Dwayne and I entered the pastures slowly as we scanned the edges for a turkey. Several deer were in the pasture already and it was still 3 hours before dark. As we approached closer to the entrance to the pasture we wanted to hunt, Dwayne spotted a turkey on the far side. It was a strutting tom and we didn't know how we would get set up. We eased across the creek to try to set up on the edge of the pasture putting a small strip of trees between him and us. We should have figured he was spooked when the deer ran off, be we set up to call anyway. After about an hour, we heard a gobble and then Dwayne spotted a gobbler coming down off the hillside into the pasture. Yes down the hillside. This was great, surely if he would come down the hill he would come across the pasture to our setup. About that time another Dwayne spotted a second gobbler coming down the hillside about a hundred yards from the first. Both birds entered the pasture and began strutting. The first bird began coming our way in a dead run. Then, something happened, he must have seen something he didn't like, because he stopped and made a 90 degree turn and ran away. The other bird followed suit and we sat back in frustration not sure as to why the birds had spooked. We returned the next morning but the birds were too far to call in before we had to go to work

I dropped by the hunting club on my way to work on this morning and had called for about an hour and had all but given up. I packed the camcorder and all my gear and was about to retrieve the decoys when I thought about cutting one last time. I stood up out of the blind and cutt sharply a few times and a bird gobbled about 4-500 yards across the bottom near the other food plot. I thought for a second about relocating, but when I called again, they sounded very interested, so I sat down and setup again. As soon as I set up I called again and they had cut the distance in half. I immediately moved two pine limbs to block the entrance to my blind to prevent the birds from seeing me. As they approached I could see a couple of birds and then four. There was a small opening between them and me which I had hoped they would not come through since they would have to pass within 4 or 5 yards of me. I had rather they work around either end. Well, they didn't, they came right through the opening and passed within about 4 yards of me. I was petrified until they all got past and then I moved the camera to get the birds on video. I watched and captured video of the birds for about 5 minutes. I decided to shoot when they birds had moved farther to the right unsure that they would come back in better view. As I shot, the dominant bird dropped and the second mature gobbler ran. I quickly missed him the next two shots reloaded and was able to take him too with a fourth shot after he came back to the first gobbler. I estimated the birds to weigh 18 and 16 lbs. Both birds had 1 1/8 inch spurs. The larger bird had a double beard – one 9 inch and one 5 ½ inch, and the other 9 ½ inch. This was a good start to my 2002 season. I could now settle down and bow hunt a little with more ease.

Dad and I hunted close to home on Easter morning so we could get home in time to attend church services. We set up early in the same spot as we had last season. The grain had again grown almost too high to hunt. We would not be able to cover but a small spot directly in front of us. At first light we heard a gobble far in the distance. About an hour later we heard another gobble in a different direction, and it was too a long way. I cutt extra loud and yelped a few beckoning yelps. Soon, the latter gobbler had started moving toward us. Once he was within about 100 yards I quit calling. He would have to come through a brush clear-cut before he would get into the food plot. Hopefully he would come in and see the decoys and take his attention off of us. I was watching toward the direction I had heard the drumming when all of a sudden, he popped his head up about 25 yards and was looking directly at us. He became rather spooked and left. During this time a third bird had made his way to the plot from directly in front of us. I could too hear him drumming, but could not see him. The birds were staying on the edge of the grain, hesitant to move into the high wet grain. After what seemed like eternity of motionless watching, I heard a gobble and it was directly behind us. The gobbler had made his way around the grain to approach us. I turned slowly and could see a full fan strutting. Not sure he would come in or not, I felt the urge to give him some clucks and purrs. I slowly eased back around and purred and clucked on my slate. Not long after this I heard a couple of birds fighting. As I eased back around, the gobbler had moved farther off and two more birds were tangling necks! While this was going on 3 more birds was in a dead run toward the fight from the direction that the first bird had gone. This was impossible, I couldn't keep up with the birds. The setup was just not good, all the birds were staying behind us on the edge of the clear-cut. A few minutes later dad had motioned that there were two in front of us. I watched and captured video of two more jakes coming in to the decoys and then leaving. I cutt a couple of times afterward to no avail. We had to leave, but would have to give some serious thought to a different setup before our next hunt there.

