how would you handle this less than ideal scenario?

[hawglips]

Here's the setting. You're hunting a piece of property with a buddy who has never been turkey hunting. He's a good woodsman, and likes to still hunt deer on his feet with a bow. He kills one every now and again like that. He knows the woods.

The property you're own is land he grew up roaming around on, but he hasn't been back in years. So, he knows the basic lay, but not the current situation. Your job is to get him a turkey. You're not carrying a gun, and have never set foot on the place before. And you only have an early morning hunt. You have to be out of the woods by 8:00 or so. And this will be your only chance of the year to get him a turkey.

He briefs you on the land, and a creek that runs through it. And then you then decide where you want to be at first light to listen for gobbles. ("A")

So, you get into the woods to the predesignated listening post, and as you are finishing your paper work, you give an owl hoot, and hear a gobble. So, you call over your buddy, and listen to him gobble a couple more times before you decide how to approach him. You're standing just above a creek, and from that point, there's no way of knowing which side of the creek he's on. So, you ask your buddy which side he thinks he's on, and you let him decide. He says there is a beaver pond back there, but he's prettys sure the turkey is on the left side.

He says, go left, so we go left.

Well, the first problem is the turkey ends up actually being on the right side of the creek, and of course, right there at the beaver pond. ("T") And as you start approaching him, you hear a second bird gobling on that same side of the creek, but another couple hundreds yards farther away. ("T")

And the second problem is, you run into an 8 year old cutover. It's tight, and the going is slow.



And then as you get close ("B"), you realize just how serious the situation is. The turkey is directly across the beaver pond, and the beaver pond is long. Your friend has no idea how far to the left the beaver pond continues, and if you go back around, it'll be a long haul back through the cutover and then doubling back around on the other side. The beaver pond is about 50 yds across, and the turkey sounds like he's roosting about 20 yds on the other side in a loblolly pine.



Your buddy asks if you can call him across into the thick cut-over with us. And you mutter under your breath. So, with time slipping away, you ease down to the edge of the beaver pond to see if you can see the end of the pond to the left, and then make a decision on which way to go back around the pond to the other side.

When you get down there, you can't see the end of the pond, but you notice there is a beaver dam that would get you straight across to the others side. And the closest turkey is so close on the other side, you wonder if he might be able to see you already. So crossing the beaver pond on the dam would be very risky and hard to pull off. And The 2nd tom is still gobbling back there a couple hundred yards away.



You look at your watch, and realize you've got an hour and a half to hunt. It's almost fly-down time.

What would you do?

[Jaybird]

Time dictates you set up where the Beaver dam is in the closest available cover, and start calling. If you can cross it, he sure can, and has.

[gblack15]

Well since I don't know anything about that Beaver dam and whether it is safe to cross. I am backing out and working my way to the other side of the pond. Better to go home empty handed and dry than to drown or freeze in a beaver pond. If the dam is safe I am going to try and cross quietly and setup just on the other side of the pond.

[SnootSnapper]

Did the buddy initially know about the thick cutover? Hindsight is 20/20, but if he knew that initially, I would've avoided that side of the beaver pond from the start. The chances of the bird being on that side are slim in my opinion. Now that you've gone to the left though, I would cross the creek in the first available spot. I've been known to wade across a creek in the worst spot for a bird with less than adequate gear for the situation. Being that you only have an hour or so to hunt, sitting on a wet arse for a brief period would suck but wouldn't be so bad. Especially with a guy who wouldn't have a problem with toughing it out for a kill.

As far as the beaver dam is concerned... I avoid those like the plague. I've busted my arse on a couple of occasions trying to cross them. I also stepped on a 58" cottonmouth that was sunning on a dam once too. Wading the water would suit me much better than that.

BTW, how wide and deep is this creek?

[Shooter]

I would just backtrack around where you started, and get on the same side no matter how long it took.
Your 8:00 dead line would just have to be extended a little.
They will still be there by the time you get over, and will probably be together.

[hawglips]

BTW, how wide and deep is this creek?

The creek is easy to cross -- but the beaver pond is deep, wide, and who knows how long....

[drenalinld]

I'm busting tail back up to the creek crossing and over to the open hardwoods. Hopefully hear a gobble approaching so you can pin point him.

[SnootSnapper]

Hmmmm... It's fly down time so that makes it a little tougher. It might not be a bad idea to wait until they fly down to see which direction they go. The one closest to the pond might just fly across right in your laps. Or if they fly down a little further away, that would give you the freedom to haul butt back where you came from and try to cross. A few minutes of calling in a good spot would be better than an hour of calling in a bad spot IMO.

[el diablo]

I would say a quick prayer and go across beaver dam. It seems like time is the enemy. You have slim chance at closest bird by what you are describing, but should be in decent shape for bird number two.

