It took a few seasons but I finally got a nice gobbler on the ground this year. I hunted Minnesota's C season that ran from April 27 to May 3 and filled my tag after four days in the woods. Before this hunt, the only turkey I'd previously brought home was a jake from the 2014 spring season and I had yet to have any birds responding to my calling too.



I caught my first glimpse of this bird on Thursday the 28th after running up to the property after work for a quick hunt but it was about 100 yards away and headed in the opposite direction. Was still glad to at least see a bird on the property, especially one with a beard. Then I returned on Friday evening after work again and ended up calling back and forth for a bit right after he roosted- I need to thank a giant owl for hooting and getting him stirred up. It was my first time hearing a turkey gobble on the property and having one responding to my calls too, which almost made my heart beat out of my chest. The turkey was roosted along a ridedgeline maybe 200 yards from my spot and we went back and forth again for a long time on Saturday morning before he went in the opposite direction after hopping out of his roost. This puzzled me so I moved my spot to be set up in the direction he went in. Hours later in the afternoon I heard a gobble coming from where I'd set up in the morning and after yelping back it gobbled again- even closer. "Here we go!", I thought, and his head poked up in the woods about 60 yards away just after I'd let out another call and was setting the box call down at my side. He saw this movement and immediately turned around and went silent for the rest of the day and evening.


This was taken from my spot on Saturday afternoon- he came out from the little opening on the left side rather than from the right as I was predicting.


A lonely hen that visited on Saturday afternoon, she studied the decoy for awhile but stuck around for a few minutes. Was fun to listen to her soft clucking and purring.

On Sunday morning I sat in that same spot again and at sunup heard him gobbling from his roost less than 100 yards away. When I let out my first call, he sounded off in addition to two other gobblers nearby- it was amazing to hear. After just a few minutes of aggressive back-and-forth I heard him thump onto the ground and head my way... this time I was smart enough to have the call in my lap and hands on the gun already. His head poked up in the same spot as it did the previous afternoon but this time he just made his way to my decoys while I tried to keep my heart in my chest again. There was a big tree near the decoys that he paused behind and that gave me the moment to shoulder the gun. He re-appeared in full strut and I admired this for a moment before pulling the trigger. Bam, nice big bird on the ground about 30 yards away just 10 minutes after legal shooting hours started.



He had a 9" beard and 1" spurs, and I don't know what exactly he weighed but it was safely over 20 pounds. Not bad for my first mature tom I've shot, and way bigger than the jake from two years ago. It is safe to say that morning was the one of the most exhilarating hunting experiences I've had yet.


I am 6' tall for scale.





The shotgun of choice was my reliable Wingmaster with Winchester longbeard #5s, which showed some extremely dense patterns. Now the breasts will be brined and smoked, one for the landowner and one for my fiance and I to enjoy, and I haven't yet made up my mind on the legs and thighs but they'll be good too. I also took some back meat off the bird to toss on the grill. The tail will be on my wall soon enough too alongside the bear and spurs.

Aside from the turkey, I saw seven deer feeding in the pasture I shot my nice buck in the previous November- the most I'd seen at one time on the property- and there were a few ducks constantly flying in and out of small ponds too. I took a break on Saturday afternoon with a chainsaw to clear trails so the landowners can take their ATV through for cruises, which is all they ask in return for accessing it. I picked up a really nice Lake Superior agate in a plowed field too, another nice prize. I didn't pick any morels this year so it made up for that.









Really looking forward to the fall season now.

Congratulations! That first mature tom is always exciting. I shot my first turkey, a jake, 23 years ago on my first morning hunting turkeys. Then I hunted for three or four years after that without any luck. However, I did learn a lot about turkey hunting. Having the same piece of land to hunt each year will increase your odds as you learn where they like to be at different times of the day.

Evan,

Congratulations! It looks like you had a good hunt.

There is nothing quite like calling in a gobbler. It is the most excited I have gotten hunting.

Tom

Conglads on the nice gobbler. I'm hooked on turkey hunting. I go to 2 or 3 different states chasing them. I just can't get enough of the gobble!!

