Well another windy day in Kansas. This hunt took place in the Flint Hills of North East Kansas. There was a ton of cloud cover. And the temperature was 40 degrees in the morning. Curt and I sat up in a spot that I ran across the year before. And had seen a few birds in.

We bumped a few deer in there going in. It was still pretty dark and you could only see the whitetails flagging. We sat up and hoped to hear a gobbler sound out pretty close to us. We did hear a couple of them sound out. But the wind was so strong they sounded really faint. One of them you could tell was way closer than the other. We sat where we first started for about 40 minutes. We only heard the close bird call out once. Don’t know if it was the wind or what.

So we decided to move closer to where we heard him. It was about 300 yards away from our first set up. We got to a known roosting area. The tracks were everywhere. We tried to do a locating call and nothing. I knew of another open field above where we were. So we moved to the base of that field and called out and sure enough he sounded out. He was pretty close. We got set up and called again and there was another one that sounded out a little farther out. We called for a while and nothing showed. So we crept up to the top of a hill to do some viewing to see where he was. We could see him on an open hill. He looked like he was in a strut zone over looking a creek bottom. He was maybe 200 + yards out. With the wind blowing from him to us. We looked around for the second gobbler. But never saw it. So we devised a plan to use the steep banks of the creek and get as close to him as possible before we started calling. We did call once to see if he could hear us. We called and he stood straight up and looked in our direction and then went right back into a strut.

So we moved into position. Started calling. And sure enough he was coming. But not by himself. He had three hens he was chasing around.

I will say originally this was suppose to be Curt’s bird. I was gonna film it. We set up for this. Curt was a little further down from me. Cause I really thought the way the tom was going he would cross the creek close to where Curt was. I was calling and all of the sudden I had a hen walk within 5 feet of me. I didn’t have the camera on when she called but I got great footage of her walking by. She was really eyeballing the decoy. When she called out the tom gobbled at her. She then started doing some clucks. I wasn’t sure if she had seen me put my hand on the camera or not. Anyway Curt heard the calling and thought man Shaun that sounds good. Then he saw her. He slid back into the evergreen that we were camping out in. Not sure exactly where she went after that.

Anyway sometime had passed and I noticed a hen running back to where the birds came from when we first got there. Then another hen. And another. I thought great she must have seen me. I started calling to try and calm them down. Then came the tom. He was chasing after the hens. He kept trying to puff up while doing this. It was a pretty funny show.

So this is when I started to turn it on with the calling. I would give him a series of yelps and he would puff up. Then he would move closer to where the hens crossed the creek. He did this several times. I think he kept second guessing himself cause the hen decoy was right there in the open. He kept turning to it. I would have got this all on film but it happened too fast. I noticed Curt wasn’t over by me yet. So I kept watching the tom and decided that if he got any farther out he would be out of my range. I picked up the gun instead of the camera and took aim. The tom puffed up then put his head out and started puffing up again. And that was when I let the lead fly. He flew up in the air and I thought he was out of there. But then he nose planted and started flopping around like mad.

We got him. I yelled out to Curt. Sorry man. I really wasn’t gonna shoot. But it was now or never. So I went up to get the bird. And noticed he had nasty spurs. They ended up being an 1.25 inches on each side. Then I looked for his beard and my initial thought was he is a jake. Cause he had two beards but both were only about three inches and they were white in color. Very strange. There was no way this was a jake. He had a full fan and huge spurs. Then I got to thinking it has to be beard rot. Never seen this before but have heard of it.

It turns out that beard rot is actually caused by an interruption in melanin production, which causes the beard to weaken and break off. Melanin is a pigment, which gives the beard its dark color and strength. Often times, when this occurs, the tip of the beard will have a reddish or blond coloration.

What a cool bird. He weighed between 23 – 24 pounds. And is a pure Eastern. It is only my second Eastern turkey ever. We have a lot of hybrid birds around here.

Anyway it was a cool hunt. Caught on video. And we will be getting after more birds soon.

The morning started out like most others, it was a mild morning with a slight breeze. I was hunting here in North East KS, with a good friend Coby. While walking to our spot all was quite until we blew on our owl call and the trees exploded. There were gobbles coming from all directions close and far. We got sat down as the sun was cresting the horizon and began to call hoping to draw one of the toms from the roost. We worked at this until they had all wandered off in different directions with hens. About 8:30 we had a hen come into our decs, we immediately got the camera rolling and our guns ready with high hopes that a mature gobbler would be close behind…no such luck. The hen look around, unsatisfied with her newly found friends she moved on. We sat and called for about another hour before we decided to go find the birds. As we came over a hill we spotted them, it seemed like every turkey in the area had joined up for a party about 500 yards away from us in the middle of a freshly burnt pasture. There was a total of 7 toms and 11 hens that completely ignored every cluck, purr, and yelp we threw at them. These birds were not going anywhere any time soon. By this time we were feeling a need for lunch and a new strategy, as we got up to head in for luch we watched two mature birds break off from the group and work their way out of the area.

