Posted on 05/23/2021 6:50:04 PM PDT by nickcarraway
It was the last week of the spring turkey season in western Texas and the goal was to simply call an old tom into range and shoot it.
I was hunting turkey as late with the theory that being that far north, breeding activity would be later and I would have a chance at a few gobblers still on the prowl.
My theory was flawed.
I do not know if I guessed wrong on the breeding season timeframe, if an amazing spring green-up jump-started things early or a wet cold front that moved in just after we arrived was the difference. Either way, gobbling was non-existent.
I also wanted to hunt with my 28-gauge. I had not initially planned to, but it appears that in the great ammunition shortage of 2020-21, even turkey loads were not safe from hoarders.
The only shells I could find were BOSS brand 28s. I found these online and decided to see if my little Franchi could bring down a tom. By adjusting my range limit, I figured it might work.
The shells were No. 5 tungsten shot. And they were not cheap. At $50 a box, I hesitated a little, but decided to splurge thinking that since you generally need just one shot per bird, it was not that bad. Of course my thinking was on the typical turkey load boxes of 10 shells. Apparently I did not read the fine print. When the box arrived, it held only five shells, $10 each. I immediately convinced myself the bird would have to be closer than I originally had planned.
Despite a forecast of rain for much of the week, Jim Shamburger and I were in a pasture the first morning. The rain would come later in the morning, but held off long enough for us to try to call birds in from a nearby roost along Concho Creek.
The last time Shamburger and I hunted together was for pheasants in the Panhandle about 40 years ago. He was a rookie Baptist preacher in White Deer and invited Alan Haynes and I up for a few days. Shamburger grew up in Tyler, and last year he and his wife, Cheryl, moved back to East Texas from Victoria.
It was a quiet morning as we settled down against two mesquite trees. Too quiet. I started to call. Tree yelps, fly-down calls, yelps, but with no response. We did not even hear gobbling at a distance. We watched a few birds come down a road near us on the way to an empty feeder, but none showed any interest in the call.
After a couple of hours we backed out. And then the rains came, and it continued raining most of the morning and early afternoon, closing down roads on a good portion of the lease.
I do not normally like to hunt spring turkeys in the afternoon because they do not usually come to a call, but with the weather only expected to get worse I took a chance when the rain slowed.
I dropped Shamburger off where we had hunted that morning, hoping he might be able to ambush a bird. I walked to a blind where I often saw gobblers, but never hunted in the mornings because I never could figure a good approach.
Turkey-wise it was a quiet afternoon, but that does not mean it was boring. I was entertained by a buck with antlers just starting to protrude. It stood around for 10 minutes and I thought about how those antlers will grow in the coming months. One of the fastest growing bones, the antlers could grow 125 inches or more between now and September.
The deer only left when it noticed a grey fox with the longest tail I had ever seen wandering the woods. I was surprised when the buck left and followed the fox off in the other direction. It was a fun show while it lasted.
Shamburger had a good afternoon and was able to take a 3-year-old tom. That left me to hunt the next day alone. Again I did not hear any turkeys, but I know they heard me as several jakes and hens came right to where I was hiding, stopped and looked around before leaving after not finding anything.
The hunt would end with me bringing home all five of my expensive shotgun shells, but I was not disappointed. They will last until another year. The hunting reunion and getting to watch the buck and fox, and experience turkeys come from a distance to my exact location were unique enough experiences to make it a good trip.
I have worked with the author’s son.
Hood would not have been short of ammunition for his firearms.
Hood retired prior to this century.
Never understood why someone would be retired from being paid to hunt/fish and write about it.
I bought a case of 12guage 00Buckshot for $41.
Federal 2 3/4.
I thought I paid too much.
In 2019.
Now I open the safe and fondle it like gold.
If you can see the turkey’s eye, he has already seen YOU.
Was deer hunting near Zebulon Ga.in the late afternoon
when six or seven toms and hens decided to roost in one
of the trees. You never heard such stick breaking and
carrying on in your life! I would’t have missed it for the
world.
I was always glad to see Turkeys working the hill side cause
the deer knew that if they didn’t spook it was safe.
* Volunteer to grocery shop, write a check for $10 over and piggy bank it.
After enough time, your piggy bank will allow you to buy the firearm you want...tell your wife you always had it and never before brought it out.
I hunt turkey in Hawaii.
They are pretty common here.
No natural predators.
I have a hen that for several years would nest in the lower part of my pasture, till her chicks hatched out, then she’d leave.
Wild turkey is awfully darn tough, slow cooker only.
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