Live Hunts - 2004 Texas Panhandle Turkey Hunt

Friday, April 23, 2004
Texas Panhandle Turkey Hunt

Friday A.M.

This morning Creed had in mind a different field to hunt than yesterday morning, although it was only a few miles away. He said birds frequently strut out in this field. We got there shortly after flydown and sure enough, there was a group of hens and 2 big toms strutting for them. They looked really neat with the sun shining directly on their strutting routine. We snuck around behind them and attempted to call them back, but it was not to be. You know what they say about a bird in the hand....? Well, I'm sure that was what this gobbler was thinking.

we used this creekbottom as cover on our sneak

we couldn't get these birds to leave their hens

There was a deep, sandy creekbottom that ran parallel to the field and we decided to use that as cover to try and get in front of the group. It worked, except that when the hens finally appeared, the gobbler was nowhere to be seen. We're still not sure where he went. It was no matter, though, because there were turkeys gobbling in several directions, and we happened to plop ourselves down right at the spot where a bunch of turkeys decided to cross the road that morning. We were there to greet them, but unfortunately we were not expecting action from that corner and were caught unaware. There were two longbeards in the group that crossed the road, but they were out of range, and guess what - they had hens too! We called to them, but we couldn't separate them from their hens.

did I mention this was sandy country?

We decided to sit tight for awhile and then try to follow that group of birds, hoping the hens would go to nest at some point during the morning. It was wishful thinking, but it didn't pan out. We caught up with those birds about an hour later, but they just weren't interested in leaving their hens. So, we decided to drive around a bit and see if we could spot any birds out in the fields that might be workable. Within 5 minutes we spotted a huge tom on the edge of a shelterbelt - with hens. I tried to do a sneak to close the distance on them and then I called a little while, but he wouldn't come either, he was too preoccupied with his hens.

some gobbler was putting on a major strutting
display in this county road, judging from the strut marks

had to snap a picture of these flowers

We drove around a bit more and spotted another gobbler out in a different field - by himself! He was about 400 yards away, and was slowly working his way towards a treed shelterbelt. We decided that if we couldn't call a bird in, we would try other options - in this case, an ambush. I snuck into the shelterbelt and Creed backed the truck off down the road and just watched. I hid myself in the brush and just watched as the tom slowly but deliberately worked his way towards me. Amazingly, he didn't deviate at all in his course, and when he entered the shelterbelt, he only took about 5 steps before he ran into a load of Remington #6's. I dropped him with a 25 yard shot. He was another nice gobbler, probably a 2 year old. He was 17 lbs. with 3/4" spurs and a 9" beard. I was glad to get another bird after a frustrating several days of trying to call these turkeys in with very limited success.

my "ambush" gobbler - 17 lbs., 3/4" spurs, 9" beard

Hunt Conclusion

I've hunted turkeys in a number of different locations all across Texas, and if I could choose only one place to turkey hunt in Texas for the rest of my days, I think it would be in this area of the Texas Panhandle. There are a lot of birds, the country is very easy to spot turkeys in, and the birds aren't as pressured by hunters as they are in central, west and south Texas. Creed Akers, my guide on this trip, is an excellent guy to hunt turkeys with in this area, and I highly recommend his services. You can't go wrong with him. Plus, if you're interested in whitetail deer hunting, they take some awesome trophy bucks every year on their leases, and none of his ranches are high-fenced, they're all totally free-range. Give him a call, and tell him Joshua Flournoy at www.huntinfo.com recommended him!

Trip Notes
This hunt takes place in the southeastern corner of the Texas Panhandle. I am hunting with outfitter and friend Creed Akers, owner of Panhandle Outfitters, on 10,000+ acres of private land. The country and habitat where I'm hunting varies a LOT. It is a mixture of sagebrush flats, shinnery oak mottes, mesquite flats, cottonwood bottoms, sandhills, winter wheat, peanut and haygrazer fields, and treed shelterbelts. I had never seen turkey habitat quite like this before until I hunted with Creed last April for the first time. The results of that hunt convinced me that I needed to come back and hunt again this spring. You can see last year's Live Hunt with Creed Akers at the following link.

If you are interested in hunting with this outfitter, visit his web site below:

- Panhandle Outfitters -
panhunting2@huntinfo.com

Equipment
I'm shooting a Remington 870 Express Magnum with Remington 3-inch, 2 oz. #6 shotshells, which pattern very well in my gun. I'm using an H.S. Undertaker choke. I'm wearing Predator Spring Green camo on this hunt, as it really blends in with the Spring colors.

Joshua Flournoy owns and manages the Livehunts.com web site. Joshua resides in east Texas with his wife and four children.

e-mail Joshua Flournoy

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