After hearing about 6 gobblers all quite a distance away, I finally saw two cross the open pasture in front of me. They gobbled eagerly, but wanted nothing to do with me. Instead, they were heading to the upper end of the pasture to join about 8 hens that had entered the pasture. They left the pasture and headed up a power line and that pretty much ended any kill on video hopes. I packed the camera up soon after and made my way out. I decided to take a look at the power line to see if it was open enough to video and hunt. I was still wondering where the gobblers and hens were. I slipped along the edge of the pasture and when I approached the power line it was high in broom sage with the exception of a food plot planted along the center. I made my way past the end and cutt a few times to see if they'd answer. And to my surprise, they did. I hastily eased within sight of the grain food plot and sat down at the nearest tree. I yelped a few times and clucked on my slate and immediately saw the hen coming my way. The two gobblers I had previously video'd were trailing her steadily. They came past the point I had planned to shoot but at close range, I didn't think I'd have any problem penetrating the broom sage that was now between them and me. I picked the strutting gobbler assuming he was the dominant bird, and took a shot. He dropped instantly and the other bird went only a short distance and began looking back. Although it appeared that he had the longer beard, I passed on him with the hopes of calling him in on another day. My gobbler weighed about 18 pounds, had 1 1/16 inch spurs and a 9 ½ inch beard.

On this morning I set up along the edge of a pasture where I had seen a couple of nice gobblers the week before. As daylight approached the two birds gobbled just as I expected about 3-4 hundred yards in front of me across the pasture. They didn't gobble as much as they had on the previous hunt and when I ran the series of tree yelps and cackles, they hushed completely. Seemed they may have gotten wise to this routine. At any rate, as soon as they had flown down, they apparently went the other way toward the pecan grove. After a while longer I decided there was no use to stay any longer, so I began to get my things together to leave and this was when I spotted the hen which was coming over the hill. I sat back down and began videoing. The hen was soon joined by a couple of jakes but the hen was disinterested in my calling. The jakes proceeded to check my calling and decoys out. I thought this would be good practice to see if I could ready for a shot. Although I had no intention of shooting, the jakes never presented a position that would allow me to draw the bow. The video would was a bit unique with the jakes against the skyline in the background.

A good friend at work had asked me if I would be interested in guiding his friend from Arizona for spring turkey. I agreed and Joe Keil and I met on this day and what better place to start than on the Cullum farm. We decided to make a mid day and evening hunt to start things off so we could develop our game plan in the daylight hours. We arrived at the farm at about 12:00. My intentions were to set up at the near side of the pastures and creek in case the birds were already in the pasture. We had almost made it to the setup when we spooked a couple of birds in the hardwood behind the blind I had previously made. The birds appeared to be jakes. We set up anyway and began calling. After about an hour, we had heard and seen nothing else so we decided to proceed with caution to the pasture. In approaching the pasture we managed to see a gobbler's fan just over the rise of the hillside. We managed to back up and circle into position before getting spotted. On our way, we apparently made enough noise to cause three jakes to think we were hens and come toward us to check us out. We let them pass and continued to get set up. Before I could put out the decoys, we spotted a hen and had to wait for her to feed over the hill. Finally I was able to set the decoys out and we settled down and began calling. After about an hour a bird gobbled directly in front of us. Not sure if this was the same bird we had seen strutting or not, but when he arrived, he had a partner. The bird strutted and they both would gobble, but neither would come closer than about 65 – 70 yards. Just too far for a shot. The birds finally wandered off but continued to gobble for a while. We sat back in disbelief that there was nothing we could have done to make the birds come 10 or 15 more yards in. After about 30 minutes of calling including gobbling and cutting, I spotted the 3 jakes we had seen on our way to the blind coming around the corner. I asked Joe if he wanted a Jake and he agreed that the first bird didn't matter, so he prepared for a shot. As the birds approached the decoys, they became nervous and would not quite clear the brush in front of Joe for a clear shot. The birds started meandering away and Joe was finally able to get a shot, but the birds were a little past 30 yards, which was apparently a little too far for the 12 Gauge chambering 2 ¾ inch #4's. Again, we sat in disbelief as the evening which had started and had become so productful to end so fruitless. A hen came in for a photo shoot before we left and we called it a day hoping to return on Saturday to do battle again.

