HUNTING HIGH-PRESSURED PUBLIC-LAND GOBBLERS
Proof of a Theory
 EDITOR'S
NOTE: Have you ever scouted for turkeys before the season
on public lands and heard plenty of toms talking to
the timber, but then when you've returned to those same
woods two weeks after turkey season opens, you don't
hear a sound? This week we'll look at the best ways
to hunt high-pressured, public-land gobblers, especially
the ones that become silent.
A few years ago I hunted in upstate New York with Chris
Kirby, president of Quaker Boy Calls in Orchard Park,
New
York. We heard three turkeys gobbling just over a hill
in an
open field skirted by a dense plum thicket. I crawled
into
the thicket and found a spot where I could take a shot
at any
gobblers that responded to Kirby's calling  and
walked down to
the edge of the field to find the hens. Kirby took a
stand
about 30 yards behind me on an old logging road. Every
time
he called, all three gobblers answered. In less than
10
minutes, I watched the three birds walk over a hump
in the
middle of the field. When the trio reached the edge
of the field, they gobbled so loudly and so much that
the sound almost deafened Kirby and me. I couldn't see
the gobblers, but I readied for the shot. Next, for
no reason that I could see, the turkeys became silent.
I waited and waited but saw no gobblers. Then I heard
the booming sound of drumming less than 20 yards from
me - inside the thicket.
"John, you must have lost your mind," I thought.
"There's no way those three turkeys are in this
thicket with you." Once again, I heard the unmistakable
sound of drumming. As I looked through the thicket behind
me, I spotted three pairs of turkey feet.  I
couldn't see the bodies or the heads
of the birds because of the very thick cover, but I
definitely recognized the feet as turkey feet. Although
I located a small opening about 10 feet from me where
I possibly could take a shot at the birds, I knew I'd
have to change my position to aim through that hole.
Since I couldn't see the turkeys, I hoped they couldn't
see me. I moved cautiously and readied for the shot.
When one longbeard stepped into that small hole in the
brush, I clearly saw his red and white head and his
9-inch beard. Putting the crosshairs of my scope at
the base of the turkey's neck, I squeezed the trigger.
When the Winchester Supreme High Velocity Turkey Load
hit the bird, he didn't even quiver. That's why some
time earlier I'd nicknamed this load the No Flop Turkey
Load.
"Did you get him, Bubba?" Kirby asked from
behind me. "Yeah, but he was really close to me,"
I explained. Kirby made his way into the thicket, found
the gobbler and said, "Where are you? I can't even
see you." I waved my hand not 10 yards from Kirby,
and he finally spotted me. "There's no way this
gobbler ever saw you," Kirby said, "although,
that gobbler was so close he could have stepped on you."
On our way out of the woods, Kirby  explained
what had
spooked the gobblers and sent them scurrying into the
thicket
with me. "As the three turkeys came over the hill
and moved
toward the edge of the thicket, a hawk flew overhead
and
screamed. The gobblers saw the hawk's shadow on the
ground,
and that's what made them run into the thicket. Once
they
got into the thicket they never gobbled. All they did
was
drum." If the shadow of a hawk can cause gobblers
to hide in a
thicket and become silent, then you don't have to have
a Ph.D. in turkey hunting to realize that the presence
of hunters in the woods will force them to do the same
thing.
TOMORROW: TECHNIQUES FOR HUNTING SILENT GOBBLERS
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