# My Illinois Turkey Tale...



## zettler (Sep 7, 2002)

*Magic in the air&#8230;
By Bob Zettler
May 2, 2009*

I need to buy a Lotto ticket tonight I am thinking as I turn off of Route 4 and onto Illinois Route 125 on the west side of Springfield. Why? I have just driven from Chatham all the way along the west side of Springfield and never had to stop! Not one light was red and there was little traffic at 4 AM as I am cruising westward to hunt turkey in Illinois' fourth spring season. I had passed on my first opportunity due to thunderstorms and work issues but even though my chronic prostatitis flared up the night before and I had little sleep, I was going to give it a go as I had missed out on filling my first season tag due to work obligations.

But what an opening morning I had that first season! It too had been a rainy day and I almost hadn't gone as there were thunderstorms and a real downpour over where I was headed according to the radar at 4 AM that day. But it looked like a break and I went for it shortly before 5 AM. It was an hour drive over and I arrived right at shooting time. And before I could even get to my favorite spot (never killed a turkey there but have seen a lot of birds from under this tree) in the woods along the cut corn field, I could see birds in the trees less than a 100 yards away and very close to the woods edge. I immediately sat down and got ready which was a good decision as they started entering the field within minutes of my butt hitting the ground and before too long I had upwards of 20 turkeys stretched out in front of me from 40 to 140 yards away - and half were Tom's!!!!

I spent the next 60+ minutes watching, calling, pleading - lots of pleading - and watching some more as these birds strut and parade around and me without my camera or cell phone/camera! Sure, I could have taken a 40-yard shot and maybe connected, or, maybe missed and then where would I be as these birds would be educated and that was unacceptable this first day of the season. I even had a chance at any one of five Jakes that came by me later that morning when I moved closer to where these early birds headed (and all were within 15 yards) but passed on them to await my mature Tom as a reward.

But I digress as usual as that was nearly three weeks ago. I hadn't been back to the farm since then but wasn't too worried about the birds as there might be just one other hunter that could have chased them so they were hopefully still in their and my favorite spot. I went ahead and got there earlier as I wanted to be able to move on them if I had to this time instead of hoping to entice them to me. They had been henned up bad the last time and what with the weather we had been experiencing they still might be close-knit. I went ahead and took my Pretty Boy and Hen decoys with me this time and just as I was half-way to my "spot" and enjoying the sweet smell of the Honeysuckle flowering all around, I heard my first Gobble and he wasn't but 120 yards from that spot!

Took my fanny pack off at the tree and went about 20 yards into the field to set up the decoys and then set my carcass down and got ready with my friction and box calls. Here it was well before 5:30 AM and I was all set and my bird had a couple of BMF's in the trees near him to boot! It sounded like three or four birds but I could not be sure except that they were all pretty close and gobbling up a storm with the one responding to my soft yelps a couple of times. Life is good.

It was at least 30 minutes before I heard one fly down and then another&#8230;crap, they are headed away from me like the last time (second day of the first season) and into the woods instead of into the field in front of me. However, instead of gobbling from the last strut area they had been in, it sounded like they had headed into the bottoms just below the edge of the field and woods to my right. Well I had not been aggressive the last time out and had let them strut for 45 minutes before I gave up on trying to get one to come to me, so I hit the woods. I say be aggressive when in doubt!

As I walked down this pathway towards where I believed them to be (like the last time), it sounded as if they were either well in the bottoms, or, heaven forbid, the field across the bottoms where I had really never been before. This presented me a problem as I am out of shape and overweight - no kidding - and going down into that bottom and then find a way up the other side looked very difficult. I did sit for a short while at the top of the bottoms to see if I could draw them back into the woods and out of that field (which is where there were) but I could tell they wouldn't go for it. And as I was headed over there and getting up, I get (slightly) busted by a Hen that had come from where I had set up an hour earlier. She is a better caller than me, and as she wasn't sounding the 5-alarm call, I decided it would be the better part of valor to see if she could entice them over and to me! This went on for about 15 minutes as she went around me calling the Tom's and getting much better responses than I had. Well, my improvised plan to use the Hen behind me to get the Toms to come to me was good in theory but Mother Nature intervened and she couldn't take it and flew across to the other side.

