MARCH 22, 2009 VIDEO HUNT #1
LOCATION: TWIGGS COUNTY, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: ALONE
CALLS USED: FOWER CUSTOM SLATE, 3 REED BATWING CUTTER
DESCRIPTION OF CALLS: YELPS, CUTTING, CLUCKING, PURRING
DESCRIPTION OF HUNT: AM HUNT CALLED IN/SEEN 2 GOBBLERS MISS ON VIDEO
On opening day evening I traveled to a field close to home to mostly scout for the next day. I couldn’t make it in the field because a Gobbler was strutting with several hens. I set up mostly to watch as I knew I couldn’t pull the gobbler away from the hens and didn’t feel I was where they wanted to be. The next morning I made my way back to the blind and set up in a blind I had made before the season. At daylight there was a gobble at about 200 yards. I called softly at first and soon there were numerous hens to compete with. I matched their calling and tried to out do them. Soon after the hens flew down, they subsided some and my calling seemed to excite the gobblers as there were now two gobbling. It wasn’t long before they were there. It appeared to be two year olds as I zoomed in on their legs to view their spurs. They were nervous at first as I had set out the Montana strutting silhouette decoy along with a couple of jakes and a couple of hens. They eventually made their way between me and the strutting decoy and strutted back and forth for over 15 minutes. I didn’t want to kill both birds and kept waiting for them to separate and give me a clean shot at the strutting gobbler. My center front was blocked with a bit too much camouflage so I wanted them either to the left or right side. I must have raised and lowered the gun 3 or 4 times and then finally decided to try to thread a shot through a small opening in front of me. As the bird moved from left to right my aim became more and more tilted and I apparently didn’t realize how close the gun barrel was to the oak tree in front of me. When I shot and the bird ran I didn’t know what happened. The follow up shots didn’t connect as the bird was still only about 15 yards and now moving. This wasn’t how I wanted to start the 2009 season, but all you can do is move on. I call it “catch and release” turkey hunting! See this hunt on my 2009 video: Turkey hunting with Derek Fowler.
MARCH 23, 2009 VIDEO HUNT #2
LOCATION: BALDWIN COUNTY, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: ALONE
CALLS USED: FOWER CUSTOM SLATE, TRUMPHET, 3 REED BATWING CUTTER
DESCRIPTION OF CALLS: CACKLING, YELPS, CUTTING, CLUCKING
DESCRIPTION OF HUNT: PM HUNT CALLED IN 1 GOBBLERS AND KILLED 1 – VIDEO
I traveled to my hunting club on the third day of the season and made my way to a small food plot near the camp house. I only set up 1 decoy but since it was the Floozie, I felt it would be sufficient. After calling a couple of series, I thought I heard a gobbler in the far distance. I found my trumphet and gave some loud yelps and in a few minutes I could tell the gobbler appeared to be on his way. He had to be at ½ to ¾ of a mile but seemed to be making his way. When he gobbled at about 200 yards I knew he was going to show. When he made it to the food plot on my left side he drew his line at about 50 yards. There had been some jakes fighting and hens calling to my right 150 or so yards away and it seemed to make the gobbler nervous. He finally made his decision to go back so I figured it was now or never. I found an opening and made the shot at about 48 yards. The bird weighed 18 pounds had 1 inch spurs and a 8 3/4 inch beard. See this hunt on my 2009 video: Turkey hunting with Derek Fowler.