A good friend had invited us to hunt his hot spot in hopes of getting Joe an eastern bird. We crossed the tall wheat field before light and made our way to the pasture that my Dad had previously hunted. He had an idea of where we needed to set up and I agreed it should work fine for the camera. At first light the woods were echoing with gobblers. There must have been 5 or 6 all within working distance of the field. A hen was the first to show as she pitched down from the roost at the far corner of the pasture. She had made it about half way across the pasture and across from us when the first gobbler entered the near side corner. As soon as he entered the pasture he began strutting. After about 10 minutes another gobbler entered the pasture and he too was strutting. Two nice gobblers were strutting in front of us. This would be a synch, right? Wrong! The birds would never come any closer than about 70 yards. They stayed in the middle of the pasture and made their way all the way from one end to the other and out the opposite end with the hen in the lead. Joe was starting to feel a little left out. Four gobblers in two days and none would present a shot. Dad had to leave for work, but Joe and I stayed on. We relocated closer to the corner that the birds were coming from in hopes that the other gobblers might come the same way. Well, the next gobbler entered the pasture from across in front of us. Four hens entered one at a time and he soon made his way to the center where he would strut and gobble for over 3 hours. He too managed to come to within about 70 yards, but not close enough for a shot. Boy, this Georgia turkey hunting was for the birds! Joe was thinking “If I only had my muzzle loader”!

This morning would make for some very interesting video. The only birds to show were two jakes that came in running to our decoy setup. One of the jakes circled Dad's jake decoy and would continue to flog him but could not knock him down. The Lynch inflatable decoy just would not go down and when the Jake finally pierced a hole in the tail, he started to deflate a little. Finally the Jake bit the decoy in the head and was determined to hold on until the decoy died! He went round and round for a couple of minutes until Dad decided he did not want his decoy torn up any more. At first he tossed a couple of sticks toward the birds. The second bird began to wander off, but the first bird was too much into the fight to leave. Dad finally had to get up out of the blind and only then after taking a couple of steps toward the bird did the bird finally decide to leave. Dad reset the decoy, but the damage was done. After about 15 minutes the decoy had deflated again. Some excellent video though!

Since Dad and Chase had not yet killed a turkey I decided our best bet was to revisit the Cullum Farm and get their seasons in order. To begin with there were about 3 birds gobbling that seemed to be in calling distance. The two birds in front seemed interested, but eventually faded off in the bottom in front of us. Two or three more birds made their way from our right toward the creek bottom in front of us also but never showed. These birds sounded like jakes though. We heard another bird to our back left and this bird eventually showed but was about 125 yards. He seemed interested, but just would not leave the ridge he was working down in the middle of the pasture. He finally left in the direction of the creek bottom. We did manage to call a hen up at point blank range but the gobblers had their pattern worked out and this we would have to remember even if it meant leaving the camera at home.

Florella Crouch had decided it was time for her to try her turn at turkey hunting. She thought it would be something to really be proud of if she could kill her first turkey with the bow so she set out to do just that. At first daylight we heard a couple of birds gobbling in the distance. We had finally finished setting up and I started scanning the pasture with my binoculars. At my first look to the far right end of the pasture to my surprise, a gobbler was already down and strutting. Boy, this was early! It wasn't even light good and this bird was going to commit suicide! I called softly and the bird appeared interested but would not budge. He apparently was with a hen we had not seen. Finally the hen made her way and so did the gobbler. This was going to be it I thought as the hen finally came across in front of us. The gobbler would surely follow, right? Nope, the hen would not proceed past us and although the gobbler was within 20 yards was not clear for Florella to shoot. The hen made her way back like she had come and the gobbler just followed. As he made his way far enough not to see me, I picked my slate up and began calling again. Three other birds had moved closer by this time and were gobbling to our left front. They seemed to be very interested and we finally saw them………all nice long beards. They crossed in front of us just out of shotgun range and made their way toward the hen that had helped me with the calling. At their sight the other gobbler fled as if he had been in their company before and did not wish to be again. The birds gobbled and put on an excellent show strutting as they made their way back across the pasture. By this time Florella was ready for a shotgun. It was going to be really tough to draw a bow with all these eyes looking. This was definitely a hunt to get your heart pounding and to see how tough it can be. Maybe we'll take the shotgun next time!