I let her disappear, and as I am an aggressive hunter and firmly believe it is best to get as close to either where the quarry is, or, headed, I decided to at least try crossing over to the other side and close to the edge of the field. Fortunately, I found a fairly easy way down and then a relatively graded slope up that turned out to be a big deer run - smart animals to find the easy way!

I had decided to take my time as I was not about to have a heart attack and just as I am headed up the other side, I found a fresh Morel. Could this be a second omen after my luck with the traffic lights? I placed it in my vest and began the Himalayan trek up into the unknown&#8230;

They were not gobbling but from the sound of the last one they seemed to be out in the field a ways so I decided to stay low below the line-of-sight and work my way towards them. After I caught my breath, I stayed low and peeked through the now very green foliage and there were at least three mature Tom's out in the field in front of me at about 60 yards strutting from the edge and twenty or so down to my left. There were at least two Hens out there with them too -one of them was that cheating floozy I had used on the other side! The Hen's were feeding and the Tom's were oblivious to most everything else.

I decided on a good sized tree to lay my back against as I was now about 30 yards to the right of where the birds were and had a little greenery between us which would allow me to peek at them ever now and then and a clear field of fire for about 120 degrees. You have to understand that while I wear a turkey vest with calls in the pockets and a thin cushion for my buttocks, along with a fanny pack that contains all my "utility belt" pockets of calls, shells, camera (this time), bug spray, and the like, I try and travel light and bring no other cushion or a raised seat, so I have to depend on the comfort of the tree I lean back against and the ground underneath me. Sometimes it is okay and other times I lose circulation rather quickly as I wait on a response or opportunity&#8230;

This time it was okay as I could actually rise up and peer through the bush in front of me to see these birds, and they sure put on a show! You could clearly see their white heads and bright red wattles through the grey morning light as it was now misting, so visibility was limited - and that was good for me too. I could see the two or so Hen's feeding around but could not get a conversation going with the Tom's. In my early years I would have never dared to move as much as I do now but I have come to realize there are times, many times, you can actually move around and not get busted as long as you use the cover to your advantage. I am not advocating break dancing, reading a book or texting friends from where you hunt but you can actually move when there are birds around - you just have to use some common sense and think before you do.

Back to the strutting Toms. After about 45 minutes of this I began to worry that they were all headed back into my woods but maybe 50 or so yards away and to my left. I looked at the cover between me and where I wanted to go to intercept them and decided to back away and down below their line-of-sight and head there. It was now pretty slippery as we had been having good rains for the last 36 hours but I was able to cut the distance by maybe 40 yards but had to stop as there was a fence there and I did not want to cross it. Plus, there were not as many mature trees to put my back at without being seen (the good ones were right up against the edge of the field) and I had to get down and set up quick as it now looked like they might be farther out in the field and maybe heading away from me - the HORROR!

As luck would have it, I found a pretty good tree but it had a couple of relatives in front and to the right side of it which could limit my field of fire if they should decide to loop back on me from that side. Fortune was still smiling on me as now they really responded to my calls. No, they weren't moving towards me but they were responding and not moving farther away and what was that? Was that another Gobbler calling from where I had just been back across the bottoms? Maybe he is about to beat up my Pretty Boy and here I am 300-yards away&#8230;que sera, que sera.

Wait a minute, there he goes again and isn't that another one just beyond him too? Whoa, I am between two sets of birds now! What do I do? Well, I could see the three Toms in the field hadn't budged and that other bird or two was moving closer and closer. Decisions, decisions. It is just like earlier when I was trying to use that Hen but now I might have competing Gobblers in front of me and behind me - not a bad place to be!

I decided to turn around and face that way but that means I will now have two trees I have to move the gun over and around in order to reposition myself and that would be bad if those three Toms decided to finally respond. But I have to go with the more active bird(s) and pretty soon I can see not one, not two, but at least four of them headed my way and three have red on their heads!

As I am scoping them out after they have crossed over to my side and are just 40 or so yards away, I cannot see any swinging beards as I could on the three Toms behind me. Naaahh, it can't be, but it is, as these are probably the same four Jakes I had seen at 15-yards on opening day and they were headed right towards me. Now I am still not ready to kill a Jake but will decide when they get close enough if they have the right stuff but it isn't looking that promising. Yep, it was the same four with three having beards that pointed upwards into the sky and the fourth looking like the runt with little to no beard. Here they are now at 20 to 25 yards when all of a sudden those three Tom's I had been after all morning erupted right behind - and I mean, RIGHT BEHIND ME!