[FullChoke]

With your time running out, I would go downstream of the beaver dam and find a place to cross there. Getting on the same side of the creek as the gobbling birds is Turkey 101. Setup in a suitable location between the two birds and sit next to each other at the same tree facing both ways. The idea of the hen (you) getting scooped up by the other bird is a great motivating factor in pulling both of them to you.

FC

[Reloader]

Back out and loop left, cross the creek, head back twds him, and set up in an openish area. I have killed many, many toms, by looping them and always felt it was much better to be further away when he flys out then to have spooked him. The situation you've mentioned, places you inbetween the two toms once you've made your move, so now you've opened yourself up to either tom.

I do the same when a tom is henned up and moving away. When hunting woods, turkeys often will not cover ground terribly fast, so you can keep a brisk pace and usually get in front of them fairly quickly.

[toasty]

I'd cross the beaver dam because it is there and looks like a fun thing to do. What is the worst that could happen, get wet. I'd try to set up on the first turkey and if that didn't work out, work on the second turkey. That is what I would do, but it would probably be a better idea to hustle and work back and move in between the two turkeys and set up and try to get 1 of the 2 to fly down. That would improve your odds of killing a turkey.

[pedro]

haul butt counterclockwise and get set up even with them and start working them. have him slip ahead of me , if he is that skillful, and hope i can call on to him

[FullChoke]

I'd cross the beaver dam because it is there and looks like a fun thing to do. What is the worst that could happen, get wet.

I don't know about your woods, but down here in Mississippi, we affectionately refer to beaver dams as "Reptile Petting Zoos." No thanks.

[gblack15]

I'd cross the beaver dam because it is there and looks like a fun thing to do. What is the worst that could happen, get wet.

I don't know about your woods, but down here in Mississippi, we affectionately refer to beaver dams as "Reptile Petting Zoos." No thanks.

AMEN to that

[hawglips]

It would have been interesting to try out all the suggestions and see what would have worked. But here's what we did.

***********************

I asked my buddy Karl, once again, how far the beaver pond went down to the left. He shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "This beaver pond is a LOT bigger than it used to be!"

The bird was right there on the other end of the beaver dam, and the second bird was still vocal about 200 yds farther away. The close bird gobbled again, and I got a good bead on where he was. He was a little farther off the other side of the pond than I thought. Maybe 40-50 yds. And the pond was about 50 yds across. And there was a pine tree situated right between the tom and us. So, I looked at Karl (he was wearing tennis shoes), and said, "let's be quiet as we can and cross here."

So we picked our way across it, (Karl was carrying the gun, wearing low-top tennis shoes, following me), and sure enough, he tripped and fell in up to his waist, luckily not getting the gun wet. About that time, the bird gobbled again. I couldn't believe Karl falling in didn't spook him. So, we kept going....

After we finally got to the edge of the pond, I got down on my hands and knees and crawled up the bank in the mud with him following me. There was a low wall of blackberries between us and the roosted gobbler, and I optimistically thought, "maybe he won't see us, and maybe he thought all the racket was just deer...." Karl was soaked, but he was sucking it up and was right behind me.

We crawled up to where a 3 foot opening in the blackberries allowed a shot in the direction the gobbler was roosting, so I stopped there ("C"), and motioned for Karl to sit slightly in front of me and to my right, facing the turkey.



There was no tree or anything to lean on, but we were right on top of the turkey already, and we had to make do. We had no chance at a shot anywhere except through that little 3 foot opening, or if the gobbler circled around through the blackberries, and came up the bank of the beaver pond we had just crawled down. Not good, but that's the best we could do at the moment. I really wanted to be about 10 yards ahead of us, set up against that nice oak tree, but there was no way I was going to try that foolishness at this stage in the game, and after we'd been so fortunate to get to this point. Then I realized that I had neglected to get Karl a vest with a cushion. So, he sat down bare-butt in the mud at the edge of the beaver pond. I told him to put on the gloves and facemask and get as comfortable as he could. As we was pulling up his face mask, the bird gobbled!! Hot dawg!! We weren't busted! Karl's eyes about jumped out of his head when the bird gobbled, and I could tell he was getting a rush from all this.

Once Karl was ready, I gave a soft yelp, and the bird busted loose at me. Dadgum he was CLOSE!!! So, I quietly explained to Karl that we would listen for him to fly down ( it would be impossible not to hear that at this distance) and then I'd start working him in earnest.

In the meantime, a third bird gobbled way off further down the creek/beaver pond, so I figured our chances were not too bad even if this one didn't want to work.

