Nine Tom’s Gobbling

Spring Turkey, 1997

My wife Annette and I left the house that morning headed for some "hot" spring turkey hunting and a little trout fishing. As we worked our way up I-10 just past Sunset Point we found a really nice heard of Pronghorn Antelope. We decided to try our stalking techniques and get some photo’s. Well we found out that we needed to work on our stalking techniques because we only got within 250 yards of the Antelope before they decided they’d had enough of the paparazzi and made a quick get away.

We continued on up the freeway enjoying the sites and the great weather. I was beginning to feel the anticipation of the upcoming hunt. The excitement of hunt was really eating at me for two reasons, 1- Annette had never been along with me on a spring turkey hunt and 2- I would rather hunt spring turkey than eat when I am hungry. We had just got out side of Camp Verde and the weather started to change. There was pretty good rain starting to come down but I told Annette not to worry these spring rains usually don’t last too long. Well I think the words " not too long" are relative to how long Mother Nature thinks how long "not too long" is. The weather stayed with us for the rest of the day. We got to where we were going and froze our posterior off setting up camp. The rain and sleet gave us a little break at around 5:30 that evening. Annette and I went off down the road to look at an area where I had found decent groups of toms roosted up in the past. The weather was cooperating with us up until the sun started to go down and then the wind picked up. I still got out and tried to locate some toms by using coyote howls. They could have been gobbling at me until their necks broke but I couldn’t have heard them. The wind blowing through trees sounded like an F-16 Fighter exhaust in after burner.

We awoke the next morning to howling winds, a turkey hunter’s worst nightmare. I went to an area where I have hunted with success in the past. We climbed to the top of a ridge, which was paralleled by an adjacent one just before sun up. This area was near one of my old haunts. I tried some soft tree yelps and got a good strong response. The next gobble sounded as if he was going away from me. We worked up the ridge and tried to get ahead him and set up. I let out with a succession of yelps and waited for a response. The next thing we heard was an old raspy hen sounding off followed by the tom gobbling. I stayed with them for as long as I could. The only thing I kept getting in return was the turkey gobbling and going further away with his hens. You know it didn’t matter how seductive or sweet I sounded he wasn’t going to stop and give up his brewed for me.

We then went to another location higher up the mountain where I had found turkey’s feeding in the past. Along about that time we got there the clouds moved in and the wind and rain started. We decided to head back to the truck for lunch and I told Annette if this weather subsides we would check out some oak thickets on the flats.

After lunch we went down to the flats and still hunted, scouting for sign as we wnet. We had been working our way through the thicket when we heard something in the brush ahead of us. I told Annette to get her camera ready. All of a sudden a very nice looking buck antelope appeared and feed towards us. After some photos the antelope left without him knowing we where even there. The rest of the day was uneventful so we headed back to camp to eat dinner before we went out for the evening to roost some birds.

The snow and rain really started to pick up during dinner so we decided to stay in camp. When we woke the next morning the wind still hadn’t died down so we drove to Williams to fish some of the reservoirs. The first lake we tried was Dogtown Lake. We no sooner got out lines wet when Annette hooked into the first of 12 trout. We stayed in Williams and fished for the remainder of the weekend before returning home and back to work.

I was able to come back and hunt for only one day before the season ended. Annette had to work so I went alone. I left our house at around 2:00 a.m. and hoped to be at the top of that where we had followed the Tom before sunup. I wasn’t going to make it as I neared my hunting area the sun was already coming up. I decided that the best thing to do was to stop the truck and see if there was anything talking.

No sooner than I got out of my truck I heard a gobble. You want to talk about getting really excited. I must have walked back and forth from the front to back 2 or 3 times before I got my composer. This tom really wanted to find a hen. He wouldn’t quick gobbling. I quickly walked down the opposite side of the ridge he was on and set up. Once I was settled I cut loose with a short sequence of " come here big boy yelps". He heard, responded and started to come my way. I kept my calling to a minimum. I was sure that he would be within sight range at any moment when all of sudden just off right side I heard something I didn’t want to hear. With the both of us making all that turkey talk we had called a hen right into my side pocket. When she got to within 12 to 18 inches from me she alerted with an alarm putt and cackle that shattered through the ridges. Needless to say I couldn’t help but jump just a little and I probably spooked that tom out of the country. Oh well that’s the way it goes.

Going back to road I heard another Tom gobble. I beat feet about a ½ mile down the road, moved up on top a ridge, let out a few yelps and got an immediate response. Now I thought that last tom was hot, this one was on fire. One more session of yelps and I could see not one but two toms working their way up the ridge to me. I never made another sound and waited for the toms to get within range when all of a sudden I caught a flash of movement. Those two toms where making so much noise they’d called a coyote in. Well, that old coyote made a mad dash at those turkeys and spooked em both right out of the county. I was a little upset to say the least and decided I would fix that coyote from messing up somebody else’s turkey hunt but the wind had changed and he thought I smelled funny. Well strike 2.

My stomach said it was time to eat so I headed back to truck for a snack. It was about 8:00 a.m. and I drove up the road a ways to a big basin. I started walking up an old forest service road and tried a few quite lost hen yelps and got a response. I walk towards the gobbler and yelped a few more times and this time the tom was closer. I got set up and kept talking back and forth to him. The tom continued to come closer and I kept expecting to see him. About that time he hung up and wouldn’t move. I then moved up a few yards and let off with some really aggressive cuts and clucks fully expecting him to close the gap. No, he turned and walked away form me but kept gobbling. Right then I knew what he wanted me to do. He expected me to meet him at his special strutting zone. Well I wasn’t going to sit on my butt and hope he would turn around. No I got right behind him and just yelped every now and then to let him know I was still there. As we worked our way up the mountain he would gobble back at me. As long as he kept gobbling I followed. I was just about to the top when I sat for a second and caught my breath and crawled towards a downed log for a peek. When I looked over the log I could not believe my eyes. There wasn’t just one tom there; there were NINE of them. Yes nine toms. I could not move, there was 4 toms to my left and 5 to my right. They were all about 60 yards away and facing my direction. I stayed put and waited for them to move on so I could get into a shooting position. About 10 minutes later they had all moved over the top of the ridge and I got into position. With just a couple of yelps all nine toms started coming back towards me and gobbling. With all that excitement the toms started to fight. They beat the you know what out of each other for about 5 minutes. I had let off with some really loud aggressive cuts and yelps to keep them going. After the fighting was done there was just one big gobbler still strutting. I then started some real soft purrs and yelps. The winner of the fight lost when he was at about 30 yards from the muzzle of my shotgun. The Remington 2x4 duplex shot really did the trick.

After I assured that the gobbler was done I sat with him and gave thanks. Reflecting back on what I had witnessed I was truly blessed with one of the most awesome acts of nature. Stuff like that is what makes me want to hunt spring gobblers instead of eat when I am hungry or sleep when I am tired. For those of you fortunate enough to hold a spring turkey tag here in our great state of Arizona, congratulations.

Good Luck and Best Wishes,

Louis Urquides,

Hunting Editor for AZOD

HUNTING@AZOD.COM