No way could I turn now and look or shoot as these Jakes were looking right at me (or at least in my direction) and they were less than 10 yards away too! Sure, I had my gun barrel pointed at them and could have taken two or three out with one shot but I wanted one of those Tom's and there was no way I was going to jeopardize killing a good bird after having come so far. Nope, no way!

These Tom's were strutting, drumming and spitting probably 10 to 15 yards behind me and I (also) had those trees in the way so there was absolutely no way I could even turn my gun that way even if I could use my peripheral vision to spot them. Now I wish I had my camera out as these four Jakes were right there and I could have named them as each one was different from the other but they all seemed to stay together in a group. Kind of like the Three Stooges with Shemp thrown in, as the one with the brightest red head was clearly the leader and I named him Moe, then there was Larry, and of course, Curly, the one without a beard&#8230;

Criminy, will they just either go back the way they came from or head out into the field!!! Wait, they are heading back, nope, here they come again. Well, they do this three or so times until I am about to scream and make my move even though the Jakes might bust me and alert the Tom's RIGHT BEHIND ME! Then they start out into the field. Halleluiah! Nope, here they come back. Then they head back into the field only to repeat this too at least three times until I see them make it and out of eye-contact but as I start to raise my gun over the tree to place it in the direction of the Toms I could just make out on the other side of the bush that was between me and the field less than 15 yards away I hear a PUT-PUT.

I could have sworn they all went into the field but Moe had held back and was maybe 15 yards away. I froze as he PUT'ed and made his way into the field to follow his fellow stooges. Thankfully, most likely due to his inexperience, he had not really sounded the panic alarm as I could still make out the Toms about 20 yards away through the greenery but I still had to shift my body around to follow the gun so I could take a shot and that is when I discover two of the Tom's chasing all the Stooges right towards me to where they had just entered the field. Gun, up, safety off and when I could see that one of the Tom's (beard dragging the ground) who had just ran the Jakes back to me was off to the side so there would be no collateral damage, I took the shot and birds go flying everywhere. Jakes, Hens and Toms - oh my! Crap, did I miss as I cannot see anyone flopping around? I better put another round into one but which one did I shoot at and that is when I discovered my REMINGTON 3 ½" shotshell was sticking out sideways from my Beretta Extrema II. Has my Dark Cloud reared its ugly head and screwed not only my chance at a nice bird but now educated all of them?

As I unfold myself from the position I had gotten myself into I see my Black bird down and on the ground not 20 yards away and here I was about to shoot again and kill (hopefully - NOT) a different bird as there were still birds all around me on the ground, flying and into the trees! But as I head towards him he begins to wheelbarrow himself across the mud with his head flopping. Maybe he is just crippled so I jack the empty out and make chase after him not wanting to mess him up or further educate the others. After three or so loops with me chasing him like a Keystone Cops movie, I got him by his legs and he is D-E-A-D!!!

Nice spurs and, OH MY GOD! He is triple-bearded!!! As I walk with him back into the woods one of the birds scares the crap out of me when he busts out of the tree right overhead but I am very happy for I have persevered, used what little talent I have and all the experiences I have attained from over the years hunting alone and with good friends, and have my trophy, beaucoup new memories and it is only 8 AM.

And as I cross back across that field with the sweet smell of Honeysuckle permeating the now rainy grey morning I think to myself, what a day. What a magical day&#8230;

*The Stats:
Beards - 1.75, 7.5 and 10.4 inches
Weight - 21.2 pounds
Spurs - 7/8" & 1"*


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## Goose Guy350 (Nov 29, 2004)

congrats :beer:

Nice write up


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## bluebird (Feb 28, 2008)

That was a nice story!!!!


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## zettler (Sep 7, 2002)

I hope you all take something out of my tale this time. :beer:

* Be agressive.
* Don't give up.
* Move to get closer, to get between them and/or where they are headed.
* Use them! And what I mean by that is if you are between a Hen and/or another Gobbler, use that.
* It is okay to move a little BUT be wary and ready to freeze if busted!

Those are some of the primary points I wanted to portray about this hunt and hope someone can make use of them some day.


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