Close out in Nebraska

[hobbes]

This is my update on what has become an annual trip for us since this makes four years straight that we have traveled to Northwest Nebraska.   The first installment, Saturday, will be the longest because it had the most hunting.  It may take me a little while to get to all of this.  I've put this together during my lunch break during a hectic day at work.  I've also vowed to drastically decrease my internet time, but that is a later topic that I may see fit to cover. 
We started this trip with a total of three full days and one final morning to hunt.  I had been given feedback from three OG members just before leaving that had been in the area recently.    Two of the three reports were from areas that I have spent time in.  My 2009 NE bird came from one of the areas and we came really close on the final morning that same year in the second area.  I opted for the area I where I killed the 2009 bird because I knew the area better and planned to check out the other area that afternoon and possibly one of the following mornings.
Saturday (Day 1):
The first morning was a decent morning with overcast skies, cool temps, and the usual Nebraska wind.  We heard one bird to the west as soon as we parked the truck, so decided to move in that direction.  He gobbled very little and not more than once or twice from the ground.   It appeared the bird was on private land once we were in the area where we thought the gobbles had originated from.  We decided to hang around in the area a while to call and just listen for either him or any other birds within earshot.
 
I finally heard another bird gobble one time a long way off to the north of us.  We waited a while longer then decided to move that direction and try to get a response.  We had moved near a ½ mile calling occasionally when a hen started yelping just over the next rise at not much more than 80 yards without prompting.  We hurriedly set up hoping she may have a boyfriend.  My first yelp was answered with more yelping and an immediate gobble.  She was coming on a string and her boyfriend held up on their ridge to strut back and forth in the sunlight coming through the pines while drumming up a storm.  If you've never had the chance to watch a Merriam's strut to the call............you need to plan a trip out west.  He broke and started our way once she disappeared into the small drainage between us.  I knew she was our ticket to a bird over my shoulder and it looked like we were about to cash in that ticket.  The tom had been hidden in the depression for just a moment when the hen suddenly came into view at about 10 yards and slightly to our right once she topped the roll in the hill we were set up on.   I'm not sure if she saw Isaac make a slight shift to take the safety off when I told him to or if I flinched when she appeared, maybe both, but she didn't like what she saw and started up the hill to my right and slightly over the top.  I could see her head for quite a ways and hear the tom drumming as he followed, but he refused to peak over the top.  I doubt he knew what awaited him, but it wouldn't have been fun for him.  I was honestly tempted to just roll to my knees and shoot him because I knew he wasn't more than 25 to 30 yards from me and was strutting behind her making him very vulnerable.  It was one of those moments when you are almost sure you can get away with something, but know if it doesn't work out you just blew any later chances.  I opted for the later chance, but now wish I had just rolled up and shot the bird.  We sat and waited for a little while hoping the tom would come back but it never happened.
After that fun encounter we made our way north east and planned to circle a big loop back to the truck in search of a responsive bird.  We eventually heard another bird gobble, but again he was on private land.  I could picture what was going on with him because he wasn't making a peep then without warning started gobbling regularly while quickly moving.  In my mind he was a tom strutting for a hen that had decided to move shop and he was doing his best to keep up and gobble her back to him.  We waited on him for a while thinking that if my picture of what was happening was correct, the hen would lose him and he'd come looking for a new companion.  However, other than a few gobbles, that never panned out.  We continued on and finally found ourselves on our way back toward the truck.
