Turkey season ends well for Missouri hunters

Submitted Photo After 54 years of hunting wild turkeys in Missouri, this 28-pound gobbler, taken this spring season, was Ken White's largest.

Missouri turkey hunters took 43,273 bearded birds during the recent three-week spring firearms season. Adding the 4,328 turkeys taken in the Youth Weekend Hunt brought the spring season total to 47,601, which was more than 5,500 more birds harvested than last year.

The down side of the recent turkey season was that there were eight hunting related accidents, two of them fatal.

Before the season opened on April 21, Jason Isabelle, of the Missouri Department of Conservation, said he expected a good season.

He said, "Strong production in 2011 and 2012 means hunters could expect to see good numbers of 2- and 3-year-old gobblers this year."

That prediction came true, as most hunters I have talked to said they thought it was a very good season, with lots of activity and gobbling.

Kevin Hess, president of the Springfield Sho-Me Chapter of the National Wild Turkey federation, said, "I thought it was a good spring season. There were lots of 2-year-old birds.

"The season came at a good time, as most of the hens were nesting, which made the gobblers easier to call. I shot my second bird and then, tried to help my son, Zach, get his bird.

"We had a gobbler work with 25 yards and when Zach shot, the bird took a step and dropped it's head, and Zach shot just over the big bird. I told him that now, he was a real turkey hunter because that happens to most turkey hunters, sometime."

Veteran turkey hunters know they will make mistakes and many of them are repeated. That's part of turkey hunting.

Kris O'Connor got his first turkey ever last week when a 3-year-old gobbler came within 30 yards of his hunting spot. He was with Ethan Gotheer who earlier had taken a "Lunch Break Tom."

Gotheer said, "I took my lunch break around 11, and drove to some nearby woods, where I knew there were turkeys, in the past. While having lunch, I made a turkey call and to my amazement, a gobbler answered.

"I had a camo shirt and gun in my vehicle, so I got ready and here, he came. After I shot the big bird, I sent a photo back to work and said I would be a little late coming back in."

For me, it couldn't have been a better season. On opening day, it was raining, so I thought, "It's a three-week season, so I will wait until tomorrow to go after a tom."

On Tuesday morning, I was in the woods about an hour before shooting time. On the way to my hunting spot, I heard a gobble, some 75 yards away.

I put out a decoy and as daylight began, a lone hen stepped out, 10 yards from me. At 6:55 a.m., a gobbler appeared about 40 yards from me.

He didn't look interested in my calling or the decoy and started walking away. I knew it was now or never, so I fired my 20-gauge and he turned, so I shot again and he dropped in his tracks.

It turned out to be the largest bird I have taken. It weighed 28 pounds, which was 3 pounds heaver than my wife's 25-pounder, which held the record in the family for many years.

On Monday, of the second week, I started out from the back porch, when I heard a gobble. I jumped into the woods and made a call.

The gobbler answered and within a few minutes, I saw him slipping towards me. At 25 yards, he stopped. A shot rang out and I had my season limit.

That's the way a turkey hunter would like a hunt to go, but it rarely goes that way. There are a lot of things that happen while turkey hunting.

The old saying, "Patience is a virtue," holds true for turkey hunters. Although you may think the big bird will soon be in your freezer, many pitfalls lie between you and a gobbler.

A real hen might show up, ending the competition, another hunter might be after the same bird, a coyote might even interfere, or some other unknown factor could mess up your plan. These are some of the things that happen while in the turkey woods, but success makes up for those rough patches.

There will always be moments that are sweet and sour. You will soon learn that it's more than worth it and you are ready for that next trip into the wild turkey's world.