Turkey Season approaches

In the last few years, I've taken up hunting for wild turkeys. I've never been real serious about it because I hunt very hard in the fall and winter here in Indiana for whitetail deer. By the time spring rolls around I've got duties at home and I'm usually quite busy with baseball and other sports. But last year I got the bug. I made a video of my friend Tom's hunt on opening day of the Indiana season. Tom's video is here.

I only had one day to be out in the field, so I didn't get the chance to do a hunt for myself. This year, I'm taking turkeys seriously. There are few experiences like being in the woods before first light and have birds gobbling all around you. Last fall during the archery deer season I would sit and listen to the birds talking back and forth all day, and this year I'll be recording the chatter.



To kick start my pursuits, I added a couple of tools to my arsenal for this season to try to get a gobbler to come within range. First, I ordered a custom-made friction call from Ed Jenkins of Ghostmaker Calls in Illinois. After reading about his callers and seeing photos on IndianaSportsman.com I had to have one. So, I ordered a curly ambrosia caller with a ceramic surface over glass. What a piece of art. The folks over at IS.com always said his calls look almost too nice to take hunting. I have to agree. But I will take mine out because right out of the box I could make it work. I'm new to using pot calls, but I'm feeling good about the sounds I can make with Ed's caller.



The second piece of gear I added was a new choke tube for my shotgun. I heard about Kicks choke tubes, and thought I'd give the Kicks Gobblin' Thunder a try. My initial pattern test suggests any turkey within range will be in grave danger.