The magazines and the internet trolls make it sound so easy, but it’s a rare hunt that goes down simply and quickly.
Wild animals are never predictable, and wild turkeys never seem to do what they are supposed to do, according to those experts.
The internet is now full of “what if” hunting scenarios, and a recent one that caught my eye said, “A gobbler hangs up at 50 yards and you have tungsten shot. Do you shoot?”
Most of the answers said it was an easy shot with tungsten, and even possible with copper-coated lead, depending on shotgun gauge. Many hunters have switched from their heavy 12-gauge guns to “subgauges” like the 20, 28 or even .410.
Tungsten loads, which are about 60% more dense than lead, allow smaller shot sizes (as small as 9, but often a blend of size 5 to 9) to create a denser pattern that can kill far beyond 50 yards.
Little did I expect that two somewhat confused toms would come calling on me May 1 and create a few dilemmas as well as some fast action. In a perfect world with a rangefinder scope (yes, some hunters go that route) or perhaps an AI-assisted camera to calculate odds, we’d never mess up another shot. I’ve long since sold my pocket rangefinder as another gadget I didn’t want to carry, although I am seriously now thinking of using some stakes to create a few distance markers.
I was a few minutes late to the blind on that 35-degree, sunny Friday and hurried to put up my decoys.
From the time I left the SUV, I heard a gobbler calling. At 5:45 a.m., I saw him approaching from the north, just at the top of a large picked cornfield. Could this be a textbook hunt? Of course not.
He was with another bird, or possibly two. He strutted as I shot still photos and video into the rising sun, but I later realized it was actually at least two toms. He answered my box call and seemed to be coming.
I had the 20-gauge single shot ready, but then he disappeared into the woods to the west of my blind.
His calls continued, so I zipped down the back port window and kept watching. He finally went silent.
Roughly 45 minutes later, I saw three turkeys milling about in the cornfield near the road. It’s hard to tell if it was the same three birds that disappeared behind me but very possible. Turkeys don’t have many identifying marks like antlers or great size differences to tell them apart.
It soon became apparent two were toms and one was a hen. Once a tom gets with a hen, it’s usually tough to call the boys in for a shot. The hen walked close to the toms, but they seemed more intent on strutting with each other and ignoring the hen.
Perhaps getting frustrated that these two puffed-up gobblers weren’t interested in courtship, the hen made a beeline toward my decoys. It’s hard enough to call a tom, but it’s rare indeed to call in a hen. She set up camp in the grass just past my blind, perhaps 30 feet away. Now I had a live decoy. This is getting good.
I continued to call and the two toms continued to ignore me. They struck a path about 60 yards from my blind, headed north across the cornfield toward the area I’d first seen those early birds. With tungsten shot in my shotgun, I might have a chance.
When the two birds were directly across from the blind, I saw both had decent beards. I put the bead on the first tom’s neck and touched off. He shook a bit and then dashed off 50 yards to the left. The other bird stopped. At some point, I noticed the first bird had stopped and was acting hurt.
I left the blind with only the shell in the gun and walked briskly toward the bird. The second one trotted away. I saw the tom’s head was up, but it looked like at least one wing and leg were broken. Taking no chances that a turkey with one leg could outrun a fat guy with two, I took aim at 40 yards and put him down.
The adult tom was 20 pounds, 12 ounces on my Normark digital scale, with a 10-inch beard and impressive 1 3/8-inch spurs. I gave the dressed bird to my hunting buddy Scott Krebs, of Oshkosh, and we were back in the blind May 7 for more early morning fun. This time, the lone tom stayed out of gun range.
Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.
