Adventures Outdoors'
In Wisconsin
Back To the Chase for Wisconsin Long Beards
By Rick Spoerl
Purrs and whines is what my strategy would be for some twenty minutes of seducing the big Tom that approached my daughter Haley and me in full strut. We were finally within what I call "hunting distance" to a big Tom. The last two days had been filled with frustration. We had seen four jakes running together and a couple hens but really no gobbling close by. The gobbles were all from adjacent non-huntable land. We sat in my turkey blind with three hen decoys out and called every 5 or 10 minutes. We needed to get a turkey within a hundred yards or so to have a chance.
My 14 year old daughter Haley and I had caught the Turkey in the middle of the day gobbling without any friends. Pretty vulnerable I thought. He was probably three hundred yards away and I tried a few yelps and clucks with some mixed cutts. Nothing,,, he would only gobble at another Tom far across the farm road. I told Haley, "I can’t stand this anymore, let's go get him before he gets to the other Tom". "Ok", Haley said.
The early spring woods were dry but the 15mph wind covered the crunching of the leaves as we carefully approached the Tom. I glassed him about every twenty yards and we came up with an approach path that would conceal us well. We quickly moved down the steep hard wood hill and through a hundred yard valley of alfalfa. Back into the woods on the other side of the field Haley sat down in front of a tree on the far side of a wooded island. I moved twenty yards away from her to call. We were about a hundred yards from the bird when I pulled my HS Strut slate call out.
After the earlier failure this morning I decided to lay off the yelps, clucks and cutt’s and only whined and purred. It brought instant double gobbles and the Tom slowly moved towards us. After twenty minutes the Toms fan was visible to me at ten yards but Haley was a bit up the hill and couldn’t see him yet. It was pretty tense as the seconds seemed like hours. I could hear the drumming and spitting and I hid my face and looked Haley’s way. I could only see her eyes blinking and I hoped she would remember to take the safety off.
He moved closer to her and I saw her body twitch. I knew she saw him and she moved the gun up to her cheek. Than I heard the safety come off "click" and I smiled. I knew this was a special moment for her as she dropped her first turkey. She ran to the bird and was ready for a second shot but the 23 pound Tom only flapped a minute or so and was dead.
We admired the bird as she put her tag on it and than said a prayer. Not only was this special for Haley but also for me. There is no explaining the feeling a Dad gets as he watches his child harvest their first turkey.
This bird was her first but not her first hunt. Last year she rolled a big Tom but he got away. After a relentless pursuit we never did come up with that bird.
When I started hunting with my kids I invested in a turkey blind. Even though I had a hard time seeing and hearing inside, it provided extra comfort and the needed seclusion for hunting with fidgety kids. Success was ok through the years but nothing spectacular. Some years the birds avoided them and some years they never even looked at them. I’ve shot doubles out of them with my two sons and found them to be most useful bow hunting.
When I began turkey hunting some twenty plus years ago I almost exclusively used the "Run and Gun" approach. Before the season started I would scout areas and ask permission on farms that held birds.
Immediately into the hunt I would wait for a gobble or two and head out towards the bird getting as close as I could. If they weren’t gobbling I snuck around until I found them and than began calling or sneaking. I bumped a lot of birds but I also learned how to do it and how to be successful at it without educating the flock.
The best time to chase Toms is after or during rain. The woods are quiet and the sky darker. Another good time is when it’s windy. You’ll be surprised how close you can get to them if you just take your time.
Of coarse you’ll need to be heavily camouflaged with a face mask or face paint, camo gloves as well as boots. It also helps I your gun is camo.
Use the terrain to hide your approach and get as close to the bird as you can. Use trees and brush and learn how to crawl like a mountain lion taking slow methodical steps. You may even be able to get within shooting range but it’s most difficult.
If the Tom is by himself you will have a much better chance. Obviously the more birds the more eyes there are. Move when the Tom’s fan is hiding his head or when he is behind brush. Don’t be in a hurry. If he leaves the area, try to set up a route that will put you in front of him.
Get as much permission on adjacent farms so you have room to chase. Always research the area and bring maps or GPS. Scouting is of the outmost importance and hunting roast sites in the evening will set you up the next day.
My daughter said she really likes the chase hunt over sitting in a blind and I have to agree. Try it and see, even if you don’t get the bird, you're sure to have a story or two at the end of the day.
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Rick & Haley with Haley's Tom Uncle Al & Haley with their birds