My New Hampshire Spring Turkey Hunt - Part One

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.

First Kayak Fishing Trip of 2015

 Where to fish for the first trip of every year is always a tough decision. I like to make it count and while it always feels good just to get out an dust off the cobwebs, it feels even better to catch some fish. So when my friend Chuck and I decided that Sunday would be the day for our first kayak fishing trip we decided that we would go for northern pike in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine. We decided we would fish an area that wasn't very kind to us on our last kayak fishing trip of 2014 and offered us zero pike, but we were confident that being post-spawn was going to change things.

Chuck met me at my house at 6am where we loaded my kayak and fishing gear into his truck and began the two hour drive to the Belgrades. As a full-time fishing guide I spend a lot of time driving to fishing locations alone, so it was nice to have someone to share the ride with. It gave us a good chance to discuss tactics and which lures we thought would catch. I had a box full of brand new lures I was dying to try that included the Juice Mini-Mag 8 from Bigtooth Tackle, the new smelt colored 6" Viper from Daddy Mac Lures, and a few new spinnerbaits. I knew in the back of my mind that given the still-cool water temps I was going to need a lure that fished slow, and I knew exactly which lure that would be. I also chose to paddle the Predator MX over the Predator 13 this trip, because I knew we had a short distance to paddle and I was more concerned with maneuverability than speed.

Upon our arrival we exchanged pleasantries with a couple of bird watchers at the launch site. We also noted that there was someone else out fishing in a kayak, which kept our hopes of actually catching a fish high. We unloaded our gear, parked the truck, and began the paddle out. On the ride there we decided which area we would fish. It was a short paddle, about ten minutes, just enough to build more excitement.

Just before we got to the fishing spot I made a few casts with the Juice bucktail to get the rust off, of me not the lure, and then we proceeded to the fishing spot. I grabbed the rod that already had my signature series lure, the Whisperer from Daddy Mac Lures, and made a cast. The Whisperer shined for pike last year, especially in the Belgrades, and it would turn out that this trip would be no different. I made my first cast, made two twitches, and BAM! A decent pike, about 4 pounds hit like a freight train. A quick photo and back in the water it went. My total for the day would end being four fish landed, two fish lost, and two fish missed. Chucks total for the day was several misses and one pike landed. He's new to pike fishing and was determined to get one on a spinner, a move that resulted in fewer fish, but Chuck is all about having fun and for him that means doing exactly what he did.

The reason I fished the Whisperer is because pike are a warmwater species that prefers...warm water. When the water temperatures are in the forties, they become sluggish and slower to react. I find that a lure which fishes slow will result in more bites. The Whisperer rigged weightless on a 3/0 Trokkar offset hook (see rigging image below) is about as perfect as you can get. I twitch twice and pause, and the fish usually hit on the pause. The real trick becomes giving the fish a chance to actually hit the lure when the water erupts in and explosion of pent up pike energy.

Rigging the Daddy Mac Whisperer