I know this is technically a fishing blog, but those who know me know that I also have a passion for turkey hunting. As a licensed hunting guide, I pride myself on the fact that I do a lot of scouting prior to the start of turkey season. This season is no exception. I begin scouting occasionally three weeks before the youth season, which opens the weekend prior to the regular opener, and ramp up my efforts as we draw nearer to opening day. I typically scout every day during the week before the regular opener. Why don't I scout more often before that? Because, during the main breeding period, which is just prior to the hunting season, hens are on the move to their breeding grounds with toms almost always in tow. Since they are on the move, there is no way to effectively pattern them until they arrive at their breeding grounds. Once there, the hens are what I often refer to as anchors since they will hold a tom (or toms) in place for as long as three weeks. Not every spot will have good numbers of birds every year, but I have been hunting and guiding turkeys in New Hampshire long enough that I know of a handful of spots that are breeding grounds on an annual basis. One such spot paid off huge with nothing except mature toms hanging around.
I picked a couple of nice mature toms that I knew I wanted to harvest and scouted them intensely several days in a row. I like to tag out early due to all the guiding I do every season. This way I can focus all of my attention and excitement on my clients. I knew exactly when the first tom was appearing each day, and then when the second tom would appear, and decided I would be set up and waiting at least an hour before legal shooting time. The first tom was showing himself at 7am with a lone hen. The second would arrive around 8am with two hens in tow. I don't call much, but I had been making a few yelps every 20-30 minutes and, like clockwork, I heard a gobble as the first tom entered the field at 7:05am. I made three yelps on my Finger Lakes Custom Calls copper surface pot call and within seconds I could hear a tom spitting beside my blind. He walked right into my decoy setup which was only 7 yards from my blind. I took careful aim and squeezed the trigger, only to watch him fly away unscathed. I couldn't believe I missed. I know the pattern is very tight at that distance, but I still couldn't believe I missed.
The shotgun I use is a Remington 11-87 Premier that I inherited from my father when he passed away from dementia. I have had several problems over the past few years that I thought was bad ammo or me rushing my shots, but something about that shot seemed off, so I decided to take the shotgun apart and inspect it thoroughly. To my surprise there were five missing (and crucial) parts. The extractor, plunger, and spring were all missing from the breech bolt, and the barrel seal and gas piston were also missing. I scrounged up the missing parts, got the gun cleaned and put back together, and headed back out the next morning to see if I could somehow convince the same bird back out into that field for one more go around, and my chance at redemption. Check back in a few days for the rest of the story in part two.
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