I killed a bird at the top of this hill in 2009 and it's the location we could hear the moving bird from:  
We found these on our way back to the truck.  They were lying within 10 feet of one another, but we couldn't locate anything else close by. 
As we pointed ourselves back in the direction of the truck I jokingly said that I didn't really want us to kill a bird back that far anyway and would rather kill the bird closer to the truck so I didn't have to carry it so far.  As we approached an area that I wanted to call from we were discussing a bird that had hung up on the adjacent private land a couple years ago and how he wouldn't budge for nothing in the world.  I stopped and let go of some apparently very seductive yelps because a bird gobbled in what sounded like the exact area we were discussing about 300 yards away.  I commented something like "here we go again" as we moved to a good set up location.  Once we had set up I started in with a few more yelps and his response wasn't very encouraging.  He went silent for a few minutes and I mentioned that he could be coming our way, but honestly wasn't expecting it.  The next cluck or two from a box call that I don't use often was answered by a much closer gobble.  Within seconds, I could see the tom strutting into view, but still 50 yards across the fence that was 60 yards or so ahead of us.  He would gobble, strut, and then walk a few steps.  I told Isaac that he may hang up at the fence, but when he made it to the fence; he folded his wings, ducked his head, and slipped right under the bottom strand of wire.  I knew we were in business.  He continued forward with a short strut and a gobble or two.  We let him make it to about 30 yards or so and I unleashed Isaac.  There was a short amount of excitement that ensued, but when all was said and done, Isaac was smiling over our first bird of this trip and #4 for his season at 11 AM.
The tom can be seen lying ahead and slightly to right of center of the two trees. 
The bird where he went down w/ the fence in the background. 
More trophy photos that were taken   
The clouds were starting to roll in that evening as my youngest son, Boyd, and I left for an evening hunt.  The plan was to set up in the area the strutter following the hen had given us the slip and hope he would come in without any company.  However, I spotted a strutter with three hens on private land while driving to the area.  I"m quite certain taht this was the tom from the early morning that only gobbled a few times.  The tom was within 50 yards of public land, so we drove past, dropped into a ravine, and made our way toward them.  I eased up to take a peak once we were within 100 yards of the private land/public land border.  I spotted two of the hens well onto the public land in the next depression.  I was sure the tom couldn't be far behind, so Boyd and I set up.
I had been soft calling for approximately 10 minutes when a hen raised up out of the grass within 30 yards of us and directly ahead.  I immediately saw a fan rise up 50 yards away and slightly to the left.  Boyd was unable to see anything other than the hen because of the slight rise in the field.  I shifted Boyd toward the tom when the hen ducked down.  At this time the tom had made it to 40, maybe 42 yards, and was intently looking our way.  The three hens were down and feeding our way.  I felt sure the whole group would continue our way and give Boyd at least a 30 yard shot, his maximum range.  However, the tom started to drift, so I decided I better shoot.  One of the hens at 25 or 30 yards got directly in line with the tom just about the time I made this decision.  While waiting for her to move, the tom drifted to 50 yards or so and I didn't feel comfortable with that shot even if I have done it before.  After that, we tried to slip around on the tom in the ravine again, but he worked his way back onto private land preparing to roost for the evening.


