Live Hunts - South Texas Turkey Hunt - April 1

Live Hunts - South Texas Turkey Hunt - April 1 - Day 2

Sunday - April 1, Day 2
South Texas Turkey Hunt

A.M. Hunt
This mornings hunt was what every turkey hunter dreams of. Couldn't have been better if I made it up. We started out about 15 minutes before fly-down time walking very slowly along a known roost area. Every year for the last several years they have killed numerous birds from this spot shortly after they fly off the roost in the morning. The spot was checked Friday evening at roost time and no birds were heard, though. We decided to try it this morning.

I never get tired of those pretty feathers

We're walking along slowly, hearing one or two gobblers across the river very far away, but nothing close by where we're headed. My guide today, Justin Trail, decided to do a few soft yelps to see if he could elicit a response. He did a few notes and the pre-dawn silence erupted in gobbles, all from that one roost area. At this point we were probably 200 yards away from the roost. There had to have been at least 6-8 different toms, in tree up and down the river. Justin gave a few more yelps to pinpoint their location, and they sounded off again. We eased a little closer and set up with me on the front of the tree and Justin on the side, calling. We weren't there 2 minutes when we hear wings flapping, and a few birds start flying down. The first one we can see clearly flys and lands - at 25 yards! When it landed it went into an immediate strut and we saw a nice beard on this big tom. The only problem is that there was part of a cedar limb clearly blocking my shot. 3 feet in either direction and he would have been in the clear. Justin had an open lane to him, but I didn't.

Presently about 3 or 4 more toms all flew down within 50 yards and started strutting and spitting and drumming. They milled around for a few minutes behind brush where I couldn't see them very well, while the first tom stayed put. Then the jig was almost up when a hen flew down and landed not 10 yards from me and started walking my way. At about 15 feet she realized I wasn't a natural part of the environment and turned around pretty quick and started speed-walking and putting. About that time slightly to my right I saw a tom come out from behind a bush and look our way. He was in the clear for a shot, but I was pointed another direction. Slowly, but with haste (figure that one out!)I moved my gun to get on him and he stayed put. One shot dropped him. The shot was about 35 yards. He flopped a little, and here came another big tom running to him in an agressive manner looking like he was going to kick my bird's butt. He stopped all of a sudden, though, and then left quickly. I don't know what spooked him, but it saved his life, because 2 more steps would have brought him clearly into my shooting lane and he would have fell 5 feet from where the first one did.

My first bird of the morning - the early bird

We let the group move off, gathered my birds, took a few minutes break, then decided to get around in front of that group and try to entice a tom away from the group. We heard a few gobbles, but nothing that seemed at an approachable distance until about 9 a.m. We heard one tom about 400 yards away, so we headed in after him.

This was a set-up we made between the first and second bird
we heard a tom and called to him but he never talked to us again

Justin called a few times and he answered, so we kept on. A little further, Justin called again and the bird answered again, clearly closer. Justin set up 2 decoys and got set up tucked into a Mesquite tree. Justin did 3 more calling sequences in less than 5 minutes and shortly I saw the birds legs walking through the open understory, and then I saw a bright red head. He was coming in on a string. No caution, just coming right in. He didn't come in at the angle we were hoping, where I would have a very clear shot, but where he was coming would probably be okay. When he was at about 40 yards I didn't have a clear shot, but he had obviously seen the dekes and he took about 5 more steps into a spot where I felt the shot was acceptable, at about 35 yards. There was a small amount of Mesquite leaves right in front of his head, but I felt like my pattern density wouldn't have a problem with it. When he came to a stop I touched the trigger and he went down, flopped a few times and lay still. What a morning! It's great when everything comes together like this in one morning, but I'm glad it doesn't always work so well, otherwise we wouldn't appreciate quite so much when it does.

Bird Number 2 - they sure are beautiful

My first bird weighed 20.5 pounds and had a 9.5 inch beard. Second bird weighed 19.5 pounds and had about the same length beard as the first one. Both birds to be real happy with.

Since I have the 2 birds I can take on this trip, I won't be hunting tomorrow, but I will be going out with another hunter and trying to get some photos and maybe will write a story about their hunt. Check back tomorrow to see.

A great memory of a great morning

Go to Day 3

Trip Notes
Our hunt takes place with Wildlife Systems, Inc. on the McLean Bowman Ranch in Dimmit County, Texas. The ranch is loaded with Hogs, Javelina, Whitetail Deer, Predators, and Turkey. This trip we're concentrating on Turkey.

The Bowman Ranch has a nice, comfortable ranch house. Very clean, comfortable accommodations. This hunt includes lodging and excellent food cooked by the ranch managers wife. They have a great walk-in cooler to take your animals to cool off. It's a great ranch, just watch out for rattlesnakes! If you'd be interested in setting up a hunt on the Bowman Ranch, contact Wildlife Systems, Inc., you can visit their web site at:

http://www.wildlifesystems.com/

Equipment
I shoot a Martin Jaguar bow set at 70 lbs, Easton 3-60 ACC arrows, and Wasp 125 gr. SST Hammer broadheads. On this hunt I was wearing Predator Spring Green camo, as it blends in very well with the foliage in south Texas.

My shotgun is a Remington 870 Express 3-inch, and I'm shooting Remington 3-inch shells with 2 oz. of #6 shot. Worked very well for me last year on several birds, so I'm using it again.

I also used my Double Bull ICE Blind which I purchased from Michael Middleton at www.texasbowhunter.com and although I've only hunted from it a few times, I'm inclined to like it very much. I plan to be using it a lot in this year's hunting seasons.

e-mail Joshua Flournoy

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