I couldn’t wait for the opening of this Spring’s turkey season. I’m currently a freshman at UNCW and came home on Friday evening to hunt with my dad on opening day. The morning hunt started with numerous birds gobbling at a distance. Since none were very close, we decided to set up on the edge of a food plot and put out our decoys.
Around 8 a.m., we heard a gobble about 100 yards away, so I got ready. Unfortunately, that was the only time it gobbled, possibly because it was with two hens that we had seen earlier that morning. Around 10 a.m., we decided to call it a morning and go get something to eat.
Around 3 p.m. that afternoon, we went to a different farm where I killed my first ever turkey, which had a double beard, several years ago. I had a really good feeling about this spot due to my previous success. My dad called sparingly until we heard a gobble down by the river. Each time he called, it responded with a gobble. I turned my chair and rearranged my setup as my dad felt that this bird would come to us.
After about 15 minutes, we saw the gobbler in full strut at around 100 yards for about 20 minutes. It stayed in the same spot, turning circles in full strut, head turning blue and white, before finally starting to slowly walk toward us. My heart was racing with excitement, but at around 40 yards it walked into some thick pines. My dad figured it would come out at the path where our decoys were located. He uses a Mad Jake decoy that is remote controlled and likes to turn its rear towards an incoming gobbler to make it mad. We also use an Avian hen. We noticed the gobbler in the pines at the edge of the path at 25 yards ,and all we needed was for it to take two more steps for a clear shot.
The bird disappeared back into the pines and reappeared back in the lane too far for a shot and slowly walked back to the river. As my dad tried to call it back, and we were really disappointed in how close we just had been, we heard two more gobble about 300 yards away. They double-gobbled every time my dad called, so I rearranged my setup in that direction.
The pair soon appeared in the path and started walking in our direction. We had placed the decoys strategically so they could be seen from multiple directions. Once my dad rotated the remote controlled Jake, with its rear toward the approaching gobblers, it really incited them and they started running toward us.
My dad was keeping track of the larger bird in his binoculars as they continually switched positions. Once they were in range, my dad said to shoot the one on the left once it had enough separation so that I wouldn’t hit the second bird as well. My body was shaking as I took aim and pulled the trigger. The giant gobbler went straight down, and my dad and I yelled and hugged. I ran over to check out my bird and was amazed at it size and beauty. It had an 11-inch beard, 1-inch spurs, and weighed approximately 20 pounds. It was about 6:15 p.m. and I’m still amazed that after such a long and agonizing standoff with the first gobbler, that our fortunes changed and everything worked out perfectly just 30 minutes later.
I really enjoy turkey hunting, but what makes it really special is being able to share quality time in the outdoors with my dad.
–Carolina Coley
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