Da Boys from Illa-noise - Illinois
Scott with his first spring gobbler with a bow!
Brian with his first Illinois spring turkey!
Hunters: Scott Wolfe & Brian Heitter
Cameramen: Brian Heitter & Scott Wolfe
After barely surviving the longest winter I can remember, Brian Heitter and I were determined to start the 2008 hunting season off with a “BANG”….(and a “TWANG”). Our plan was to film Brian taking his “first” turkey ever and for me to take my first spring gobbler with a bow.
Day 1 got off to a late start after “someone” decided to sleep in. Once this particular “someone” decided to get out of bed and make the drive to my house, we were off to a farm I had just gotten permission to hunt a few days earlier.
We already had an Ameristep blind set up on the edge of a food plot and wanted to be set up well before sunrise because we knew the birds would be roosting close by. We were a little late but able to get set up as birds continued gobbling all around us. It was very windy and COLD and it didn’t take long to realize that we had not dressed appropriately for the cold morning.
The only action for the first several hours was a pair of hens that chased each other around the food plot and a few hungry deer. Birds continued to gobble all around us but none would show themselves. The strong winds were getting stronger and the thought of a nice warm truck just a few hundred yards away was starting to sound good.
At 10:15 we heard two birds gobble and both sounded close (compared to the others we heard). About 15 minutes later I caught movement in front of us and spotted a nice long-beard entering the field….followed by a second. Neither showed any interest in our set up and continued in a direction away from us. Numerous attempts to lure them fell on deaf ear until I made a few soft purrs. The dominant bird immediately went into full strut and started closing the distance from 150 yards.
Fifteen minutes later….both birds were at 12 yards and the dominant bird was fixin’ to be introduced to a Beman MFX tipped with a Gobbler Getter. As soon as I came to full draw the second bird stepped directly behind the first. After a long stand-off, the second bird cleared and the first bird was well on his way to being a turkey dinner.
The next day was Mr. Sleepy’s turn. Brian and I were anxious to fill his tag and soon found ourselves again surrounded by gobbles in the distance. We were hunting a farm that I had chased turkeys on for the past five years and I knew exactly where we needed to go. As we headed towards our first set up, Brian spotted two trucks parked in the field. We approached the vehicles and empty gun cases told us that it was time to go to another farm. I was not going to turkey hunt this property with other hunters not knowing we were there. (Hunters that should not have been there in the first place)
As a full-time firefighter, there have been two instances where I got to see first hand what happens when a “hunter” gets mistaken for the “hunted”…..and I was not going to have any part of that.
Since we were a little disappointed about the interrupted start to our hunt…..we drove to town to get breakfast. (FYI….if you ever decided to buy breakfast for Brian, don’t tell him you’re gonna’ pay until after he orders hahaha….the waitress hard a hard time finding room for all of his plates)
We then headed to farm #2 for some runnin’ and gunnin’. After a lot of runnin’ and no gunnin’…..we decided to make a 20 mile drive to farm #3. Farm #3 is a great spot to hunt both deer and turkeys, but the layout requires a 3/4 mile walk to get to the good spots.
Once we reached the general area where we thought the birds would be….we were greeted by a gobble that was close enough to get us excited. As we started to cut the distance a bit, we heard something moving around in the brush ahead of us. We were caught in the open but held our ground as we investigated the noise. At first I thought we jumped a hen off the nest but quickly realized that whatever was making the noise was still there.
We changed our position slightly and spotted two jakes fighting just 30 yards ahead of us in some thick brush. For the next 20 minutes I filmed the fight as Brian slowly moved ahead of me to get into position for a crack at one of them if the shot presented itself. A shot opportunity was not looking good though because these two combatants were locked together with no sign of giving up. They were slowly getting closer and closer so we had our fingers crossed.
The two jakes finally fought their way into a small clearing and it didn’t take long for them to spot us. They separated but made the fatal mistake of hesitating before leaving the area. The TC Encore 20 gauge barked and in no time Brian was standing over his first turkey.
The excitement on Brian’s face and in his voice made it one of the best hunts I’ve ever been a part of!!!!
Scott Wolfe