All It Takes Is Hearing One

I got to the hunt club at 5:30 in the morning. I opened the gate and pulled up to the shed. I opened the book and saw that everyone had been hunting the same two blocks of woods. Probably because that’s where the turkeys are. But I decided I would outsmart everyone and hunt the block of woods nobody had been hunting.

            I grabbed my mask and my call. I threw my gun in the back of the UTV and fired it up and went on my way.

            It was a quiet, clear, beautiful morning. It was cool only about 55 degrees and overcast. But the sunrise made the sky pink under the clouds. It made me thankful for just the beauty of nature.

            I decided this morning I was going to set up in an area I thought I could call a turkey into and be patient. Refusing to leave until he came to me.

            I walked down a logging road and set up sitting against a tree just into the woods off of a large opening. I was hoping I would be able to call a turkey into the large opening and have a wide open shot.

            I sat there for a while just listening. There are a million sounds in the woods especially before dawn. There were geese flying over, owls hooting, birds chirping. Almost too many sounds to work through to get to the one you are hoping to hear.

            Then at about 6:15 I heard the distinct unmistakable sound of a turkey sounding off. It made my heart beat faster and sent a chill down my spine.

            I tried to determine where it was coming from. It was far off to my left and on the opposite side of the opening from me.

            I sat and listened. This turkey sounded off every time an owl hooted nearby. After hearing three or four gobbles I shot him a call. He didn’t respond directly to me but he gobbled more every few minutes. I tried not to call too much but after every three or four gobbles I would shoot him another call. He would never answer straight back to a call but he didn’t stop gobbling and that kept my excitement and enthusiasm up.

            Last time I went turkey hunting I didn’t hear anything and started thinking it was a waste of time. This time I heard one within an hour of being in the woods and that was all it took to make me want to be back in the woods every day.

            I heard this turkey and knew at least he was in the same block of woods I was in and every once in a while it sounded like he was getting closer. I was trying to use and take in all of the advice I have heard and read about turkey hunting.

            They all say to wait and not call too much and wait longer than you think. And sometimes when the bird goes quiet it’s because he is on the move and coming in. I tried to be patient and his constant gobbling was giving me hope.

            Then he went quiet. I tried to stay patient. I thought if I waited him out I had a chance. But he wasn’t answering any calls. That’s the other thing about turkey hunting is sometimes you never know why the bird went quiet. He may have found another hen. There may have been a predator between me and him. Or maybe for no particular reason at all he decided to stop gobbling and walk the other direction.

            I did get disappointed when he quit sounding off. I was really hoping he would come straight in to my calling and I would get a shot and bag my first ever turkey. There are probably a million things I should have done differently maybe waited longer, maybe moved closer to him when he first sounded off. Maybe I should have moved and not called, maybe I should have called and not moved. But I can ask myself a million questions but I also remember sometimes the turkey has to win. Nothing in life that comes easy is very satisfying.

            So once he went quiet I waited about half an hour. I got a little discouraged but tried to never lose hope. At least I knew there was a gobbler somewhere on the property. I slowly walked and circled the block of woods I was signed in for. I called intermittently with zero replies.

            At about 9 A.M. I decided to make my way back to the truck. The turkeys won this round as they have won every round with me thus far. But hearing that one gobbler sound off in the morning was enough to move me into putting more time into turkey hunting.

            I love different types of hunting because they are all a different kind of challenge and a different kind of thrill. But hearing a turkey gobble when that is what you after moves you differently then other types of hunting. I would relate it to actually seeing a deer that is in shooting range. I would say it is like a dove coming into decoys on the wire. It is like seeing a dog go on point and knowing you have found a covey of quail.

            But all those other feelings make you a lot more likely to end up bagging your target. Hearing a turkey in the woods has guaranteed me nothing so far. All you learn when a turkey gobbles is that he is there. But that is still enough to move the hair on the back of your neck. So I’m going to keep making mistakes and keep going out there until I trial and error my way to killing my first turkey because all it takes is hearing one.