APRIL 4, 2009 VIDEO HUNT #3
LOCATION: JASPER COUNTY, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: CHASE AND DAD
CALLS USED: FOWER CUSTOM SLATE, 3 REED BATWING CUTTER
DESCRIPTION OF CALLS: YELPING, CUTTING, CLUCKING AND PURRING
DESCRIPTION OF HUNT: AM HUNT CALLED/SEEN 3 GOBBLERS - VIDEO
My son and Dad made our way to the Cullum property on this morning. We set up a pop up blind for my Dad and son and I sat just outside the left side window. At initial light we hear 2 or 3 gobblers but they were not very close to our position. The first gobbler we saw came in from the hill side but farther down the right hand edge of the pasture. After an hour or so another gobbler slipped in to our left side. We had not seen him until he started running across the pasture. It didn’t seem that he was spooked, as he started strutting when he made it to the opposite side. Afterwards a hen came out and we attempted to call and keep her close hoping one of the gobblers would return. About this time a coyote came in but would not come in close enough for a shot before he picked up our scent. It was about 10:00 and we felt we should have been set up farther down the pasture edge so we moved. About 12:00 we saw another gobbler in the pasture across the creek at about 125 yards. We could not interest him in to coming in. These gobblers are stubborn with age and will not be called in like a 2 year old. See this hunt on my 2009 video: Turkey hunting with Derek Fowler.
APRIL 5, 2009 VIDEO HUNT #4
LOCATION: TWIGGS COUNTY, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: DAD
CALLS USED: FOWER CUSTOM SLATE, 3 REED BATWING CUTTER
DESCRIPTION OF CALLS: YELPING, CLUCKING, PURRING
DESCRIPTION OF HUNT: AM HUNT CALLED IN 1 HEN AND 1 GOBBLER – KILL AND VIDEO
Dad and I made our way to where I missed the bird on opening weekend. It had been almost two weeks and we felt we might could call up one of the birds I had missed. Instead of the field, we made our way to a power line where Dad had killed a bird in each of the previous two years. At light we heard a couple of gobblers with the closest being in front of us. He gobbled at our calling and came within a couple hundred yards before giving it up. Afterwards a hen came in and when she left we decided to make our way back out to the field. When we did we glassed the field good before entering and we could see across the field all the way to the paved road which was about 500 yards. There was a vehicle stopped and appeared to be glassing the front side of the field. We assumed he had been watching a turkey so we slipped up to the blind where I had missed the gobbler. There was a gobble which appeared to be several hundred yards at first so we set up in the blind. Upon my first and only series of calls he gobbled and appeared to be on his way. In no time the gobbler rounded the edge to our left. The gobbler got nervous when he heard or caught some movement but it was too late. Dad had already drew a bead on him and took the shot at about 30 yards. The bird weighed 20 ¼ pounds had 1 1/16” spurs and an 9 inch beard. See this hunt on my 2009 video: Turkey hunting with Derek Fowler.
APRIL 11, 2009 VIDEO HUNT #5
LOCATION: JASPER COUNTY, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: DAD
CALLS USED: FOWLER CUSTOM SLATE, 3 REED BATWING CUTTER
DESCRIPTION OF CALLS: YELPING, CUTTING, CLUCKING, PURRING
DESCRIPTION OF HUNT: AM HUNT - GOBBLER VIDEO
Dad and I returned to the Cullum property on this morning to do battle with the stubborn gobblers again. We called and saw a hen but the gobblers were not as vocal as the previous hunt. We were about to leave but again about 12:00 in the lower pasture the gobbler made his way across. We got his attention with some calling but could not bring him in. See this hunt on my 2009 video: Turkey hunting with Derek Fowler.
APRIL 12, 2009 VIDEO HUNT #6
LOCATION: LAURENS COUNTY, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: KEITH SMITH
CALLS USED: FOWLER CUSTOM SLATE, 3 REED BATWING CUTTER
DESCRIPTION OF CALLS: YELPING, CUTTING, CLUCKING, PURRING
DESCRIPTION OF HUNT: PM HUNT – GOBBLER VIDEO
On this afternoon Keith Smith and I would try a field where Keith had been seeing a couple of gobblers. We made it to the field well before the time the birds had been seen before and set up a popup blind. After almost two hours a gobble was finally heard. It sounded like it was behind us but then we saw a gobbler to our far left. Somehow the bird had slipped past us through the pines in front of us but when we called he started strutting and making his way toward us. The gobbler seemed to know his safe distance and would not come any closer than about 80 yards. He made his way almost 180 degrees around us and eventually through the woods to another field where another bird had gobbled. We later moved and saw both gobblers with several hens. See this hunt on my 2009 video: Turkey hunting with Derek Fowler.
