Spring Thunder: Our Annual Turkey Hunt in the Deep South

[Pierre Tessier]

The gobbling of a tom on a distant ridge is symbol of winter giving way to life and new growth. Alberta has many things to offer the outdoorsmen but unfortunately it has yet to develop its wild turkey population to where some of us can make it an annual pursuit. Time will come, interest and resources permitting, when one can hope to draw tags on a regular basis or buy a general license and chase birds every year

Constantly seeking adventure, the call of spring has lead my long time turkey hunting partner and I to travel south every year looking for ole tom's to outsmart with our calls. With several eastern's, rio's and merriam's to define our experience, Charles and I were set to hunt the osceola subspecies only native to the sunshine state. In hopes of completing our first turkey grand slam's we made arrangements with a guide and now friend from central Florida. Realistically, going blind on public land for an osceola had extremely low odds of success. Having no knowledge of the area's and our draws only valid for 4 days, our plan was to set out on a mix of private and public land in hopes of striking a bird.

I flew to Orlando on the 29 of march, excited as 5 months of intense planning was about to unfold. Charles had been hunting around with friends prior to my arrival. With a few days to spare before our hunt we drove north to Georgia where I had been speaking with local biologists and looking over maps to hunt eastern's on massive tracts of public land. We made a quick stop at Bass Pro in Savannah, Ga where we met another turkey hunting fanatic. Amazed that we had made the trip down from Canada, he invited us to hunt with him on his private lease in the morning. Little convincing was necessary, plans were made and our hunt was set.



Next morning found us meeting at a local breakfast place and we were at the property gates well before dawn. He sent us on our way and took his brother to another part of the property. Windy morning in Ga, we had only seen a few birds and heard nothing by 10:30 when we came accross a food plot in the middle of a pine plantation. Since this great property was mostly wooded, we figured birds would come to strut and feed looking for hens at all times of day.



Set up 20 yards from the Dave Smith strutting decoy and two hens, I glassed the pine ridge when a strutter was silently spotted coming in fast through the timber no more than 80 yards away! After whispering to Charles, the shotgun was raised with extreme caution. The bird hung up at 40 yards, inspecting his opponent and hesitant to come any closer. Carefully, sights were aligned and pressure put on the trigger. Shot was true and the bird collapsed. My heaviest eastern ever and it also had 1'' spurs and a 10'' beard! Excited, we met up with our host. It was now noon and calling it a day when he suggested we try another property the next morning, we thankfully accepted and the rest of the day flew by as anticipation was building.



Limbhanger



That night we had a tailgate bbq and invited poeple staying at the hotel to join us. Turkey breasts wrapped in bacon cooked on charcoal with a side of heineken. Great day in the south!


As dawn was breaking we made way into a freshly logged property. Birds were a little slow on the roost but after a few minutes we struck a bird on the ground. Charles spotted 2 redheads on the road so the decoys are put up immediately and we set up by fallen timber. The birds gobbled every now and then, few more yelps and they were within shooting distance. I could hear the strutters spit and drumming but could barely see them through the grass. Charles' barrel was raised and the shot broke the crisp morning air. Bird was flopping on the road and we had been there for 30 minutes! Another beautiful 3 year old bird. We struck a group of birds later and almost got an opportunity but the hen got nervous within gun range and took the flock away from us.



The next day we hunted public land but conditions weren't ideal and only a few hens were heard in the distance.




On the last morning in Georgia, it was agreed that a friendly Team Canada vs. Team Usa match up was due to set the record straight, we had good laughs. Both pairs were on birds but none came to investigate the calls within reasonable shotgun range, therefore we had a tie match and another hunt will have to be rescheduled. Turkey hunting in the south is sacred and the birds there know most of the tricks which makes them difficult to entice coming in to calls. Fortunate to have been so successful on the hard hunted eastern's that roam Georgia and for making friends of our hosts.