My wife, Megan, went with me to operate the video camera on a Saturday, and then on Sunday, we took our 13-year-old daughter, Ella, turkey hunting. Once again, Megan videoed the hunt. We put out Dave Smith turkey decoys, and we set up a Primos pop-up blind. We saw and heard some hens roosted out in front of us, and I carried on some tree-talking conversations with the hens while they were on the roost. When the gobbler flew down, the hens flew down with him. So, I kept talking to the hens and finally talked one of the hens into coming up close to our blind. Suddenly, a tom gobbler walked out onto the edge of the field we were hunting and started running straight for us. But before he could get to us,he spotted another gobbler coming out of the woods. Then 13 jakes chased those two gobblers, running those two gobblers out of the field. Although Ella didn’t have a chance to shoot either one of the gobblers, she got to see a show she’ll never forget.
After the gobblers and jakes went out of sight, I heard a hen yelp on the other side of a little ridge beside the field. I began talking to her with my turkey call. About 1/2-hour later we spotted a gobbler coming in about 85 yards behind our blind, strutting and gobbling. Then the cavalry arrived - those 13 jakes we’d seen earlier in the morning arrived. Once the longbeard saw the jakes, he ran down the hill straight to our decoys. We let him get close. As he gave the fighting purr, Ella took this two-bearded tom at about 18–20 yards from the blind. Ella squealed and got so excited. We created a family memory that will last as long as the three of us do.
Day 1: Snow Wind and Ice - New York State Turkey Hunting Is Different
Tomorrow: Jason Pollack Remembers His Toughest Turkey Fight in New York
