Photo Credit: Camron Stover / Hunting Gear Deals
The Spring Turkey Season of 2020 is one that most of us will never forget! The start of a global pandemic that stopped many hunters from being able to travel to the insufficient amount of toilet paper found at your local Walmart. My hunting season was supposed to begin in Virginia, chasing longbeards on opening morning with my buddy Jansen.
The first hunt of the season was over before it started. On our way to Virginia, with licenses and tags in hand, I totaled my vehicle on a cold, foggy morning, striking a big doe while traveling south on the interstate near the West Virginia and Virginia border. Thankfully, no one was injured but the morning is one that we won’t soon forget. The tow truck company had implemented policies that left my friend Jansen and I stranded in West Virginia at a restricted rest area as the sun rose on Virginia’s opening day. We never made it to our destination that morning and the start of our hunting season was postponed until the opening day of West Virginia’s Spring Gobbler season.
Opening Day…. Attempt #2
On opening day, I found myself in a ground blind overlooking a field with multiple turkeys roosted on the hill above me. I had glassed this field on several occasions and gained permission to this property just days before this hunt. Opening day in West Virginis is a Monday, so I only had a small window of opportunity to seal the deal and get to work in a timely fashion.
As daylight approached, gobbles began to echo through the valley. These birds were exactly where they had been roosting for weeks prior and soon they’d be in the field. One-by-one, turkey after turkey pitched down into the field in front of me. Unfortunately, they were out of range and I watched in agony as two longbeards strutted back and forth, putting on a show for the ladies. Suddenly, a third gobbler entered the field but he was quickly run off by the other two gobblers. I called, hoping to get his attention but left the field, never to be seen again.
The hens worked their way around the field which brought them to the tree line that paralleled the creek. My ground blind is set-up on this treeline, near the creek, 80 yards away from their location. These birds had two options, fly across the creek or work their way in my direction and sure enough, my scouting had proven to true and the group of turkeys worked their way in my direction. The group of hens, followed by two longbeards, worked their way my direction. Suddenly, both gobblers saw my decoy and everything changed! In an instant, both longbeards were 10 yards from my blind, attacking my Avian X LCD Laydown Hen. The decoy had been in my view the entire time but little did I know, I had placed the decoy in a low spot within the field and the turkeys hadn’t seen it until now. They had heard me calling, but without seeing a decoy, they wouldn’t leave the hens.
My patience ran thin as I watched these two gobblers flog my decoy and the more aggressive Tom was introduced to the business end of my Thompson Center Encore Turkey Gun. There was no time to celebrate, a couple of quick photographs and I was on my morning conference call and heading to work! It’s hard to have a bad day when it starts by punching the first tag of the season.
What did I learn from this hunt?
Two takeaways from this hunt: Scouting pays dividends and it’s all about the set-up! My preseason scouting was essential to locating these turkeys and I had kept my eye on them for weeks as they tortured me each morning on my way to work. Also, my OnX Hunt App helped me locate the landowner and gain permission to turkey hunt this property.
Finally, the decoy setup. Had the decoy been placed in a better position, this hunt could’ve ended much quicker. Choosing not to use artificial lighting in the dark kept me from placing the decoy in an area that could’ve been seen from across the field. Fortunately for me, this hunt worked out in my favor but had those hens not decided to come my way, it would’ve been a completely different scenario.
Turkey #2
With one turkey tag filled in West Virginia and the previous field vacant of any turkeys, my next hunt took me to a place that I had found success years prior. However, I hadn’t hunted the area for a while because I wasn’t seeing any birds strutting in the field. One day my buddy mentioned that he saw a big longbeard strutting in the field where he knew I had permission to hunt. Sure enough, the next morning I checked the field before work and that gobbler was there. He repeated this process the next couple of days, strutting in the same area each day.
With one turkey tag filled in West Virginia and the previous field vacant of any turkeys, my next hunt took me to place that I had found success years prior. However, I hadn’t hunted the area for a while because I wasn’t seeing any birds strutting in the field. One day my buddy mentioned that he saw a big longbeard strutting in the field where he knew I had permission to hunt. Sure enough, the next morning I checked the field before work and that gobbler was there. He repeated this process the next couple of days, strutting in the same area each day.
As luck would have it, it was really foggy the first morning that I was able to hunt this area. I slipped into the field unnoticed with a blanket of fog concealing my movement. I knew going into this hunt that I had one chance to kill this bird and I was going to be aggressive. The plan was simple, set-up in his strut-zone and wait for him to come to me. I slipped across the field and laid down in the wet grass with the fan of a reaping decoy attached to the barrel of my gun. Daylight began to break and the fog slowly started to rise, gobbles echoed in my direction. I listened quietly as the morning sun rose across the horizon. The fog began to lift, creating a beautiful scene for this hunt.
A hen pitched off the roost and flew directly over me in the field. I laid there motionless because I wasn’t sure what the noise was at first or what kind of turkey it was. The gobbling had stopped by this time and I listened for other birds to fly down. To my surprise, the gobbler quietly pitched down into the field in my direction. He was out of range but I was in-between him and a lonely hen who didn’t seem to be bothered by my presence. I began to call softly and the old Tom answered but he wouldn’t commit. There was a fence between us and stayed at a higher vantage point and was wary of the awkward strutting decoy in his territory.
His interest began to fade as he headed back towards the tree line. As I said, I was going to get aggressive on this hunt, so I did just that. I began army crawl toward the gobbler with my reaping fan swaying side to side and a Primos Sonic Dome Triple w/ Bat Cut diaphragm call in my mouth. I didn’t have to go far or call very much for me to push this birds’ buttons enough.
He started running towards me, ducking under the fence. He’s ready to fight and but he’ll prove to be no match for the Longbeard XR’s heading his direction. In seconds, I found myself looking through the Vortex Venom Red Dot sight as the gobbler closed the distance from 100 yards to 20 yards. He stopped briefly, which was all the time I needed to settle the dot and pull the trigger.
This cheap little turkey reaping decoy made from the tail feathers from a previous kill was good enough to lure this gobbler into range!
Lessons Learned from this Hunt
Capitalize on the opportunity when it’s presented and don’t be afraid to get aggressive. I wouldn’t have hunted this longbeard had my buddy not saw him earlier in the week. He knew I had permission to hunt this property and I’m thankful that he was thoughtful and observant enough to tell me where this longbeard was.
A couple of days of glassing this field before work confirmed this gobbler’s favorite strutting location and that’s exactly where I planned to kill him. I knew there was no cover to hide behind, so I chose to lay prone in the eight-inch-tall grass, in hopes that he would fly down in front me for a quick shot. This tactic proved to be successful but it’s not something you should try on properties that could have other hunters on because you are at a higher risk of getting shot!
This photo was taken in 2019 but it’s too cool not to share. These two guys doubled up during this awesome hunt!
I finished out the Spring Gobbler Season chasing longbeards in Ohio and sealed the deal on my final gobbler of the season on the last day or two of the season. I’m ready for the 2021 season, in which I plan to hunt more states and kill more turkeys! Who knows, maybe I’ll get the chance to punch the tag on my first Rio!
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