Henned-Up Gobblers

If you hunt turkeys long enough, you are bound to run into the situation where the gobblers are henned-up. A henned-up gobbler is a gobbler that is content with the hen(s) he's with and it is unlikely that he will come into a hunters calling. Apparently this year was my turn to experience the henned-up predicament.

In my pocket I held a limited entry turkey tag which allows a person to hunt turkeys for a three week period starting in early April. However, possessing such a tag means a hunter cannot hunt during the general turkey season which runs the entire month of May. The quandary...put in for a limited entry tag in hopes of getting the first crack at the turkeys before they get heavy hunting pressure while risking an encounter with the unpredictable Utah weather where spring snow and rain will likely limit hunting access...or...wait for May to arrive where mild days are a guarantee and snow melt will have occurred allowing access to public lands where turkeys will have migrated.

 

Clearly my course was set months ago when I drew my tag, so locating turkeys for the first time this spring was exciting. Especially since it was the afternoon before opening day and prior weeks of scouting hadn't produced a single turkey sighting, mostly because heavy snow pack had limited access to my favorite hunting spots. But now the distant sound from the gobbling turkeys put a smile on my face and set my plan in motion.

 

Turkey hunting deep snow  turkey hunting, fresh snow with turkey tracks

      Literally snow to our waist hiking into turkey area                                New turkey tracks in the fresh snow

 

At first light several toms lit up the mountain valley with echoes from their thunderous gobbles as they answered my box call. My youngest son and I moved forward 150 yards and set a couple of decoys and hunkered down in anticipation of near term turkey encounter. A few soft calls lured three long beards to within 70 yards, but after pacing back and forth in front of us for 20 minutes they lost interest and wandered off. The snow was now falling quite heavily, enough to limit visibility to approximately 30 yards, so we decided to head back to camp to warm up and grab a quick bite to eat.

 

It was barely 8:30 a.m. but we had finished eating and the snow was tapering off, so I was raring to go. However, the fresh inch of snow and the thought of snuggling in a warm sleeping bag was enough to cause Carson to stay behind, I headed out solo. Once I had arrived to within 300 yards of our morning setup, I made a few yelps trying to again locate the toms. Immediately far-off gobbles filled my ears as the turkeys appeared to be exactly where we had left them. My plan this time was to sneak toward the gobblers unannounced, hoping to spot, stalk and shoot one without them realizing my presence. An hour and a half later I was crouched in the exact location where the toms had paraded in front of us earlier, but now there wasn't a turkey in sight.

 

Perplexed I tried a few calls to see if I could get a response, nothing. Slowly I moved west across the hillside until I had traveled up the canyon another 150 yards. I produced a yelp using my box call and much to my surprise, several gobblers answered from what seemed to be half a mile down the canyon to the east. Clearly they had moved away from my calling, as I surmised they were henned-up. My new plan was to gain altitude and move down the ridge above the turkeys until I passed their location and then cut back across the hillside in hopes of intercepting them, all without any calling on my part. Undoubtedly the toms had felt plenty of pressure from my earlier calling, so I certainly didn't want to add fuel to that fire. However, I would be listening intently during my pursuit hoping the turkeys would give up their location due to their desire to vocalize, allowing me to further leverage the element of surprise.

 

turkey hunt long beard gobbler
                                 Carrying out my ol' long beard, miles of snow hiking to reach gobblers

 

Once on top of the ridge I was able to move in their direction relatively quickly. About an hour later I figured I had passed the turkeys by a few hundred yards, so I started down the hillside. I paused momentarily as I inspected the foliage ahead when a gobble erupted 100 yards even further to the east. Shocked, but confident that my presence had gone undetected, I crept ahead 20 yards. Peering forward I could barely make out the unmistakable tail fan of a strutting gobbler rising about six inches above the distant brush. Patiently I watched knowing that time was on my side. Several minutes and a few gobbles later, the tom began angling my way. Slowly I knelt and got into shooting position. Closer and closer he came, although trees and brush obscured his present route. However, 40 yards ahead was a clear opening through which he must pass so with my shotgun pointed on that spot, I waited.

turkey hunt, hen turkey
                Undetected I watch hen head toward gobbler

 

Two minutes later I realized something was wrong, ol' tom turkey did not appear as planned. Cautiously I stood up...no turkey. Carefully I moved forward several feet. There ahead and slightly to my right at 25 yards was a hen walking in from the opposite direction. At that moment I knew the tom couldn't be far away. Suddenly not one, not two, but three gobbles filled the air! Then it happened, the amorous long beard materialized. Slowly I raised my 12 gauge; the big red head of the henned-up gobbler was now in my sights. A single blast from my Benelli caused two toms and three hens to fly up from obscurity, but my long beard was down for the count!

 

turkey hunt, huge gobbler 9 inch beard
                                12:10 p.m. gobbler with 9 inch beard and 7/8 inch spurs was down