Original Post Date: 4/19/2012
Views: 3959 as of 09/2023
I originally planned on waiting and combining my two turkey seasons into one story, but I'm so bored sitting around watching it rain that decided to do them separately. As you may have heard, I had a successful first period hunt. As always, I arrived at the Jessop farm Tuesday night in time to go up on the ridge and get my blind and decoys set up for the Wed. morning opener. It was pretty cold Wed. morning with the temp. hovering right around 26 degrees as I fired up the 4-wheeler and headed up Jessops Ridge about 5:45. Things were pretty quiet til about 9:20 when a nice gobbler came out on the field and immediately started strutting and answering my yelps. He had a beautiful fan tail and I wanted him for my next tail mount. After making his way about 100 yards down the ridge toward me, he hung up and would not come close enough for a shot. He must have caught movement in my blind or something as I could not get him any closer. About 11:00 I heard a shot across the road and assumed that DNR Warden Mike Green had got one. He usually hunts the same time period as me but on the opposite end of the farm. About 11:20 I had two hens and a Jake come into my decoys, but the Jake was way too small to even consider shooting. I headed back to the farm for lunch at about 12:30 and had a chance to admire Mike's nice gobbler. Haven't heard exactly what it weighed, but it was bigger than the one I got later in the day. Went back on the ridge at 2:00 and had just settled in when I started getting a response from two separate gobblers on opposite sides of the ridge. I toyed with them for a while when all of a sudden both of them came out in the field from opposite sides and started toward me walking side by side. After studying them as they approached, I determined that the one on the left was the nicer of the two. I let them approach to about 20 yards from the blind and shot the big one. When he went down the other bird immediately piled onto him and wouldn't leave till I came out of the blind and chased him away. End result 26lbs. 10 1/2 inch beard and about 1 inch spurs. Another great day on the ridge. Next up will be a 4th period hunt. Wanna be weasel Mark Wanlass plans to join me to observe. Hopefully I can teach him how to think like a turkey. Til then good hunting.
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