Every turkey hunt is different—but one thing I’ve learned over the years is that the older gobblers seem to play by their own rules.
They don’t always fire off at every call. They don’t always strut and put on a show. But when you can figure out what they’re up to—and coax ‘em in—you’ll come away with a hunt that sticks with you.
Here’s a story about one of those mornings… a new piece of ground, some smart old birds, and a hunt I won’t forget anytime soon.
Story time...
I hunted a new place to me and was told it had plenty of turkeys and when we stepped out of the truck at 1pm, several turkeys were gobbling on their own.
I thought, "man, this is too good to be true!"
Me and my hunting partner made quick work and got into a group of turkeys and after the second setup, we yelped up a nice 1 1/8 spurred gobbler that put on a show.
But as we sat there admiring the afternoon turkey, we heard some other turkeys at the other end of this huge ag field. So, we walked back to the truck and decided to go another direction to a turkey that was a bit closer.
Well, we never caught up with the turkey below the truck and we decided it wasn’t long before roost and I had found a road off the main dirt road that led to the back of that field.
So, we headed that way... Eased in there to find 3 big gobblers strutting with hens.
The next morning, we slid in under darkness and got set up and as the world started to wake up, the three turkeys announced their presence.
While we could hear turkeys in every direction, our three amigos were in no way form or fashion burning it down gobbling. I thought maybe it’s the hens, but every other turkey was preaching the news, so I wondered what it could be.
I yelped a time or two to them on the limb with a country girl yelper and they halfheartedly answered with a gobble. No problem, not unusual I thought.
They hit the ground and entered the field gobbling every once in a while. A little more soft yelping and one was convinced and the other two followed right behind.
Once the second one was in range, I was already looking at the spurs on the first one at about 15 yrds on the clean dirt ag field and I could tell he was an old warrior.
I let the little 28-gauge eat and my partner cleaned up the second turkey. We were excited congratulating each other just like normal. We took a second to get our composure and walked up to the longbeards on the ground.
My partner said "Lyle, look at the spurs" and there lay a fine set of 1 1/2 spurs attached to his feet and my partner's turkey had 1 3/8 spurs.
I instantly thought these turkeys weren’t gobbling because they weren’t in the game anymore and didn’t want to compete with the others.
They had them a couple hens and a spot away from all the other turkeys. Kinda like I have heard my elders say, “It’s hell to get old”!
But, I was glad I got to tangle with these older birds. They played the game well and gave me a heck of a hunt with a friend I won’t soon forget!
Turkeys are an interesting quarry with a lot of them having their on little quirks, especially older turkeys.
I always like finding a hermit turkey stuck by himself. But you can waste a season on a hermit as quick as it started.
They usually have a PHD on not getting shot at! 😂🦃
****
It’s hunts like this that keep me hooked. Older birds will humble you quick—they’ve seen it all and heard it all, and when they decide they’re done competing, well… you better have your calling and patience dialed in.
I always say: if you’re lucky enough to tangle with one of these old warriors and tag him, that’s about as good as it gets.
And when you’re calling to turkeys that have heard every sound in the woods, having a good call makes all the difference. That Country Girl Yelper sure earned its keep on this hunt.
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See y’all in the woods,
~ Lyle
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