I hunted wild turkeys twice so far during the early parts of the Delaware and New Jersey turkey hunting seasons.
I hunted turkeys in Sussex County on Delaware’s opening day April 12. I heard a few birds gobbling on the private property adjacent to my hunting spot, but I couldn’t call them in for shots.
I also hunted on the first Saturday segment of New Jersey’s turkey hunting season yesterday — and I must say — luck was on my side. After waking at 3:15 AM, leaving my house before 4:00 AM, and arriving at my hunting location at 4:45 AM only to find another hunter already there, I had to modify my plan a bit. Rather than walking to the spot I wanted to hunt, I used scouting experience from year’s past to choose a different location. Unbeknownst to be, I must have walked right under several turkeys as I moved to my new spot. My quiet entry didn’t disturb them.
About 20 minutes after setting up with my back against a tall oak, a bird gobbled behind me. Then two more gobbled in front of me. And another gobbled farther off to my left. The closer birds were all within 50 yards. It was 5:40 AM.
Not wanting to move much, I managed to get my mouth call from my pocket and place it in my mouth. I made a few soft yelps in response to the persistent gobbles, and I heard the turkeys start to fly down from their roosts at about 5:55 AM. I heard a bird gobble from the ground, so I slowly moved myself to face the direction of the sound. Within 5 minutes I saw a hen walking toward me. Several minutes later, I then saw a jake, another hen, and two more jakes walking directly toward me.
I waited to see if an old tom was with them, but I didn’t see one. The five birds were going to walk right into to me, so I was afraid I would spook all of them. I was forced to wait several minutes until the bigger, more dominant jake separated from the other birds. When he separated, I saw an opening through the underbrush, and I squeezed the trigger of my 11-87. The bird fell at 6:20 AM.
With my NJ Saturday tag filled, I will now focus on guiding my daughter. (Fingers crossed!)