What a way to start off the vacation in Tennessee! I ventured out before sunrise this morning to photograph turkeys. I planned to be on location before first light but had a couple of setbacks that put me on the scene right at sunrise - 7:19 a.m. Despite the initial issues, I was treated to an awesome display of puffed out feathers and gobbling.
I first started out with a pair of jakes strutting and gobbling near a trio of hens. Then a tom moved in on the territory. He chased the jakes around a little bit, but there wasn't a whole lot of action. Finally, the sun peeked over the top of the Smokey Mountains, and washed the field in golden sunlight. The turkeys' feathers were ablaze. A few minutes later I decided to start hitting my brand new Ghostmaker Calls pot call, and the birds responded right away. A few minutes after that, three boss toms, who I decided to call the Three Amigos, marched over a hill and right at me with full sunlight on them. I couldn't have asked for a better set up. All told, I had five toms, three jakes and six hens close within bow range for almost two hours. I filled up an 8gb card with stills and HD video, and I plan to go back tomorrow to get more.
The only thing that could've made this morning better was to be taking one of those Three Amigos home with me. Indiana turkey season opens on April 27, and now it's going to seems like an eternity until then.
