Ep. 249 Turkeys Are Tricky- Jeremy Comes To Ohio

Today Jeremy and I unpack our hunt from last weekend. Jeremy came in to Ohio for his first out of state turkey hunt. Also his first time trying the run n gun style of hunting. We unpack how the hunt went down and how we were able to get one several birds. Shots were fired and we have some stories to share. We also hear about how Jeremy was able to get his first Tom with a bow in Michigan. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to Shedding Light Hunting Stories Podcast, the show dedicated to the average Joe and their favorite hunting stories. I'm your host, Travis Williams, and I believe there's power in a good story. Life and faith lessons we can learn and apply to our lives. Thanks for joining us. Let's dive in. There he is. How you doing, man? Good, how are you doing? Good.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Oh, just watching the Pistons play the Cavaliers, that's all.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Oh, well, my wife is upstairs watching it, so you'll have to keep me updated on it. Uh, you know?

SPEAKER_00 0:41

I don't know. I'm out in the garage because it's like the only quiet spot in the house at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

So gotcha. Oh, okay. I didn't know if didn't know if you had the game on the background or something while you did this.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

That's a good idea. I should have done that, but no, no.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

I I didn't I didn't think about that having you to my house that I'd be having somebody, at least we weren't, you know, it was like Buckeyes versus Michigan. That's where I'd draw the line. But Pistons, you know, I don't I don't care that much, I guess. Yeah, right, right. Nice, man. So what have you been into the last couple days?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

You know, um not well, I say not a whole lot, but yeah, we had a lot. Saturday, got back late Friday night, and ended up going on a turkey hunt Saturday morning, so got up at you know 3 30 in the morning to get ready for that, took my brother out, um, and then you know, had church on Sunday, and then uh it was Mother's Day, so celebrated Mother's Day, and then uh you know, to work today, and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

So yeah, well, I I've been on a couple hunts myself since you left. Um, but I thought I'd save those maybe for the end. I'll I'll save a couple of crazy stories for you. And then but um you came out uh last weekend, and man, uh have you recovered from it?

SPEAKER_00 1:50

You know what? I'm feeling better than I thought I would do, I'll tell you that. But uh Saturday and Sunday were a little rough for me. I was definitely limping around a little bit and feeling a little sore for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

So I uh sorry, just a second. Okay. I think I got another one. Okay. I felt the same way to be honest with you. I I told you during the hunt, I was like, this isn't really normal for me to go from like sun up until like three o'clock. Typically, I hit a spot, you know, if it doesn't work out, then I'm going into work, or you know, it's usually just like quick hunts. Every now and then I'll hunt till noon or one. But um, so yeah, I I fell asleep on the couch like uh afternoon of Mother's Day. I'd already eat my wife, we'd already had lunch, everything was good. Um, but I I like took like about an hour long nap because I was just beat.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

So yeah, for sure. I wanted to, but uh couldn't. We we had uh game day. Well, we took my mom out to eat for uh Sun after Sunday after church and then hung out with my wife and the kids and yeah, played games the afternoon. So no nap for me.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

No nap, no nap. Well, I uh I wanted to just kind of have you on because I thought you know, we were gonna record a podcast while you're here, but honestly, we're too tired and we just kept on chasing turkeys over and over. So I thought maybe I could have you on. If we could just kind of unpack because we had some pretty good action. Um I feel like I I um felt like you know we got into some birds, so I thought we could kind of just unpack how it all went down, what uh your experience was, what your takeaway was. Up until this point, most of your turkey hunting has been kind of like in a blind, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Yeah, yeah. You know, flatlands of Michigan, so you really can't move around a whole lot, at least, you know, and and uh I have kind of limited myself to private properties. Uh, you know, on state land, uh your tag's only good for two weeks, and I wanted the public or the private land tag, which is good for like a month and a half, which gives me more opportunities to get out. So uh with that, I'm kind of limited to like just a small property, which you know, you really can't run and gun on that.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Um yeah, been really everything's been in a blind. So you pretty much just set up some decoys and hope that you can draw those birds in.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

So well, I tell you what, the only turkey that has been killed this year uh is my daughter in a blind. So maybe there's something to that. Um just sitting and waiting and being patient and uh making them come to you because I've had some hard hunting and um had some opportunities. I'll tell you about today in a little bit. But um coming into the hunt, Jeremy, like what was your expectation? Like what were you anticipating it would be like, kind of doing the run and gun type thing? Uh, what were you what was going through your head as you drove to Ohio?