Our trip this year would take us to O'Neil Nebraska and Melvern Kansas. Greg Earls booked a hunt for us with Kevin Hennecke and Hennecke hunts. We took a flight in the Kansas City Missouri and a rental from there. This would make our travel back a shorter one from Melvern Kansas. We arrived in O'Neil and the first day went to the rain. We didn't make a hunt. On the second day we heard a couple of Gobblers but were not able to call anything up. It rained off and on most of that day as well. We did work a couple of birds on the next day but the birds circled around us and came within shooting distance but we were unable to get any video or take a shot. The next day we had roosted a couple of birds and made our way very early across the two creeks and pasture to a position that should allow us to move again if we had too. The bird gobbled and we made a setup which we though would be acceptable. The bird gobbled on the roost for over an hour and finally made his way around the hillside and never came in sight. We relocated after watching four gobblers at about half a mile strutting hoping we could get close enough to call them. We set up a couple of times and eventually saw 7 gobblers with most of them strutting at several times. We thought we had them coming but several hens took them away. Boy, you would think we were back in Georgia. These birds were tougher than you think they should be. We roosted a couple of birds that evening and the next morning we awoke to rain. We decided that this should not stop us since our time was running out. I had planned to go to the bird on the water hole, but after awaking to rain, I decided the pasture where we had seen all the birds the day before would be better. Greg went to the water hole and called the bird right end. It was a nice long beard with 1 ¼ inch spurs. We had several birds gobbling, but nothing ever showed but a couple of hens. We decided to try it one more morning before going to Kansas. It was raining when we got up and rained most of the morning. I heard a couple of birds but only 3 hens came in sight. We left before lunch for Kansas. We arrived at dusk at the ranch we had hunted the previous year. We didn't arrive early enough to roost a bird but I showed Greg and My Dad where we would start out the next morning. The next morning we set up and heard 3 or 4 gobbling. Eventually we saw one nice long beard but he crossed the small pasture appearingly with no intent to come our way. Three jakes also came by and a coyote but nothing in range to shoot. In the evening we split up and no one had very much luck. The next morning we went back to the same location and also heard three gobblers but didn't call anything up. Greg had rendezvoused with several in a corn field the previous day and also that morning. He left at lunch to try another spot and was lucky enough to call up and kill a nice bird weighing 24 pounds with over inch spurs. I stuck it out until 2 with Dad then left to go to the corn field Greg had been hunting. I had completed setting up about 3:00 and immediately saw a gobbler at about 300 yards coming my way. I knew the birds had been very call shy and wasn't going to call until I had to otherwise I would do a little soft calling. Once the bird was about 150 yards he began to go away so I made a few clucks and purrs and soft yelps. He turned and came to within about 70 yards and went back into the woods to my left. “Well” I thought, it was still early, I would sit and wait for him to come back out. After a little while I saw a hen across the field about a couple hundred yards. Farther down there were two jakes and farther still there was a mature bird. I called softly and all the birds left. These birds just didn't like the Georgia tone! I decided then that I needed to move and try and get into a position that would draw the birds nearer to me. I flushed 2 or 3 birds along the way and eventually relocated in the same place as I was. I hadn't been there more than 5 minutes when the first bird came back out. He headed across the field so I again was not going to call unless I had too. About this time a dead tree fell behind me. Boy, this was not my day. The gobbler just starred for about 2 or 3 minutes. I didn't want to call now especially, but when he started to go away, I did. When I did, he left as if he were under attack! I had just about had enough by this time and was about ready to leave when a hen came out. I called softly to her and she too left. I scanned the field and a jake was running across, almost toward me. When I clucked to him he stopped and starred as though he didn't know which way to run. He eventually ran away from me towards the direction of the hen. That was it! I had been abused enough. I wasn't going to take any more……..right? Well as I stood up and made a few steps to get my decoy, I noticed another bird on the other end of the field. It was the other gobbler and he was coming my way. I thought this time I could sit without calling, but when he appeared to be going away, I decided to try it again. MISTAKE! He didn't like it and also picked up the pace. I figured what the heck, I gobbled at him to either change his mind or make him pick up the pace even more. He left almost flying! What was it with these Kansas birds? I left and had lost all confidence in turkey hunting. The next day I rendezvoused with a couple in another area and Dad and Greg went back over to have a shot at the spooky birds. To make a long story short, Dad had more activity just like I did the day before, but managed to kill one of the birds. The bird was very nice with 1 ¼ inch spurs and weighed over 23 pounds. I was about ready to get back to Georgia and start guiding again! I thought, however, while they took care of the bird and packing, that I'd try it one more time. I figured I'd at least see a bird if I went back to the corn field, so I headed out. Greg and Dad had spotted a couple of birds on their way out and came back to tell me. I decided a bird anywhere else was better than the ones that had abuse me, so I went. I set up a couple of times below where they said they had seen the birds but nothing ever showed, so I eased up in the pasture where my Dad and I had started the first morning. I had been there about 30 minutes and had made my mind up that I was wasting my time. I was ready and when they called on the radio, I would call it quits. I was in the last few minutes of the hunt when I looked up and low and behold there he was coming straight for me. A nice long beard and he was in range. I shot and ended my previous misery. The bird wasn't as big as the others, but appeared to be colored more of a Rio than the others. All in all another good trip!