John's Journal...

Late-Season Gobbler Tactics

Ole Slick

Click to enlargeEditor’s Note: When you hunt turkeys during the late season, you’ll have to hunt the toughest gobblers on the property. But hopefully, you’ll have a history of those turkeys. You shoClick to enlargeuld know what they’ve done in the past, and what you can expect them to do in the future. You have to decide on a method you haven’t used in the past to take those turkeys. You’ll have to abandon what’s considered turkey wisdom and use off-the-wall tactics to hunt these tough toms. Let’s look at some tough toms I’ve hunted, the people I’ve hunted with, and how we’ve finally taken our birds.

On another day and another hunt, Joe Smith once again proved his wisdom when we took on Ole Slick, a turkey that would gobble good from the roost. However, when he flew down, he wouldn’t say a word. Each morning, he’d fly to a different green field. Every morning we hunted him, we’d set up on the edge of the green field he’d flown to the previous morning. But instead of flying to our green field, he’d fly to a different green field. On the fourth morning as we ate breakfast before daylight, Smith said, "I had a vision. The Good Lord told me where that turkey was going to fly to this morning from the roost. So, we’re going to that green field and take a stand out in the middle of it in a small clump of trees. In my vision, I saw you taking that gobbler, and the Good Lord gave me a song to sing to you after we get Ole Slick." I knew from Smith’s serious tone of voice that he wouldn’t tell a tale that involved the Creator unless he truly had had a vision. Click to enlarge

Click to enlargeBut this whole idea of knowing where we could find the gobbler on this fourth morning of the hunt seemed strange. When we parked the truck where we normally parked it and started walking, I asked Smith which field we would hunt that morning.
"We’re going to hunt the green field right above the truck," Smith instructed. I couldn’t believe my ears. I asked, "Joe, why are we going to hunt this field? That turkey hasn’t flown to this field any morning we’ve hunted him." "That’s right," Smith said, "That’s why we’re going to hunt this field. Every morning we’ve hunted this gobbler, he’s flown to a different field. This is the only field in his area that he hasn’t flown to from the roost. So, he has to fly to this field this morning." Somehow, this made sense to Smith, but as a skeptic, I said, "You mean we’re going to hunt a field that we’ve never hunted before, the gobbler has never flown to from the roost before, and we’ve never seen or heard this turkey in before? Is that right?" "That’s right," Smith answered. "This field is where my vision told me we should hunt."

Tomorrow: More with Ole Slick


Check back each day this week for more about "Late-Season Gobbler Tactics"

Day 1: The Ghostbuster
Day 2: Still Hunting the Ghostbuster
Day 3: The Squirrel-Tailed Gobbler
Day 4: Ole Slick
Day 5: More with Ole Slick

 

 

Entry 400, Day 4