TURKEY
VIDEO/HUNTS
FOR 2019
BY
DEREK FOWLER
MARCH 23, 2019 VIDEO HUNT #1
LOCATION: BALDWIN COUNTY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: CHASE
AM HUNT IN 1 HEN AND 1 JAKE
Chase and I would hunt out club in Baldwin County on opening
day. We heard three birds gobbling
at daylight but nothing close enough to count on calling in. We called every 15 to 20 minutes and
eventually called in a hen and jake.
See the footage on my 2019 video.
MARCH
25, 2019 VIDEO HUNT #2
LOCATION:
TWIGGS COUNTY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: ALONE
AM HUNT 1 GOBBLER (BOWKILL)
I
would hunt my club in Twiggs County on this morning. Since it was early in the season I made
my decision to take the bow and try and get a bow will on video. I set up in a small hardwood draw with
an Avian hen at about 25 yards and 2 Avian jakes at 25 yards. At daylight I could hear a gobbler
across the road and other property.
It would be a longshot but I this was the only bird gobbling so I sat in
hopes of him crossing the road and coming in. About an hour later I thought I heard
another gobble but could determine the exact direction. He continued to gobble and was getting
closer. This was going to be my
best opportunity as the bird would come down the property line and then
hopefully come directly in after he saw the decoys. Once he got in sight he saw the decoys
and came in to the hen first. He
strutted around her for about 15 minutes before he finally came to the Avian
jakes. He jumped on top of one and
began pecking the other. His wings
were dropped some so I adjusted my aim a bit higher. The shot was a little forward but
penetrated the vitals and broke the large wing bone on the opposite side. He fluttered up on the shot but landed
and walked off as if nothing happened.
He expired about 30 yards. The gobbler weighed 20 lbs. 4 oz, had 1 1/8 and 1 inch spurs and a
10 inch beard. See the footage on my 2019 video.
MARCH
26, 2019 VIDEO HUNT #3
LOCATION:
BULLOCH COUNTY, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: ALLEN FREEMAN
AM HUNT 3 HENS
I hunted this morning with Allen
Freeman at his farm in Statesboro Georgia.
Allen had heard and seen birds on opening day running and gunning but
wasn’t able to close the deal so we decided to give it a try my style in
a blind with decoys in a food plot.
We heard a distant gobble at daylight but nothing after fly down. We called in three hens and one of the
hens had about a 6 inch beard. We
eventually tried a different location with no luck. See
the footage on my 2019 video.
MARCH
29, 2019 VIDEO HUNT #4
LOCATION:
WILKINSON COUNTY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: ALONE
PM HUNT 2 JAKES
I hunted some private land in
Wilkinson County this day. At
daylight I hear a total of 5 gobblers but they were all out of calling distance
and most were not on the property I was hunting. I figured if I sat long enough there
might be one come in range so I sat back for the wait. After about an hour a jake slipped in
from my right to the hen decoy. He
had no interest in going to the other jakes but he did become love struck with
the hen. He spent about 20 minutes
around my hen decoy crawling around her and on top as well. It was almost like he tried to show her
how to lay down in from but was just not getting any cooperation! It seems he was in a hurry and panic as
I could hear a gobbler in the distance.
I probably should have ran him off and continued calling but I was
enjoying the show too much. See the footage on my 2019 video.
APRIL
6 - 9, 2019 SOUTH DAKOTA
LOCATION:
STANDING ROCK INDIAN RESERVATION
PARTNER: KEITH SMITH, RICHARD GREEN
Keith Smith, Richie Green and myself would travel to
South Dakota to hunt the Standing Rock Indian Reservation for Merriams this
week. We traveled in to Bismarck ND
and made our way to McLaughlin SD to meet 3 friends from Ohio. They had driven and arrived a day
earlier. Their scouting would pay
off as they harvested a couple of nice Merriams on the first day of the
hunt. Our first day consisted of
mostly scouted in search of terrain that would hold turkeys. There were not many places that were
huntable but we did find sign in one place and saw a gobbler and about 12 hens
in another. Keith and I would pair
up and hunt for the next couple of day with little luck. There was still snow on the ground and this
was a little tough for a couple of Georgia boys! We met with an Indian guide who showed
us a few places to try. We saw 4
gobblers and planned our strategy
for the next day. We made our way
the next morning to a point between where we thought the gobblers had
roosted. As we gathered our gear
and made our way toward the draw we had seen the last gobblers, it began to
rain. We were a little skeptical at
being able to get out should it rain very much so we retrieved and tried to
find a setup on the flat between the two bottoms. Still very early we could barely see 100
yards and spotted something coming out way. It was all 4 gobblers we had seen the
previous day. We never had a chance of getting set up properly but decided it
may be our only chance of getting a Merriam so we sat down and readied our guns. The 4 gobblers were coming right at us
and then detoured around to come in a marginal distance for the 20 gauges we
were shooting. We decided they were
within range and shot but we only killed one of the gobblers. When we ranged
the shot it was 55 yards, just a bit too far. Although not the way we had wanted, Keith
had gotten his first Merriam. I
hunted the next day and heard several and saw one but never had one in for a
shot. Richie and the other friend
from Ohio also got their gobblers in the same area that the first two had been
taken. We basically had to get back
to our flight a bit early as another snow storm was approaching. It was a good hunt but we hope to find
more huntable areas on our next trip.
APRIL
16, 20198 VIDEO HUNT #5
LOCATION:
WILKINSON COUNTY
PARTNER: ALONE
AM HUNT 7 JAKES AND 4 GOBBLERS (GOBBLER KILL)
I
was glad to get back to Georgia where I could not see 20 miles and have some
terrain to set up in. I hunted some
private land in Wilkinson County on this morning. I heard 1 gobbler at daylight and he
wasn’t anywhere close to being callable. As before when I hunted this place I
decided to give it at least til noon before giving up. At about 11:15 I spotted the whole flock
coming into the food plot. As best
I could tell they were all gobblers. One was strutting and there were at least
3 more mature birds. The birds
either didn’t see my decoys or didn’t want anything to do with
them. With the toms all grouped up
it made me wonder what was going on.
I could only assume they were all subdominant and all the hens were
setting. As the birds made their
way around me just out of range they began to get farther. I soft called a bit to hopefully change
their mind. It did somewhat but
they still were at the extreme limit for my Benelli 20 gauge. I ranged them at 48 yards and decided to
try one. At this point I
couldn’t tell which one had been strutting so I decided to take the one
with the best beard since he had become separated a bit from the others. I made a good shot and when I reviewed
the video found I had shot the strutting gobbler which had a cut in one of his
tail feathers. The gobbler weighed 17 lbs. 5 oz, had 7/8 and 1 inch spurs and a
10 inch beard. See the footage on my 2018 video.
The
remainder of the season would become bittersweet as my Dad’s condition
worsened. He was bedridden and
hospitalized for one week before coming home with hospice. The cancer he had fought for nearly 12
years would finally become untreatable.
We comforted him as best we could until his passing on May 15,
ironically the last day of the Georgia turkey season. “The season and his journey was
over.” Gone but always remembered for the times we shared and all the
memories we had made. These
memories will hopefully live on through my videos. This season and video is dedicated to my
Dad – Norman Harold Fowler - “The Striker Man”
August 21, 1941
– May 15, 2019
THE END