My First Turkey Hunt

In anticipation of the upcoming Ontario fall turkey hunt, I have re-posted an old story about my first turkey hunt.

“This is going to be easy.”, I said to myself…

I was just watching my university teacher put the last shell into his shotgun chamber while all around us we began to here numerous turkeys gobbling into the cold morning air. I grinned at my biology teacher who was pointing out where he thought the best call was coming from.

I had never turkey hunted before, and my teacher from an American university thought I might enjoy a turkey hunt in Virginia. At 5am we found ourselves packed into his small pic-up leaving my school and heading for his acreage out of town.

We crept low parallel to a tree line that that flanked a small stream. On the opposite side of the stream (from where we where stalking) was a tall 5′ bank. We were using the bank and the trees as cover as we moved toward the direction of the turkey’s regular call. I was thinking to myself that we were in an ideal situation with the bank as cover and the noisy stream would hide our steps. As we crawled along for what seemed like hours, my teacher crossed the stream and slowly lifted his head over the bank. He wanted to see if he could get a visual on our quarry. After a few moments he ducked back down and whispered, “There are 5 females on the edge of an upcoming field. I hear the male in the trees beside the females but I can’t see him.”

He reached into his pack and pulled out a wooden box and stick. I watched him move the stick along the inside of this box to replicate a similar call to the one we have been hearing all morning. It was obvious he had mastered what he was doing. After a few moments he put the call down and scanned above the bank. I was getting anxious because up to this point I have never seen a wild turkey and it was killing me to not see things from his vantage point. My teacher must have sensed my thoughts as he ducked down from above the bank. He said,” Take a look, but move slowly.”

Edging slowly up, my eyes scanned ahead to the field where the female turkeys were. Sure enough there was a group of them just standing/walking by the edge of the field. I assumed the male was still not there as I did not see a large fan one would expect. Crouching back below the bank I asked, “What now?”

He picked up the call again and asked me to watch if the male came out after a few calls. That’s what we did for nearly an hour. I would watch and he would call for few moments. Suddenly, I noticed a large black shape materialize from the forest edge. Then I saw a large tail feather unravel. The male was on the move! I ducked down and my teacher could tell from my excitement his plan had worked.

He handed me his shotgun and told me to slowly crawl along the bank another 40 yds. He would watch where we were and motion to me when to stand up for the best shot. This felt like an eternity and every muscle ached. I kept thinking that I would not be able to keep the gun steady when it was time. After about 10 minutes, I got the sign and slowly stood up. I no sooner got a bead on the gobbler when he blitzed back to the forest from where he had came. The females scattered with him. So much for easy! We tried for another hour to entice the male back out, but to no avail.

I was disappointed but not discouraged. We had a plan and it almost worked. We deepened a friendship. I got to hunt something new as turkeys are just now being re-introduced in our area. I keep waiting year after year for the go ahead to hunt turkey here in Huntsville. I know if I wait, they will come!

The Ontario MNR has posted the following 2008 Ontario turkey hunting regulations and and guidelines:

To hunt turkeys in Ontario you need to successfully complete the Ontario Wild Turkey Hunter Education Course. Listing of course dates and location can be found on the OFAH website.

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