APRIL 23, 2009 VIDEO HUNT #7
LOCATION: IOWA, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: MARK STEED
CALLS USED: FOWLER CUSTOM SLATE, 3 REED EXTREME HEN CUTTER
DESCRIPTION OF CALLS: CUTTING, YELPING, CLUCKING AND PURRING
DESCRIPTION OF HUNT: AM HUNT – CALLED UP KILLED GOBBLER - VIDEO
A good friend Mark Steed and I drew an Iowa license and made our way to some private land Mark had access to hunt. The first day we heard numerous birds but were unsuccessful at calling a gobbler in. The second morning found us located on an open hillside overlooking several hardwood draws. Before we were set up there were birds gobbling. Upon some soft tree calling a couple of birds were close enough to gobble so I got my wing out in preparation to do some flydown cackles. Before I could do a fly down and well before it was even time, Mark whispered that he could see a gobbler. I asked him if he was on the roost and he stated “no” that he was coming up the road. This was hard to believe because it was still so early. The bird made it to the Floozie decoy and started strutting. He had made it to this point and finally saw the jake decoy we had set up farther to the left. He came out of strut and seemed a little nervous until he checked out the decoy. At this point he started working his way toward us and was about 12 yards when Mark took the shot. Mark had an earlier encounter at a close gobbler where he had missed so on this shot he aimed much lower. He rolled the gobbler on the first shot and he got up and began running. Mark shot again and the bird kept running. When Mark said he only had two shells in the gun, I handed him my gun and he attempted a third shot which at this point was about 60 or 70 yards. Mark went to look for the bird but came back empty handed. He said he knew the bird was hit hard so we walked back down the road where he bird had went and saw him under a log. After we finished him off we went back to the blind to set up and continue hunting. In no time one of the earlier birds we had heard gobbled in front of us. He made his way to the opening edge, but was very timid possibly due to the noise we had previously made. He made his way up the edge before he came out in the opening. He was getting almost too far to the right for me to make a right handed shot but when he got nervous I hastedly attempted to shoot when I realized I didn’t have the safety off. By the time I took the safety off and took the shot the bird had moved even farther to the right which was by now was an awkward shot to say the least and I missed. Mark’s Gobbler weighed 23 pounds, had 1 1/16 inch spurs and a double beard 10 ½” and 6”. See this hunt on my 2009 video: Turkey hunting with Derek Fowler.
APRIL 24, 2009 VIDEO HUNT #8
LOCATION: IOWA, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: MARK STEED
CALLS USED: FOWLER CUSTOM SLATE, 3 REED EXTREME HEN CUTTER
DESCRIPTION OF CALLS: TREE YELPING, PURRING CLUCKING AND CUTTING
DESCRIPTION OF HUNT: AM HUNT – CALLED UP KILLED GOBBLER - VIDEO
The next day Mark and I made our way to a field where Mark had watched several birds go to roost the day before. We tried to get close to where the birds were roosted, but had to back out for fear the birds would hear us. As it turned out the setup was perfect. As the birds started gobbling we could see one of the birds in the tree. We called enough to get him to turn around on the limb and face our direction but when the gobbler flew down we knew he was on the opposite side of the creek. About a half hour later and without any gobble or warning one of the gobblers suddenly appeared. As he came out of the thick brush he saw the Floozie and began strutting. He got so worked up that he came out of strut and masturbated. He then went back in strut and made his way toward us. When he finally made it to the decoy he turned away and that is when I readied my gun. I waited until I could see his head and took the shot. The gobbler weighed 21 pounds had 3/4” spurs and a double beard 10 ½ inch and 7 inch. See this hunt on my 2009 video: Turkey hunting with Derek Fowler.
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