I apologize for the long read ... feel free to skip if you aren’t interested in reading about the experience of a first-time turkey hunter going in solo on public land.
I decided to do a combo trip with some preseason deer scouting and a possible turkey hunt if I saw signs of birds in the area. I headed out solo onto public land in D16 on Wednesday evening. It wasn’t long after day break on Thursday when I heard the first gobbler, but decided to spend Thursday scouting for new areas to hunt deer this fall. After a day of scouting for alternate place to hunt deer, I decided I should spend the day Friday learning about turkeys. Friday morning, the same gobbler sounded off so I tracked his location. Then I heard a second gobbler about a mile away in the direction of an area where I would prefer to hunt so I tracked him down too. He sounded off for about an hour, so it wasn’t very difficult to pinpoint his exact location even though I couldn’t get a visual on him because he was behind a thick barrier of growth and I didn’t want to spook him. It was interesting to learn that he didn’t seem very interested in moving. Rather, it seemed as though he would just keep gobbling until the hens came to him. I had not expected that behavior.
I was the only one in the entire (huge) area until Friday afternoon, so it was a very peaceful couple of days. I spent Friday morning developing a plan of attack for opening day on Saturday including using OnX maps to store a track from camp to the location so I could find my way in the dark to the exact spot where I wanted to setup.
Other hunters began flowing into the area Friday afternoon. I took the opportunity to talk with several of them. As expected they were all friendly and even provided me with some helpful tips once they heard this would be my first turkey hunt. Great group of people, as I expected.
I crawled out of my sleeping bag around 3:45 and headed out. The nearly-full moon made the journey in easier, but I would have struggled to find my way through some of the areas shaded from moonlight without the OnX track since there was only one somewhat passable way into the area through the thick brush and tree cover.
I was settled into my spot before 5:00 and then just waited motionless. Sure enough, the gobbler started sounding off around 6:20, but unfortunately he wasn’t out in front of me like I had anticipated based on his location the day before. Instead he was off to my left about 40 yards behind several layers of trees. Instead of gobbling for an hour this time, he stopped after about 10 minutes. 5 minutes later, a hen popped out right in front of me coming from the direction of the gobbler. She was only 16 yards away right where I had been hoping to see the gobbler. Peering around the tree I was using as a shield, I quickly noticed there were 4 hens all hanging out about 16 yards in the perfect spot. I thought this would be perfect ... just wait for the gobbler to follow them in. However, the hens soon lined up single file and made a beeline across the small meadow in front of me into the thick brush that was about 45 yards away from me. I could hear them feeding in the brush for the next hour or so.
Unfortunately for me, the gobbler did not follow them into my line of sight and I wasn’t skilled enough to call him in. I waited virtually motionless until about noon without luck. Nonetheless, it was a great learning experience. I felt like I did a good job scouting and positioning myself for success, but it just wasn’t my day in the end. A little more experience with the caller and a little more time in the field and I feel like I could be successful. Unfortunately, I needed to be home Saturday evening so I couldn’t make another attempt on Sunday.
Overall, a great learning experience for a first time turkey hunter and not a bad couple of days in the field.
I decided to do a combo trip with some preseason deer scouting and a possible turkey hunt if I saw signs of birds in the area. I headed out solo onto public land in D16 on Wednesday evening. It wasn’t long after day break on Thursday when I heard the first gobbler, but decided to spend Thursday scouting for new areas to hunt deer this fall. After a day of scouting for alternate place to hunt deer, I decided I should spend the day Friday learning about turkeys. Friday morning, the same gobbler sounded off so I tracked his location. Then I heard a second gobbler about a mile away in the direction of an area where I would prefer to hunt so I tracked him down too. He sounded off for about an hour, so it wasn’t very difficult to pinpoint his exact location even though I couldn’t get a visual on him because he was behind a thick barrier of growth and I didn’t want to spook him. It was interesting to learn that he didn’t seem very interested in moving. Rather, it seemed as though he would just keep gobbling until the hens came to him. I had not expected that behavior.
I was the only one in the entire (huge) area until Friday afternoon, so it was a very peaceful couple of days. I spent Friday morning developing a plan of attack for opening day on Saturday including using OnX maps to store a track from camp to the location so I could find my way in the dark to the exact spot where I wanted to setup.
Other hunters began flowing into the area Friday afternoon. I took the opportunity to talk with several of them. As expected they were all friendly and even provided me with some helpful tips once they heard this would be my first turkey hunt. Great group of people, as I expected.
I crawled out of my sleeping bag around 3:45 and headed out. The nearly-full moon made the journey in easier, but I would have struggled to find my way through some of the areas shaded from moonlight without the OnX track since there was only one somewhat passable way into the area through the thick brush and tree cover.
I was settled into my spot before 5:00 and then just waited motionless. Sure enough, the gobbler started sounding off around 6:20, but unfortunately he wasn’t out in front of me like I had anticipated based on his location the day before. Instead he was off to my left about 40 yards behind several layers of trees. Instead of gobbling for an hour this time, he stopped after about 10 minutes. 5 minutes later, a hen popped out right in front of me coming from the direction of the gobbler. She was only 16 yards away right where I had been hoping to see the gobbler. Peering around the tree I was using as a shield, I quickly noticed there were 4 hens all hanging out about 16 yards in the perfect spot. I thought this would be perfect ... just wait for the gobbler to follow them in. However, the hens soon lined up single file and made a beeline across the small meadow in front of me into the thick brush that was about 45 yards away from me. I could hear them feeding in the brush for the next hour or so.
Unfortunately for me, the gobbler did not follow them into my line of sight and I wasn’t skilled enough to call him in. I waited virtually motionless until about noon without luck. Nonetheless, it was a great learning experience. I felt like I did a good job scouting and positioning myself for success, but it just wasn’t my day in the end. A little more experience with the caller and a little more time in the field and I feel like I could be successful. Unfortunately, I needed to be home Saturday evening so I couldn’t make another attempt on Sunday.
Overall, a great learning experience for a first time turkey hunter and not a bad couple of days in the field.