The rain was starting to move in, but we managed to find a group of birds working their way back to public land from a big private field.  We quickly slipped ahead of them to set Boyd up for an ambush, but the group that showed up consisted of four hens and no toms.  Boyd was quite excited about our 10 yard encounter and being so close to a tom earlier, so I hope this made a good impression on him for future hunts.

[Dinger]

Way to go...glad to see you are starting your sons out right.  We too were up in Northwest NE but had to come home Sunday morning.  We got there Saturday afternoon.  We were NW of Crawford.  Didn't get into any birds that afternoon but roosted two that night.  Woke up to rain, rain and some more rain.  We left at 0900 and it took us an hour and a half to drive 17 miles back to the black top.  That weather stayed that way all day I learned.  Dang, I wish I could have stayed but we still need a paycheck now and then so we decided to git when the gittin' was good.  Next year!!!

[WyoHunter]

Congrats to you both on a nice bird! Great read and beautiful pics. That one with Isaac sitting by the pine with the gobbler's tail spread out is awesome!

[clarksvalley]

congrats to isaac on a beautiful bird,great story and pictures.

[socalturkeyman]

congrats to your boy hobbs,and i sure enjoy reading about you and your boys hunting trips.

[catdaddy]

Good, good stuff!!!

[savduck]

that is sweet. beautiful bird.

[OLE RASPY]

 

[spaightlabs]

Right on Isaac!!  Spectacular bird.

[njdevilsb]

Congrats all around.  Great story and what a beautiful turkey.

[hobbes]

Day 2



Boyd and I awoke with plans to give the tom from the evening before another chance.  What we found was that it had been raining through the night.  The rain had slowed to a drizzle, so we decided to drive to our parking spot and watch the weather.  If there is anything certain about this region of Nebraska, the "gravel" roads are 75% mud and are terrible when wet.  Some of them may be 95% mud, which means your 4x4 becomes a sled with no steering.  Anyway, we had to travel on one of the 75% roads, so we made it safely to our chosen location.  We decided to wait a while in the truck because we were 15 minutes early and the walk should be a short one unless we hear a bird farther away than last nights tom.  The rain started to pick up about the time we should have got out of the truck, so we gave it a few minutes.  The rain picked up more and set in as a steady soaking rain.  I would have tried to wait it out if I were alone, but an 8 yr old isn't suited for that kind of wait or that kind of hunting.  We drove the nasty roads back to the highway and back to the hotel for some more sleep.



Rain on our way back to the hotel




The rain backed off to tolerable levels by 9 or so, but we had to check out of the hotel by 11 to move to a cabin for the next couple days and the cabin wouldn't be ready before 1.  That eliminated the possiblity of hunting mid day.  Isaac and I went out during the late afternoon and hunted until about 7 pm.  Shooting hours went to a little after 8, but it was cloudy enough that it was getting dark quick.  We had planned to give the other area I had recent info for a chance, but the road conditions kept me closer to pavement.  On our way to our destination we drove right up on two toms and a hen in the road.  The area was surrounded by private land and the closest public was several hundred yards away and across a big creek.  We noted their location and kept on to our intended destination.  We did get one response from what sounded like two toms.  I don't know if they spotted us somehow or didn't have any interest in us, but they never made another peep.  They weren't especially close when they gobbled, but maybe we misjudged and moved into their sight and busted them without knowing it.



I sat on something similar to this last year while taking photos of a couple of birds.  It wasn't pretty!


A view of a small portion of the region




I caught a glimpse of something white that resembled the back end of a turkey from the truck on our way back in and decided to back up to check it out.  Sure enough, there was a tom in half strut and on public land.  We were able to determine that it was the two toms from the road and two hen working their way to roost.  I came back in 30 minutes and verified their roost location and made a plan for setting up on them in the morning.  Finally...........a couple of roosted birds to set up on.  We were hoping for a nice double after flydown, even if it was going to be raining.

[hobbes]

