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Hunt Introduction This hunt takes place on private land I am hunting as a member of the Mid-America Hunting Association. They lease 225,000+ acres of private, quality hunting land in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. KS - April 16 - Afternoon - Day 1  This afternoon's outing was primarily to try and learn a little about the property I'm hunting. I had seen aerial photos, but had never been to it before today. I found some great looking habitat, but by early evening, all I had found was a few tracks and a single hen. So, I decided to get up on a hill and do some serious looking around with my binoculars. Doing this, I was able to spot a few different groups of gobblers and felt that I had a pretty good idea where they were roosted. I got up close to them after dark and owl hooted to make sure of where they were. They gobbled on cue.  KS - April 17 - Morning - Day 2  This morning I set up in a shelterbelt a few hundred yards from where the gobblers were roosted. They gobbled like crazy on the roost. I felt like they would come my direction after flydown. They did, but it wasn't until 9:30, about 3 hours after they flew down! They had lots of hens and were tied up with them for several hours after flydown. They would come within a few hundred yards of me and look in my direction when I called, but that is all they would do. Eventually all of the hens split for greener pastures, and after 2 location changes by myself, I did another calling sequence and this time a group of 4 gobblers did an about face and started jogging towards me. When they got in range, I shot the closest one at about 25 yards. He dropped and the other birds didn't really know what to do. That gave me enough time to pump another shell into the chamber, line up on a 2nd gobbler and drop him also. My hunt was done in 10 seconds! By the way, in case you are wondering, the birds in this part of Kansas are supposed to be of the Rio Grande variety, and my birds definitely look like Rio's.   Gotta' love Predator Camo - this buck was 30 feet away and didn't know I was there  My gobblers laying where they fell  My 2007 Kansas Gobblers MO - April 19 - Morning - Day 1  This morning I was hunting a new property I've never hunted before. I did a drive-by yesterday afternoon just to get a look at the place. It looked like there should be some turkeys there. I wasn't there at dusk and didn't now where any birds were roosted, so I'd be going blind this morning.  It was a beautiful morning, cool and not a cloud in the sky. There was a tom gobbling like crazy on the roost about 500 yards from my truck. I got within about 150 yards of him and set up. I called to him, but he obviously had other plans at fly-down, as he walked in another direction, gobbling very seldom. I decided to stay put and hope he might come back to the area later in the morning. I called periodically with my slate over the course of several hours, just to let him know I was still in the area. Sitting in the direct sunlight made me a bit drowsy, so I caught a little snooze now and then.  My set-up as the tom closed the distance fast About 10:30 I decided to use my box call, just for a change. As soon as I did, I heard a gobble a few hundred yards away, down in a bottom. I got him to gobble once more a few minutes later, but then he was quiet. I hung out in that spot for another half-hour, hoping he would come closer, but I didn't hear him again. So, I decided to move a little closer to him. I had gone about 100 yards and was looking around for another tree to do a little more calling when I heard him gobble down in the bottom again. I made a few yelps with my box call and he answered immediately. I did it again and he immediately answered again, closer. By this time it was almost 11 a.m. I found a seat against a nearby tree very quickly and pulled my face mask on. Once sitting, I made a few more yelps with my box call and he cut me off with a gobble, very close. It sounded like he was just over the edge towards the bottom, where I couldn't see. I knew he would be here momentarily, though, so I just waited. I didn't have to wait long. About 15 seconds later his head came into view, all white and blue. As soon as he got to where I could see him he was already in range. I just waited for a clear shot and then dropped him. The shot was about 25 yards. He was a big bird, probably a 3 year old. He had a long, thick beard and 1.25" spurs. It was a great end to a whirlwind midwestern turkey hunt!  The big bird laying where he fell  My mature Missouri gobbler  Nice spurs!
Joshua Flournoy owns and manages the Livehunts.com web site. Joshua resides in east Texas with his wife and four children. |
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