Within just a few minutes, we heard the bird flying down to our left, which put him further away from us than he was in the tree. He flew down onto a small ridge, and stayed up there gobbling at my calls for a while without moving, and then the unexpected happened -- a hen flew down from the ridge to our right, directly in front of us into the small bottom the tom had been roosted in. She immediately started yelping and clucking at us So, I switched gears and started talking to the hen. She kept it up furiously for about 3 minutes, then went silent. At this point, I cautioned Karl to look for a white head, and to be sure he didn't shoot the gray-headed hen. My mind raced as I was trying to get Karl as much information as I could think to give him, without confusing him.

After the hen shut up, I knew I had to try to keep her close and hopefully pull the tom down the ridge to us (after all, you know what "they" say about calling a tom downhill), rather than the hen going up to him, which I figured was the most likely scenario. So, I kept up a fairly steady stream of intermittent clucks and soft yelps as if I wanted the hen to come to me, but got no response from her in return. The last gobble we'd heard was now about 4 or 5 minutes ago, and I then thought I heard drumming. I whispered to Karl, "I think he's coming, so be looking for him. Remember to look for the white head, and be sure you don't shoot that hen!"

Karl was really breathing hard by now, and I was straining to see through the wall of briars.

Then all of a sudden, Karl said, "I see him!" My heart did a jump, and then he whispered, "WHITE head, right?" I said, "Yeah, white head!" And he said, "Yeah it's him..."

Then I saw him. He was moving from left to right, and was now completely visible through the 3 foot opening. He was in half strut, stopped, looked our way, then blew up into full strut, without pausing. I said to Karl, "Get your gun up when he get's behind that tree." So, Karl's gun went up, and the tom came out from behind the tree. He went into strut, and kept moving, getting into Karl's shooting lane. I said, "Shoot him right below the head, as soon as you can...." And Karl answered, "He's behind a tree!" "Shoot him as soon as you can!" I answered. And I began to fear Karl was going to blow this at the last minute. Then he asked, "You want me to shoot him now?!"

"SHOOT HIM!" I said!

BOOM!!!

The T98s were unleashed, and the tom went down, disappearing except for his fan. The hen was no more than 5 yards to the left trailing the tom, and flew off at the shot. The tom flapped three times, and then stillness reigned as the shot's echo died down.

I jumped up and ran to the tom, and Karl followed right behind me.

High fives and congratulations ensued, and Karl said, "This is a lot funner than deer hunting!!"

"Ain't that the truth," I answered.

We admired the nice two year old, took a few pictures on my cell phone, did the proper initiation blood rites, and headed for the camp. It was 6:50.

I picked up the bird, gave it to Karl, and said, "You shot him, so you carry him."

"Gladly!" he answered.

[toasty]

I'd cross the beaver dam because it is there and looks like a fun thing to do. What is the worst that could happen, get wet.

I don't know about your woods, but down here in Mississippi, we affectionately refer to beaver dams as "Reptile Petting Zoos." No thanks.

Funny, I have no fear of beaver ponds in my woods, working through that 8 year cut over is what would make me wary of rattlesnakes. Water for us in the rocky mountains is safety from snakes, it is the thick stuff that really gets me nervous.

Great post Hal, I can see I'm not the only one who would rather take a chance for some fast action vs slow it down and have patience. If I've got a hot bird that close, it would take a lot for me to move away from him, there would have to be no other choice before I would do it.

[tha bugman]

+1 I totally agree....once he is on the ground things and hopefully gobbling good things get a little better from the stand point of him not seeing you manuvering...using cover and terrain..plus getting a general idea of which direction he is heading.

Hmmmm... It's fly down time so that makes it a little tougher. It might not be a bad idea to wait until they fly down to see which direction they go. The one closest to the pond might just fly across right in your laps. Or if they fly down a little further away, that would give you the freedom to haul butt back where you came from and try to cross. A few minutes of calling in a good spot would be better than an hour of calling in a bad spot IMO.

[SnootSnapper]

Karl said, "This is a lot funner than deer hunting!!"

Amen to that! Karl is done. No more spring boredom for him!

[el diablo]

Great story Hal! I was like "shoot him Karl!" while I was reading. lol

[Hoobilly]

great story..

felt like I was there.

as a woodsman, getting wet sucks, then if you seal the deal, you dont remember being wet much

[camotruck]

How 'bout a picture of that mans first bird

[Turkey Talker]

Is it cold out? Id swim and take only gun over my head and water proof calls. Hide your gear under some brush and get across the water.

[Jaybird]

I can't believe you didn't get busted. He could have been roosted with visibility of the dam, if he was that close, but it sure worked out well. I see many bad things happening if I tried something like walking a Beaver dam.

[hawglips]

How 'bout a picture of that mans first bird

Here is Karl with his first bird!