After a refueling lunch of easy-mac, cookies, and water we kicked back for a brainstorming nap. Waking up full of new ideas and a optimistic attitude we went back afield. For the afternoon hunt we decided to set up in a open wooded bottom between two alfalfa fields that would cut the two separated toms off from the rest of the group. After getting setup with a total of four hen and a jake decoy we sat down and once again began calling, we cave it some loud yelps because of the wind that had arose and sat back to listen and wait. A quick 15 minutes later we called again softer this time and before we could set down the call two strong gobbles erupted from behind us …..and they were close. A few more soft purrs and clucks brought two mature easterns headed our way right down a abandoned ATV path. I immediately reached to turn the camera on and go figure the battery was dead so we put the camera down and prepared for success. It took a matter of minutes before the toms were in sight walking strait at us in full strut gobbling along the way. The two soon broke the edges of our spread about 40 yards out and unfanned to investigate the ladies this jake decoy had come upon. We looked at each other, gave the countdown and BAM!!! Both birds hit the ground hard as we ran out to claim our trophies. These were great birds mine weighing in at 24 pounds packing a 10.5 inch beard and inch spurs, and Coby’s weighing in at 23 pounds packing a 10 inch beard and inch spurs as well. What a great ending to a day in the woods.

Brandon McCaffrey

Team SnK

So it was a REALLY windy day but I had this urge to go Turkey hunting one afternoon when I got off work so I loaded up my stuff and headed to my closest spot.

When I arrived, the wind was blowing even harder than it was in town. I got dressed, grabbed my gun, decoy and vest then headed down to the timber. On my way out there (driving) I noticed turkey standing in the trees or on the tree line so I was quickly calculating in my head what would be the best spot to sit up on. Then ‘bam’ I decided where. So I quickly walked down to the timber that butted up against a pond and a CRP field and set up my upright hen decoy about 30 ft inside the timber. I sat about 15 feet behind that against a tree. After sitting for 5 min, I began calling with my Devastator Turkey Diaphragm Call. This is a triple reed with a unique cut on the center reed, but this thing sounds amazing! After a few Puts and Purs, I threw in a few Yelps. Finally I saw movement in the thick brush about 50 yards in front of me. It was a ‘Tom’ and he was in full strut heading my way. I’m not real sure how he herd me cause he was up wind of me,
but some how he did.

Anyways, so I decided to get this guy all fired up so I started in with my Devastator Diaphragm call and at the same time hit my box call so it sounded like there were 2 or more hens over there. This ‘Tom’ gobbled but it was so windy, I couldn’t hear it, all I could do is see his head stretch out and shake. I quit calling for a few moments to see what he would do. At this point he was able to see my decoy but this ‘Tom’ was on the other side of the creek…..great, now I have to get him to cross that. If you know anything about turkey hunting, that’s one of the biggest things that will hang up a gobbler. So I started in again with my Dev Diaphragm call with some purs and yelps. That ‘Tom’ came out of strut, looked right at me and my decoy and flew across the creek!

Now all I’m thinking is if he crossed that creek, he’s coming in and hes a dead bird! So I adjusted myself before he walked up the creek side so I could make sure I could get the best shot possible. Well a few seconds later, here comes ol ‘Tom’ walking straight into my decoy then all the sudden he started veering off to my right. Well that’s OK in all but there are 3 evergreen trees in my way. So I gave a few purs and I could see him stop and fan up. Watching him, I noticed movement in the same area then out walks a bearded hen right in front of me headed straight to my decoy. Now I’m thinking ’shut up and let the live decoy do all the work’. And she did! Here comes ol ‘Tom’ right behind her in half strut 12 ft in front of me. I didn’t hesitate but made sure I had my bead right on his neck and pulled the trigger. Stone cold drop, just how I like it.

‘Tom’ had a 9 inch beard, weighed 23 lbs, and 3/4 inch spurs. He wasn’t the biggest tom I’ve ever shot, but hes a great bird to start off the season! Total hunting time: 30 minutes.

Curt-Team SnK