MN Bow Gobbler!

It’s always extra special being able to hunt and kill a gobbler on the very land that your family owns. Joining me for my MN hunting season was fellow IDO Gold Member and friend John Kutz (Kooty). Friday morning (a day before my season started) I left my house at 3:30 a.m. and the plan was to do some scouting. I had to cover a lot of ground but I was rewarded and finally ended up finding a bunch of turkeys. I counted over 20 birds in a large field and at least 9 different toms! I had the video camera with so I was able to get some good footage as 5 toms decided to run by me at 30 yards. Kooty arrived just before dark Friday night and I was able to show him some of our property. The goal was to roost some birds that evening but we really didn’t have to go too far. As we sat on the deck enjoying a , we saw some turkeys make their way to a mature stand of oaks about 200 yards away and then we heard several toms gobble off the roost. That’s exactly where we would be in the morning! As the sun faded behind the trees, deer started to pop out everywhere making our evening even more enjoyable. Then a fisher made its way across the open pasture and the deer were reacting to it by running towards it and stomping at it. What a great night – watching the wildlife and catching up with an old friend!

The next morning we placed the Covert Blind in a small opening right in the middle of the big woodlot. It’s the same location where my wife (Tina) killed her tom last year. As it started to get light, the woods came alive and so did the turkeys! We could hear several toms (4 or 5) gobble off the roost to our right about 150 yards away and we also heard a few others distant gobbles. Finally the birds were on the ground and answering to our calls. This spot was known to be a central connecting hub for the turkeys and a chance for them to strut their stuff. I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick kill spot so we had to be patient. The gobbles were all over the place and about an hour after light we finally got a visual on two toms at 100 yards away. They responded to our calls but after a hen sounded off, they went right by us. I don’t even think they were able to see our decoys. It was no big deal because we knew there were more toms in the area.

Shortly after 4 jakes showed up and hung around for about a half hour weaving in and out of our decoys while Kooty captured them on camera. And then the rain started to fall and then it down poured. It was almost impossible to hear anything and we never heard another gobble after that. We stuck it out until noon and decided to go in for lunch. After the rain subsided, we headed back out in the late afternoon and spotted 4 turkeys (one tom for sure) out in the big field. We were thinking they were going to roost in the same spot as they did the night before. We set up at a pinch point but all we saw was one hen. What made matters worse, is that we never heard a gobble off the roost either.

The next morning we decided to set up in the same spot as the morning before but moved down about 75 yards allowing the turkeys a better chance to see our decoy spread. The morning started off very quiet. We finally heard a gobble and it sounded like it was coming right near the cabin. Then we heard another gobble and that one sounded like where we had parked the truck! I told Kooty that we had to be patient and if the weather cooperated, they would eventually cruise through this area. At about 6:45am, we started to hear a few more gobbles and they seemed to be getting closer. I yelped a couple of times and they gobbled back at us! A few minutes went by and I yelped again and the gobbles were definitely getting closer!

A few more minutes went by and finally I spotted a turkey pop out on the logging road and then another. Kooty asked, “What is it?” I picked up by binoculars and said “One, two, three, four, FIVE TOMS!" Kooty said "Five?" I replied, "Yep and they’re coming and they’re coming fast!” It was the same 5 toms that I had seen scouting on Friday. The race was on and the toms closed the distance in no time. We had set out a total of 5 decoys – a full strut B-Mobile along with a bedded hen and a jake following an alert hen and a feeding hen. My theory is if a tom is the dominant bird, he will hopefully come in and challenge the full strut decoy. If he’s not the dominant bird, then he still may come in and challenge the jake decoy.

The toms walked right by the B-Mobile and quickly surrounded the jake. This showed me that these 5 toms were most likely all 2 year olds and they were not the boss. I decided not to draw back yet and I let them play around for awhile a mere 10 yards away. After about 30 seconds, they finally made their way over to the B-Mobile and that’s when I drew back my bow. I put the pin on one of the toms that was in full strut and I let the arrow fly. The shot hit its mark and after a short run, I had my MN Gobbler Bow Kill in my hands!

What a great encounter to see 5 toms all within 10 yards! What made it even better was to have a good friend witness it with me as well! John has 3 little girls at home and needless to say his weekends are spent with his family. His time away is very limited and I felt very blessed that I was able to share some time with him in the blind – thanks John!

Turkey hunting this year for me has been a blast so far – one Merriam down in Montana and now an Eastern down in MN. Now I’m off to WI later this week hoping for another Eastern. My goal is to get Tina some action. Then I will get behind the camera and I’ll hopefully be capturing Kooty’s first eastern gobbler on film! That would be a perfect world but more importantly, I’m hoping to build some more wonderful memories along the way along with lots of laughs mixed in. That’s truly why I hunt in the first place!