The woods finally felt like spring during the last week of the 2018 spring gobbler season with lush green vegetation making an appearance. I love this time of the year watching everything come back to life. I also like watching the sunrise over the ridgetops and listening to the morning woods wake up.
With turkey season coming to an end I decided to venture out for one last hunt. It was a clear calm morning walk out to my listening spot. I hadn’t made it half way out the point when a gobble rang out in the hollow. I had been hearing this particular turkey roosting in the same place during the first 3 weeks of the season. I pretty much knew which tree he was in and how to ease in on him.
Just as I started to make my approach towards him another gobbler sounded off right on the end of the point. The turkeys love to roost on the end of this point and tend to always work their way towards the field once they fly down off the roost. I slipped in and set up on the field edge and got ready as the gobbler let his presence known again.
I kept an eye on the point while scanning the field edge for any movement as the new day began. It was daylight by now and I figured the turkeys would be flying down at any moment. I was staring at the point when I actually saw a turkey pitch off and glide towards the forest floor. I grabbed my slate call and gave a fly down cackle after that and the gobbler answered me.
I called again and he answered so I put the call down. He knew where I was at and all I could do was play the waiting game. About 10 to 15 minutes went by when all of a sudden 2 heads popped up in the field edge. They were hens and my heart began to beat a little faster as I knew the gobbler wouldn’t be far behind.
Another hen popped out in the field and started to peck around with the other two. I glanced to my left and saw the red, white, and blue head pop out of the brush and come into the field. He puffed up in full strut and put on a display of feathers for his lady friends. This is always a magnificent sight to see.
I took a few deep breathes to calm my nerves as the gobbler continued to strut his stuff. The hens worked their way over the hill into a dip and out of sight. I was afraid the gobbler was going to do the same. He was 50 to 55 yards away and just out of shotgun range. Finally the gobbler turned his back to me and I took the opportunity to slightly move my gun as his tail fan blocked his view.
When he spun back around I had him in my sights and patiently waited for him to get a little closer. He took a few steps and stuck his head up giving me a good shot. I looked down my sights and lined everything up as I slowly squeezed the trigger. The gobbler dropped ending a picture perfect hunt.
I stepped off 48 steps as I went to retrieve the beautiful bird and thanked the good lord above for a great hunt. It wasn’t even 7:00 am and I was back to the house in time to take Kelsey to school. I’m glad I rolled out of bed and enjoyed one last hunt in the spring woods. The 2018 spring gobbler season ended on May 12 so we’ll have to wait until next year to chase turkeys again. Now it’s time to fish! Take care and enjoy the great West Virginia outdoors until next time.
