- Details
- Category: Turkey
- Published: Sunday, 20 April 2025 11:38
- Written by Greg
Pre-Sunset Strutter
A week had passed since the youth turkey hunt began in Idaho so it was my turn now that the Idaho general turkey season had officially opened!
I arrived in the evening with about 30 minutes before sunset so I quickly found a high point in order to glass the surrounding area. Minutes later I spotted 4 hens and a strutting tom through my spotting scope in an opening over half a mile away. I watched them feed for about 20 minutes until they disappeared into the woods where I figured they would roost for the night.
By the time I got back to the truck it was getting dark so I threw my sleeping bag into the bed of my truck and turned in for the night. The sky was clear but the temperature was supposed to drop into the mid-30’s overnight, quite a change from the 65° daytime temps. I had trouble falling asleep, not only because it was still early in the evening but also because the only thing on my mind was that strutting tom I’d seen earlier. Several possible scenarios for how I might have a go at the turkeys swirled in my head, I agonized over my game plan. For what seemed like hours, I stared into the sky watching the occasional satellite streak between the myriad of stars until I finally fell asleep.
Pre-sunset strutter consumed my thoughts
Fifteen minutes before my alarm was set to go off I awoke. I looked at my phone which read 5:15 a.m. There was no point in trying to fall back asleep so I dressed, grabbed my gear and was off. Navigating my one and only creek crossing proved simple since the moon was still shining brightly, although it would disappear over the horizon within a couple of hours.
After another 25 minutes of hiking and I reached the spot I had decided upon the night before. I was unpacking my decoys when I heard a gobble straight in front of where I stood! The roosted turkey was dead ahead somewhere in the trees maybe 100 – 120 yards away. I quickly finished the task of placing decoys and setting up my portable blind and then nestled in place hoping that I could coax the roosted turkeys to fly down into the meadow near my setup.
Soon the turkeys became extremely vocal as they called from the roost. I resisted the urge to call back since it seemed unnatural for a turkey to be calling back from an open meadow before normal fly-down time; twilight was still 10 minutes away. Finally it was light enough that I began calling back to the turkeys. The hens were calling very loudly with the tom gobbling periodically, exciting! Suddenly everything went quiet. I didn’t hear the fly-down cackle so I began to panic a bit. Did something spook them? Were they still perched up in the trees? Softly I called – silence. With my eyes glued to the vegetation ahead, I watched for the slightest possible movement. Finally a flicker, it was indeed a turkey! In fact, several turkeys were now popping into the meadow up ahead. Clearly these turkeys did not fly down directly into the meadow as I had hoped, but all the same, they were coming my way.
Videoing thru blind cutouts Tom down out past my decoy
It was only mere seconds later when I saw the gobbler step into the open. He immediately began to strut and started charging straight for my decoy! I readied for what seemed to be a guaranteed shot opportunity. I quit video recording, set down my phone and picked up my gun. Seconds later the tom attacked my jake decoy! Much to the tom’s surprise he suddenly realized that he was actually fighting with a hard piece of plastic. This shocking experience caused him to fly off 20 yards before landing. At that moment I was already aiming at him and pulled the trigger – long-bearded strutter down!
9 inch beard on this big tom Chalked up another with the 12 gauge
With a final tag to fill, I was off to a new location. My next setup didn’t work so well. I heard turkeys in the distance, including a loud gobble but those turkeys weren’t interested in coming to my calls. However, I knew the area well and had a good idea as to where those turkeys were feeding so I decided to put the sneak on them.
Hens from a different flock came close And they got closer – 12 ft
It worked – as I approached the ridge where I expected the turkeys to be feeding, I peered up and over just enough to see the head of a single turkey. At that point I got on my hands and knees and crawled quietly along the dew covered grass and leaves until I was 20 yards closer. As I again raised my head to look, several turkeys were already focused on my location and in the blink of an eye they began to scamper away. I stood up and spotted a running tom and without hesitation I proceeded to provide him with an eternal dirt nap!
Just like Daxton days before, I too filled both of my 2025 turkey tags!
With another mature tom Doubled up myself