 With the dishes done and the camper packed, I bid farewell to my husband Patrick. I was headed to Kansas for a WomenHunters Pro Staff turkey hunt and Pat was unable to travel the 1080 miles because of a bad back. I set the cruise control, put my mind on autopilot, and headed down the road.
Angie Kjellburg, WomenHunters Assistant Executive Director and her husband Troy, invited the WomenHunters Pro Staff to hunt Rio Grand turkeys near their place just south of Beloit, Kansas. Video producer Tommy Garner from Steppenwolf Productions would be there along with his two cameramen to shoot footage for use in a promotional video.
By the time I reached Angie's house, Denise Raum, WomenHunters Pro Staff Director had already taken a nice Rio. Denise and her husband Mike traveled from Pennsylvania and arrived a day earlier.
Angie's husband Troy saved me a spot on Sid Wacker's property about 25 miles south. Sid had been seeing some nice birds and gave us permission to hunt on his land. Since I couldn't hunt the day I bought my license, Troy and I did some snooping that evening and decided to set up my ground blind behind Sid's house along a pasture the next morning. I was using a ground blind because I wanted to take my turkey using a bow. In the predawn light, Troy made a few soft calls and we heard a gobbler off in the distance. We got the ground blind set up and Troy tried to call him in. After a few hours of calling and waiting, we had no luck.
We decided to take a ride and glass a few fields, hoping to locate a bird or two. A couple of birds were strutting in a green field nearby, so we decided to go have lunch and return to hunt that afternoon. Troy, myself, and cameraman John "Jack" Bryan, set up the ground blind in an adjacent field, where we thought the birds would pass on the way to roosting for the evening. When I was ready, Troy made a few calls and the gobblers answered. Before we knew it, two jakes were running full throttle down the field edge toward our decoys. About 60 yards out, they hit the breaks! Something was spooking them. Another thunderous gobble came from the woodlot behind us. Another gobbler! The two jakes made an about-face and ran back where they came from. Soon, a really nice tom joined them. Troy yelped a seductive call, and the three birds came running toward the decoys. About 50 yards out, they all hit the breaks again! By that time we were wondering if the ground blind was spooking them. I had used this ground blind last year and not one turkey paid attention to it. In fact, my husband Patrick, friend Marsha McKee and I all shot our birds from this blind in Michigan. These turkeys didn't like what they saw, and they spooked. Eventually, the larger tom circled the field and disappeared into the woods. The jakes circled behind us and disappeared as well. When dusk came, I got out of the blind, walked over to the decoys and looked back. I knew then, what the problem was. In an effort to get some clear video footage, we removed the screens from the two small and one large windows we had opened. With the large window open and no screens in the windows, you could easily see inside the blind, and see the reflection off the camera lens. We left the field disappointed. I decided to switch to my shotgun, ditch the blind, and try for him again the next morning.
Four o'clock in the morning came entirely too quickly, but we needed to get up that early to make the 45 minute drive to our hunting spot before daylight. John was worn out from staying up too late, so cameraman Travis Reynolds joined Troy and I as we tried to outsmart the crafty ol' tom we saw the night before. We knew he roosted nearby. When we parked the truck in the pre-dawn darkness, Troy made a locator owl hoot, and a loud gobble came from the trees right in front of us! The gobbler roosted where we were going to walk into the field! A quick change of plans was in order. We hopped into the truck and decided to set up in the field where the tom would be headed that morning. It was a very long walk from the road to the field, and the morning was breaking quickly. Before we got set up, the turkeys were on the ground about ¾ of a mile away, and heading in our direction.
With no time to spare, we found a large tree along a fence line. Troy crawled out into the field to set the decoys, while Travis set up the camera and I cleared a spot for me to sit. Within a couple of minutes, two turkeys were closing-in fast. Travis zoomed the camera in on them and determined that it was a nice tom and a jake. Ready and waiting, Troy's calling drew them in quickly. Suddenly, I caught movement to my left. A hen came out from the field behind us! Oh no! The hen met the big gobbler in the field about 70 yards away and she lead him around in a circle, coming no closer than 45 yards. I knew that my 20-gauge shotgun was no match for such a nice bird that far away, so I waited... and waited... and waited. The hen came over to check out our decoys, bringing the tom in tow, but he was reluctant to get any closer that 40 yards. In the back of my mind, I recalled the shot pattern of my shotgun, which was iffy at that distance, so again I waited... and waited... and waited. For three hours the hen danced that gobbler around the field! The tom put on quite a show, strutting, drumming and spitting. Three times he took out his frustrations by masturbating right in front of us! Troy continued to call, trying to get the hen to come over again. When she did, the tom got to within 35 yards, but he was behind the only bush I wasn't able to clear away (which was a foot in front of my shotgun muzzle) and I couldn't take a shot! Soon afterwards, the hen led the tom off into the field next to us. There was a dry creek bed along a tree line next to that field, so I crawled on my belly to the creek bed, hoping to sneak close enough for a shot. I crawled up the creek bed and when I peaked into the field, all I could see was the tom's fan facing me. Not knowing how far away he was, I crawled a bit further, and when I peaked again, the hen had taken the tom half way across the field. By that time, I knew my efforts were useless.
Hoping the hen would eventually go off to nest and the tom would come back looking for us, the three of us sat there for another 6 hours, to no avail. Hot, hungry and thirsty, we headed for the truck, hoping to locate the tom in another field. We drove down the road and passed a couple of turkeys slipping through the edge of another field where we couldn't hunt.
Back at base camp (Angie's house) we planned on returning to the field, but we wondered whether the tom would roost where he did the night before, or stay with the hen. Before we could decide, fate would decide for us... Troy had a flat tire on his truck, with no spare! Short on time and outwitted, I gave up the chase for Mr. Spurs, satisfied with my decision not to take an iffy shot. Although I went home from that hunt empty handed, the three-hour ordeal with Mr. Spurs and the memory of that hunt can be played over and over again, because it was all caught on video tape!
Thank you Troy, for your expert calling, and Travis for your superb videography, and thank you Mr. Spurs for the memories of a lifetime!
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