Wheelin’ and Dealin’

The night before turkey season finally had arrived and although we wanted to go and listen for turkeys, high winds kept us at bay. 

The hopes were still high and morning seemed to be coming quickly. 

After a 4:30 wake-up and a quick cup of coffee, I went downstairs to see if Aiden was ready to go and load the truck. 

Soon after, we arrived at the gate and I unloaded the truck and got Aiden in his wheelchair as a couple of owls hooted, and then began to laugh.  

With a blind on my back, a decoy in my turkey vest, and a bunch of stuff sitting on Aidens lap. I tipped his chair onto the back two wheels and we began our trek down the shale road under the cover of darkness. We arrived and set up the blind, getting Aiden situated inside.

I ran back to the truck and grabbed our guns and the second decoy along with my chair.

I made it back to the blind and grabbed the decoys, stepping off 17 yards and placing the decoys in the shale the best I could. 

As I finished pushing the hen into the ground, the first songbird of the morning began to chirp. I knew they would gobble soon after. 

Once back in the blind Aiden and I set up his tripod and got his gun locked into it and loaded. Then set up his tripod for his camera and when I looked to find the decoys in the viewfinder, I noticed the hen decoy had already fallen. So I stood up and just as I began to unclip the door a raven cawed and a turkey gobbled about 120 yards below us. 

I stepped out of the blind and grabbed my owl hooter to clarify his location before I made myself seen and messed up our morning. Just as the hoot echoed down the valley he gobbled right where I thought he had gobbled before. 

I quickly went out and pushed the hen into the shale as hard as I could and got back into the blind. 

We sat and listened as turkeys began to gobble and it seemed they were everywhere as we heard multiple gobbles in different locations.

 I knew fly-down was near and grabbed my wing out of the back of my vest and did a fly-down cackle and beat the wing knowing that the close birds would definitely hear it.

Soon after, silence ensued and I told Aiden they were going to be on the ground shortly if they weren’t already. 

The closest bird gobbled and was undoubtedly on the ground so I softly yelped. 

We sat for a couple of minutes and I thought I may have heard a turkey spit and the unmistakable sound of his drumming followed it. 

Just as I looked at Aiden to ask if he heard it once again came to my ear. I told him I heard one drum and we both seemed to forget how anything worked as I reached over and tried to turn on his sight and the camera. 

Just as I had got them both on, I saw the birds about 40 yards below us, and as quickly as we had seen them they were gone. Walking right past us paying no mind to anything. 

Following that excitement, the woods again opened up and turkeys seemed to gobble everywhere. However, they all were across a main road and a stream so I knew we had our work cut out for us. 

A hen began yelping behind us and I yelped back and soon she appeared about 8 yards from us. Clucking and yelping as she made her way to the decoys, with no response from a gobbler. She hung out for a few minutes and then continued on. 

The gobbler in the distance seemed to have calmed down a little and we checked the time only to see it was 7 O’clock. 

We waited and after half an hour one began to gobble and as I would call he would answer, each time sounding like he was making a loop out to cross the road in a flatter spot. 

He did cross and gobbled only once more on our side as another one began to gobble and was cutting me off every time I would call. 

However he never budged from his spot and once he quit gobbling, the woods fell silent for a couple of hours. 

It was getting to be about 10 and suddenly a turkey gobbled about 80 yards away just over a roll out of sight. I softly yelped and he didn’t answer but then gobbled again sounding like they were moving below us. 

They began to answer me and I thought that they might just come right up the hill to us. Before I knew it they were gobbling behind us and then were clear out of earshot. 

Disappointment set in as it had seemed our chances of getting them were gone just like they were.

A couple of minutes had passed and they gobbled, just barely loud enough to make out. The gobbles began to get closer and I once again called as they all gobbled and finally, I saw them walking down the well road below us. 

Three turkeys went through the gap and I knew it was the two jakes and a longbeard I had been seeing. 

I called once they were straight below us and they all responded, I knew that would be enough and they were either going to pop out on top of us or just walk right past us for a second time. 

About 30 seconds passed and Aiden spotted them and soon I could see the fan sticking out from behind a tree.

I turned on his sight and got the camera on and turned as they scaled the hill coming straight for us. 

Only the jakes made an appearance and the one strutted and drummed coming straight to the decoys until he got to a log about 10 yards from the decoy and that was enough to hold them up. 

They both walked back and forth as if the log was a ten-foot-tall wall. With them being a few feet lower than the decoy, we would’ve needed to completely adjust Aiden’s tripod, which was more of a process than I was willing to try pulling off unless it was an absolute necessity. 

Finally, the subordinate jake stepped onto the log and we thought they were going to cross. However, just as quickly as he has stepped up, he stepped back down on the same side he started on. 

The dominant bird had finally had enough and gobbled, he gave it a few seconds and gobbled again. His head turned from bright red white and blue to solid white. 

I knew he was going to break and they both began to make their way to the end of the log closest to us. 

They came around it at about 12 yards and went straight for the decoys. 

They would not separate for him to get a shot and kept walking back and forth around the decoy but would not commit to beating it up. 

Every time we thought Aiden could get a shot the other jake would step into the way. 

I tried to yelp to get him out of strut and he gobbled but would continue to strut. 

They made their way around the decoy and finally got separated enough for him to shoot. I putted trying to get him to break strut, which once again he wouldn’t seem to do.

I told Aiden to shoot him as he turned to face us. 

Destined to shoot the strutting one, the gun cracked and the bird folded and a puff of feathers entered the air and sent the other jake running. 

Aiden was shaking with excitement as the one day we had for him to hunt came to a successful close.