TWall----Try calling in a bull elk! Now your talkin excitement.

I guy I work with hunts turkeys and elk, as I do. He says spring turkey hunting is just like hunting a 25 pound elk. I agree!

Turkeys are better IMO. You can pick them up with 1 hand after you shoot them.

Beautiful bird! Thanks for sharing the story and pictures.

Thanks all!

Elk hunting is on my list for someday. I would be happy with just a cow, but would love to hear the bull elk too.

Evan
The Gobblers that can take weeks or even years to fool are the ones you remember best. Nice Bird
D'Arcy

Good for you, makes me happy to see the results and read your story.

I've been once, was alone calling and guess I had some coming in when I figured the other guys were waiting on me. At the truck they said I had six coming in, a big tom, two jakes and three hens that I spooked on the way out to the truck. They saw the birds leaving just before I came out of the tree's.

George

Really enjoyed your success
and a great "Tail" told!

Thanks fellas, glad you enjoyed.

D'arcy there is another one out there. I had heard it for the first time just before I tagged my bird... it was one of the three that lit up after my first calls that morning but I could tell it was off in the distance to the north, across the road from the property. I ended up getting him to gobble for me while I was dressing out my bird after walking out of the woods... would cut a bit on the bird, then cut on the call and get an immediate response- it was fun.

I was in the woods again with my brother the following weekend and we didn't hear a thing in the woods aside for owls and ravens. Then when I was out yet again with another buddy we heard that gobbler across the road call once early on our first morning and then go silent for the rest of the day. The next day, it gobbled again at about 6:00 am but that time we went back and forth for a solid two hours. I don't think it ever moved from a field that was just across the road from the property I hunt, about 300 yard away, but it was responding to calls the entire morning and kept us excited the whole time. For a little while it almost sounded like there were two gobblers going. I tried calling soft, tried getting aggressive, tried waiting longer between calls, and we even got bold enough to re-position a couple of times to get closer, but that bird just stayed put.

I still don't know what I would have done differently now, but I hope he's still around this fall. It's always a little disappointing when you come home empty handed but getting to call back and forth and hear gobbles over and over again for that long was still awesome.

Hunting Big woods turkey is a little different then hunting farm land birds.

Nice photos Evan; I deer hunt in MN every year and just looking at those photos reminds me deer season is less than 5 months away.

You do realize you need to shoot an elk, right?

I'm new to turkey hunting the past few years. I get more excited calling in a bull turkey than I do stalking bull cape buffalo. It's really exciting!!
Congratulations and well done.
Cal
PS. Personally, for me, the legs of wild turkey are too tough to eat.

These past few years it has never ceased to amaze me how many turkeys I see on my property just south of Duluth considering that 20 years ago there were none there. Wonderful.

Another wonderful thing to see is all of the eagles. when I was a kid there were none there. Now there are many nesting pairs and eagles can be scene on virtually any given day.
Also wonderful.

Thanks again, all.

AnotherAzWriter yes I do, one of these days I will hunt out West.

Cal I'll have to get a bull buffalo some day for comparison. We'll see about those legs, I have an idea..

Lindy I hunt south of Cloquet and everyone is surprised to hear there's turkeys up there, despite the big flock of birds around the 80 acre property I get to hunt. There are always eagles around the property too, it's fun to watch them. Saw lots of eagles and trumpeter swans in the Boundary Waters this year.

Here's the tail finally up on the wall. I kept the shell that killed the bird and used the brass head to cap off the beard. The spurs look nice with a coat of lacquer brushed on. I used a gnarly old piece of scrap walnut for the front wood plate, finished with a quick lacquer job.



Another real prize- a chunk of smoked turkey breast enjoyed at camp in the Boundary Waters. It is delicious. I smoke both breasts- one for the landowners (and a bit for the spring BWCA trip), and the other for my fiance- an easy way to buy hunting time. Benefit to shooting a big turkey is having a ton of smoked turkey breast, plenty to go around.