A Look Back at a Turkey Hunting Diary

I have been negligent in recording my recent turkey hunts. I will provide a quick summary of the last 2 weeks.

Wed. April 25, 2007 - I was supposed to meet 2 friends at my New Jersey turkey hunting location at 4:15 AM. After 4:15, 4:30, 4:45 and 5:00 came and went with no one showing up, I went into the woods on my own. I walked into the woods too late, and, as I found out later, I set up directly under about 10 turkeys! I heard calling around 5:30, and I saw some birds fly down from their roosts. I had two gobblers at about 50 yards, but they were busy strutting and wouldn't come to my calls. Every time I called, I heard birds gobble. But, I couldn't see where all of the gobbles were coming from. I looked up and saw turkeys in the trees all around me. They must have seen me coming in, so they wouldn't fly down. The 2 gobblers on the ground walked away, then I had 4 hens walk within range. Abut 7:00 AM, all of the turkeys flew down -- about 75 yards from me. They then walked the opposite way. I had no opportunities for shots.

Tue. May 1, 2007 - I went to a public spot which usually holds a fair number of New Jersey wild turkeys. I arrived about 4:45 AM and set up 2 turkey decoys in the dark. I did some light calling around 6:00 AM, but I heard no gobbles. Around 6:15, I head some cackles, and 2 hens flew down in the field directly behind the hedge row I was in. They ate and walked away. I saw or heard no other birds. I packed up and went to another public turkey hunting spot, but the fields were full of people and farm equipment preparing to plant. I headed to work instead.

Wed. May 2, 2007 - I met Tom, Curt, and Paul around 4:30 AM. Paul and Curt went their separate ways, and Tom and I went to the woods together. By 5:40 AM, we heard birds gobbling. We immediately moved closer to the gobbles, and the birds answered our calls every time. I heard 2 gobblers and a hen within 30 yards, but we couldn't see them anywhere! The woods were thick, and the birds would not come into a clearing! We called to them for about 45 mins, until they must have walked away. We moved to the edge of a field where we saw a turkey strutting with 2 hens. They were about 175 yards away, but Tom managed to call them within 35-40 yards. The turkey was a jake with about a 1-inch beard! I leveled my sites on him...and let him go! I will chalk that up as a "catch-and-release". We then saw 4 gobblers at the end of the field. We try sneaking up on them, but we couldn't get close.

There are still a few weeks left for me to get one for the taxidermist!