Day 3
Isaac and I were up early to allow us to move in close to the roosted birds without being detected.  The fog and humidity was so heavy that everything was wet and dripping.  Even with the cloud cover and the fog, it was lighter than I expected.  We made it to our planned set up and waited for the birds to wake up. 
We sat there 15 minutes before they started gobbling.  They gobbled for quite a while with one of them doing the majority of the gobbling.  I did a few tree yelps and imitated a fly down shortly after when it got to the time I thought they would fly down.  They gobbled at my fly down, so we had hope.  However, after another 30 minutes they still had not flown down.  The two hens finally started yelping and I had one of them upset with me for a little while.  They yelped off and on from the tree for another 15 minutes then I saw one bird fly down.  Isaac was sure he heard another bird or two fly down also.  Once they were on the ground...........silence.  We stuck around for another 45 minutes to an hour and never heard another peep from them, but did hear a bird behind us gobble a few times.  We decided to move toward the gobbling bird, but determined he was likely on private land.
We were soaking wet from the fog and knee deep grass, so we decided to hit the cabin to dry out some since it was so close by.  After an hour and a half break from the cold, cloudy, foggy, damp, drippy weather we decided to head out again.  We hadn't gone far when I decided to stop the truck in an area we had heard a bird gobble from the last two years.  The birds had previously gobbled from private land, but there was public land close by on the other side of the ridge if we decided to circle around.  Two years ago there was another hunter close by and last year it was the day after season, so we had never hunted the area.  A bird gobbled as soon as I stopped the truck and rolled the window down.  It gobbled several more times and sounded like it could be in someone's back yard.  I questioned if it was even a wild bird.
We decided it was a wild bird and that we would circle around behind the private property to see if he wanted to cross the ridge and play.  While circling we heard him gobble a couple times.  I began calling once we set up and he responded several times and even moved our way.  He quickly went silent, so we waited for quite a while.  We finally decided to move around where we could get closer.  We spotted two hens in the area he had gobbled from after moving.  We decided that he was likely close by to the hens and strutting.
We backed up far enough from the fence to hope to entice the hens and hopefully their suitor across it and into range.  We had not called for more than 10 minutes when a bird began clucking behind us.  It was obvious that the bird was close and wasn't too sure about something.  I decided to peek around because it didn't sound like the bird was going to hang around.  What I saw was a tom walking in circles at about 20 yards around to my left and almost directly behind me.  He definitely wasn't going to hang around.  I verified it was a tom and told Isaac I was going to kill him. 
I know some hunters will swear that you can't out draw a turkey.  Well I'm here to tell you that if the bird is in the open, your positioned right and time it right...........you can.......sometimes.  I've done it several times.  Only a few of them have been behind me, but a few of them have died the same as one in front.  I have seen some of the pathetic efforts on videos that look like a fat man trying to get out of a bean bag.  I also had nothing to lose because the bird was not planning to hang around.   However, and this is a big "however", if in your excitement you fail to actually point squarely at his head...........you'll miss if he's close.  I did just that.  I beat the turkey on the draw.  He saw me coming around, but had only managed a quickened step or two and I was completely around and pointed at the bird with him walking straight away.
I was so set aback by the fact that I didn't dish out the usual dirt nap with the first shot at a whole 24 yards that it took me a second to decide to shoot again.  By then the bird was cresting a small rise and his head was all I had to shoot at, but I promptly missed that shot at 30 yards as his head disappeared.  I couldn't believe it.  Even with the bird behind me, I had made it around and had more than enough time to easily kill the bird, but I had failed to actually settle the sights on the birds head.  I'm sure I never was down on the gun and shot well over his head with both shots. 
I was disgusted and wandering around in disbelief.  I had just been slapped with a huge slice of humble pie and I didn't care for the flavor............not one bit.  We walked the ridge behind us back and forth for an hour looking in and under every brush pile or thicket that he could have hid in if he had been wounded.  The lack of feathers was a good indication that I had missed a chip shot.  The only thing we managed to find was a lot of scratching and droppings.  Then we walked up on 8 or 10 turkeys that looked like a group of jakes, but I didn't get to see the beards on several of them.  For all I know, "my" bird was with the group.  Isaac didn't have a lot to say during the mishap.  I'm sure he was at a loss since he hadn't witnessed me miss a bird before.
Isaac shortly after my miss while attempting to get another response down the trail.

I never could determine if the missed tom was the bird that we had originally set up on.  It didn't really matter because we were done in this spot.  We drove back to the cabin again and I took a nap sulking in my own misery.  What I didn't' t realize is I was sleeping away the only 2 hours remaining in the day without rain because another round of storms rolled in and the skies opened again.  The final morning was calling for sunshine, so we tried to dry our gear and prepare for the morning hunt.
The storm that rolled in

[TRKYHTR]

Sounds like alot of fun Hobbes.I have noticed over the years that if you make a slow constant steady move on a turkey you will most likely get a shot. I bet Isaac was saying (under his breath), see Dad I ain't the only one that misses. lol. Nice hunt.

TRKYHTR

[hootn]

pic of the road looks like table road.

[hobbes]

Table what?  Never heard of it.