The Chase

[LvrLover]

I forget to apply for a turkey permit in the fall, so there were only a few late May tags left. I didn't buy one. By that time they are so call shy and done breeding that its kind of useless. I still got some turkey excitement though.
I was mixing feed at work on Saturday morning and had been watching the birds strut in the field across the road. Wishing I had a tag. A guy and his son that live up the road a piece saw them and stopped to ask if they could give it a try. They had been hunting all morning, but couldn't get the gobblers to move from their hens at there place. They were going to get something to eat in town when they saw the ones in our field. Since neither I nor my boss has a tag I told em to have at it.
They decided to sneak through the swamp at the edge of the field and stalk up to the gobblers. I told em good luck! I haven't seen many people sneak up on a turkey. I went back to feeding and forgot about them.
About an hour later I looked and the turkeys were still there. I dumped some silage in the mixer and looked up and they were gone. Well not all of them though. Here I see a gobbler running across the field away from the swamp. A second later here comes the kid and his dad chasing it. Its an 80 acre field that was ploughed in the fall and its quite soft. They chased him all over it. I couldn't figure why they didn't shoot it again. They were plenty close enough several times. The dad got a hold of it once even, but it got away and flew a few yards. I thought if it can fly they'll never catch it. It started to head back to wards the swamp and if it got in there they'd never find it. I decided to try and help so I hightailed it over there with the tractor to cut it off. I put it in four wheel drive and took off as fast as I could without wrecking something. Did I mention the field was soft? I almost got stuck a couple times, but by sticking to the high spots and locking the differential I got out there. When I got there the turkey just seemed to give up and ran right at the dad and stopped in front of him. He jumped on the bird, and I hollered to him to swing it around by the neck. Did that a few times and it was over.
They told me they had snuck through the swamp and into some tall grass on the edge of the field. They got to about 30 yards and the kid just stood up and shot the gobbler. The birds were just laying there sunning in the dirt. He told me he got it on the first shot and thought he had it, but then it got up and ran. He shot twice more but missed and was then out of shells. I don't know how they snuck up so close with ten pairs of eyes and ears out there. It was a little windy, so maybe the wind hid the noise a bit. They were wearing blue jeans and long sleeve camo shirts - no gloves or face paint or masks. The kid was using a shiny stocked and bright blued 12 gauge.
So they stalked a turkey wearing basically street clothes and used a firearm with a highly reflective finish to do it. The "experts" would say they did it all wrong, but they got a bird. The only thing I could fault them on was only having three shells. When I asked them about it they said they only needed one the 2 years before! I congratulated the kid on his bird. It had 1" spurs and an 8" beard. It felt like 20 or so pounds too. Nice Gobbler in any book.
I still believe in being prepared though. I don't go hunting without PLENTY of extra shells. Animals aren't paper targets and sometimes wild things can happen on the easiest shots. Still, it was a nice exciting interruption to my day!

[Alboy]

"Still, it was a nice exciting interruption to my day!"
 
 
Well so has been this story, thanks for sharing. I would have loved to see the chase.:D

[gitano]

So they stalked a turkey wearing basically street clothes and used a firearm with a highly reflective finish to do it. The "experts" would say they did it all wrong,

Ayup.
 
Paul

[davidlt89]

The "experts" would say they did it all wrong, but they got a bird.

Thats priceless!!!!!
I cannot fault them for only having 3 shells. Most I have ever got off was two before everybird flew into the next state!!! Stalking a turkey is one big chore, I have had one friend that did it, but have never seen it done again. Has never worked for me! Congrats to the young man! thanks for sharing. God Bless.

[Paul Hoskins]

Good story and funny too. I never stalked a turkey within shotgun range but did have a big hen sneak up on me close enough for me to grab her by the leg but we won't get into that again.    ..........Paul H

[Daryl (deceased)]

Great story LvrLover.  
 
I've stalked turkeys a few times, and actually never thought much of it.  I'm sure it's not the traditional way to hunt them, but it's fun!
 
Congrat's the the hunters on their success, and thanks for sharing the story.
 
Daryl