keep at it," I told myself. "You'll have a hunt yet."
Still, after several hours of silence -- except for the abundant mosquito
crop -- I wasn't convinced.
Maybe that's why I was surprised when a bird cut off my calling as we eased
along a pine plantation. After gobble No. 2, however, I snapped back to
reality and grabbed a tree. The turkey was 100 yards away and seemed pretty
hot.
Within seconds, a hen appeared in front of us, followed by two strutters. I
yelped, and all the birds responded. In fact, the hen made a bee line for
our decoys, dragging the gobblers behind her.
When the longbeards finally stopped and separated at 25 steps, I centered
the bright dot of my Trijicon Reflex sight on the wattles of the right-hand bird and finished the deal. It was 5 p.m.
It had been a great afternoon hunt. In fact, if we'd had a crystal ball, we
might not even have ventured out until 3 p.m. Or so.
Nah.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:15:55 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Monday, May 10, 2010
Pride and the Hasty Hunter
Posted by Brian Lovett
Ever scold yourself about hurrying in the turkey woods but do it anyway?
Yeah, me too. In fact, I learned that lesson the hard way — again — this past week in Michigan.
Paul Smutz and I had left our early-morning setup to chase three hard-gobbling longbeards across a small creek. Trouble was, the birds stopped gobbling during our approach, so we had to take an educated guess about their location.
As we rounded a corner and started down a two-track, I thought I heard a cluck and stopped. I didn't see anything, so I continued for a few steps ... until a funny-looking black hump 100 yards away caught my eye.
Gobbler. No, two. No, actually three.
We hit the dirt and tried to make like rocks. And surprisingly, it worked, as the birds — with the early-morning sun shining in their eyes — continued to approach. When they got to about 75 steps, however, the lead birds eyed the funny bumps, putted and headed away.
Impatience and carelessness can kill you. That will sink in ... some day.
Monday, May 10, 2010 9:15:43 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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