Turkey 2012

First Name	Jeffrey
Last Name	Kimber
Result	Successful
Property Name	Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area
Hunt Date	4/25/2012 - 4/27/2012
Congratulations! You were selected to participate in a reserved Turkey Draw hunt on 4/25/2012 - 4/27/2012 at Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area. This is what happiness looks like, a successful Turkey hunt draw. Since Turkey hunting is hunting, scouting is required. Usually I hunt a property that I know quite well, and have extensive Turkey knowledge of, thanks to coyote hunting. This year I started putting in for a draw at a FWA because they have the sense of safety in mind and only allow hunters on the property until 1pm. The reason I mention that is because I have hunted it in the past, and had some idea of where to start but wanted more spots just in case. I did alot of walking and saw alot of sign. I marked many spots of interest and also saw some other stuff. Since I had some spots all I had to do now was wait for opening day.                                                               FINALLY OPENING DAY IS HERE I was up at 2:30am to eat, gather and load gear, drink some coffee and have some alone time. That all had to be done before I could make the hour long drive to the property check in. I arrived to see I was the 10th or 12th person in line waiting outside for the doors to open. Finally some lights came on and the door swung open and we started filing in. After I got checked in I quickly walked to my car and started off to the spot I had left the 2 strutters a couple weeks earlier. Now lets just say that everything looks different at night and when I came to the first cross road, I took the left. Then I made another left, when that should've been a right. I'm in the wrong spot, so I start to drive back to the main road when I get passed by a truck going the opposite way. I made it back out to the main road, after briefly looking at my map I thought I was back on track. When the next cross road came up I again took the left. I got down about 2 blocks and realized I was on the wrong road again. So I turned around and went back out to the main road, went down to the next road and made my left. This looked better, even though it was pitch black still I knew I was in the right area. I made it to the parking area I was looking for and low and behold that truck I passed was already parked there. Well there goes my #1 spot, so I started over to my #2 spot. I made it to the parking area, pulled in and started piling on the gear. I walked back about 200 yards and set up on a path that was at the end of the field and went back into the woods. When I was scouting I heard a turkey just gobbling it up back there. The sun started to come up and the turkeys were gobbling on roost, I could hear 4 different turkeys. I was feeling pretty optimistic for having to hunt my #2 spot. When the turkeys hit the ground I could hear them walking around back on the path around 50 yards from where I was. I could also hear some hens back there, yelping and purring so I yelped and purred back to them. They were getting closer and I was beginning to think this might happen. The reason I was calling to the hens is because many times they will drag a Tom in with them. They were yelping, then I yelped back, they yelped again and I cut back at them..... they just shut up! I would yelp and nothing, I just lost the hens. I waited for at least an hour before getting up and gathering my decoys. The hens had fallen silent and the toms stopped gobbling. Since I had spent almost the entire day in this spot I walked the path to figure out where the birds came from and where they went. Well I found out that there was like a big H cut back in the brush and that's the path the birds were on. I also figured out where they went, and that I could easily reach it from the other side of the section. So I walked all the way back out, got to the car and drove around to scout the other side. When I got to the path and started in I heard another hen. Same deal as before, she yelped then I yelped, she yelped then I yelped. She yelped and I cut, she shut down and I saw her run away across a perpendicular path. OK I thought NO MORE CUTTING, I decided to make this my theme for the rest of the hunt. So that was day 1, and with my newly acquired knowledge I felt confident in tomorrows spot. Same drill as the first day but I was 4th in line today. I got checked in and made it to the parking area at spot #2, packed back to the spot I found the day before and set up my decoys. When the sun started to rise and the forest started to wake up I heard my turkeys start gobbling. My hopes were dashed when I realized they were gobbling on the other side of the creek at least 150 yards away. I wasn't worried about the distance as being the main problem, but turkeys don't cross obstacles to get to hens very often. I gave it a couple hours and then decided to pack up my gear and go to the car. I headed around to the other side of the section where I could get on the birds. When I got there, there was a truck already in the parking area. Since it was getting on in the day I decided to go to a spot where I found a dozen or so dust baths. This was a spot that I call a sitting spot, I know the birds are around but don't have alot of confidence in the spot. So if I have a couple hours I will go set up my decoys and call every 15 or 20 minutes. This field was right next to the field that I saw the deer in while preseason scouting. On my way over to the field I spotted a gobbler strutting in a field all by himself. I parked my car on the first pull off I found, making sure to pull off to the side. I grabbed my gear and started out to try and set up without bumping the tom. I walked around giving the bird plenty of room. I started to set up on a field that was 2 fields away from where he was strutting. When I went out into the field to set up my decoys I looked up and saw him only half a field from me. I knew that if I could see him, he could easily see me so I made a low slow retreat. When I got back to the edge of the field I set up my half blind and started calling. I waited and called for at least 30 min without a response from the Tom. Since I couldn't see the bird I decided to get up and see if he left. I made my way down to a low spot in the field and crept over to the edge of the field and spotted the Tom 50 yards to my right. He was still strutting in the next field but he was strutting with the length of the field. I snuck back to where I had my blind set up and called and waited and schemed. I started to think that if this bird was strutting back and forth I would be able to get in front of him and low crawl in for a shot. So after another 30 mins of calling I implemented my plan. First thing to do was find the bird in the field, there was some long grass between him and me. When I finally saw him he was walking and strutting in the opposite direction, he was already 2 fields away from me. I figured he was following a hen, and my plan was shot. I got back to my gear picked it all up and started the long haul to get in front of the bird, again. Long story short I packed all the way around to the other side of the section only to loose the Tom. So I headed all the way back to my car, to move on to the field I was originally going to. As I got close to my car I noticed there was a black suv parked next to it. Then I saw the emblem, it was a Conservation Officer. He got out and we went through the usual hunter CO stuff, license, ext. He then informs me that I was parked in a no parking area and that he had to give me a ticket. My initial thought was, well you don't have to. After we chatted for a while longer and he gave me the ticket, I was on my way to my next spot. This is where the video picks up: You can see the full screen video better once camera angle #2 appears- the first video was taken with an I-Kam and then with a HD 12000 from sports-vue.        So to wrap this up, if you saw where the sandhills were in the scouting video, I shot "Ticket Tom" in that very same field. Yes, I nicknamed him "Ticket Tom" because I think he was the Tom that I was chasing the day before when I got my ticket. You know the Visa? commercial that goes: yada yada cost= $ and this cost= $ then you paid = $ getting the turkey= priceless You remember that commercial? Well trust me I can put a price tag on that Tom. All in all I still had an awesome 3 day hunt, and remember when they say to park in "designated parking" areas only, they mean it.