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Yeah, so I was super excited to try this, you know, super excited to hang out with you and Trev. Uh that was kind of really cool to do. But yeah, I I really wasn't sure how it would go down exactly. Um, but honestly, I think it it kind of lived up to the expectations I had. Uh, you know, I knew you were down kind of near uh the Appalachian Mountain area, so I knew it was going to be hills and stuff, and um, you know, it kind of lived up to what I I thought it would be. Uh, you know, sitting down, hearing those birds on the roost, and then chasing them from there on out, you know, if we didn't hit one in the first thing. So um definitely wore the wrong boots, learned that lesson real quick.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Um I should have told you. I should have prepared. I was not very good at pre- I tried, I gave you a call like the day before to kind of give you a rundown of what we were gonna do, but I don't think I really thought about boots or footwear. And Trav Shire wore you know muck boots too.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

So yeah, yeah. So I mean he's from around there and he should have known, you know. So it wasn't that bad, it wasn't that bad, um, but definitely would have been more comfortable with the right boots. But uh, you know, I'm an over the worst part is I'm usually an over-preparer. So I surprised myself that I didn't come prepared with multiple pairs of boots. But that's all right. Uh really was a blast, though. It was it was really cool.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

So yeah, it was good. Um, there was a point. Well, I'll just get into the hunt, we'll we'll just talk about it as we go. But I, you know, yeah, it was one that was one of those things. If there was a thing I was like, at one point I look back, we're coming off of a hill, and I'm like, you and Traff are both in gum boots. I'm like, I probably shouldn't let us off this a hill. Like, I'm wearing my crispies, I'm feeling fine, and you guys are like your ankles are about ready to roll. I'm like, ugh, yeah. I probably I probably should have thought this through a little bit better. But uh, so yeah, Traff Shire was kind of a wild card. I wasn't sure if he's gonna be able to come down. I threw out the idea that you'd be coming in, and uh, so he worked hard uh that week to get, I think, a porch uh done. He's doing handyman work still, and so he was gonna join us on Thursday. So I invited him to come down on Wednesday, which is when you were coming in. And um that night he got here um after we had like a little church event at our house, um, and we had plenty of time to go over and roost. And so the property that we spent most of our time on, uh, there's a few different properties. Um the main property uh it is a place where the killing field is. There's several different hills. There's if you're just looking at a map, the west side is basically uh the saddleback in the back corner is that killing field on like the northeast side, and then there's this field kind of in the middle called the hot rod field, and then there's the hill behind the landowner's house, which is completely on the east side of the property. So that's kind of the layout. I don't know if I actually have the north, east, south. I have to look at it on X. Honestly, I'm terrible at like just remembering off the top of my head. But anyhow, that's the general layout. So the best way to roost is to go up that saddleback, and you can hear the adjacent property that I have permission on, and you can also hear the other side. And so Trav and I, we're walking up that hill, uh, going up to the saddleback, and we hear a bird gobbling behind us. I'm like, well, I kind of have permission that direction, so if nothing else gobbles, that'll be okay. We get on before we even get to the crest, before we ever touch an alcohol, we hear hear a bird gobble, and he gobbles multiple times over on this adjacent property that I have permission to be just above. And so we get up there, and this bird just gobbles and gobbles and gobbles, and like we hit him with a couple you know, alcohols, and he hammers, he's hot, and it's not even dark, dark yet. Like, so Trav and I are super fired up about that. But then I'm trying to figure out how are we gonna get to him. Um, I can come above him, but he seems to be roosted pretty down low, so we might be able to take the property we're on and drop a path. So we're we're marking stuff on Onyx, getting pretty fired up because hey, it's just awesome to have a gobble. But then we thought, well, we need to drop down and go into the hot rod field and call up to um you know the hill behind the landowner's house because usually there's birds up there, and that is a spot where I've I've hunted it multiple times, not killed a turkey. My wife is the only one that's ever killed a turkey, and she wasn't really up on top of the hill, she was just kind of a unique situation. She was on the bottom part, middle part of the hill, and they called a bird down. But anyhow, we go over there, and on the way there, I guess quick story. Um, we all of a sudden we about scared us to death. This these birds start flying. We hit the hot rug field, and these birds start flying. One of them can't fly. It's like a chick gets tangled up in the weeds, and they're making these noises, and we have no idea what kind of birds these are. Like we've never I've never seen it. Like, they're not grouse. I know what grouse are, and we don't have very many grouse around. Obviously, not turkeys. I'm like, what in the world are these things? And it's getting dark, and I almost step on one. Travel, look, it's still there's two of them still here, and he looks and we we take a video. I still don't know, it has like a real long beak. I'm like, I feel like I should know what that is, but I've never seen one before. And come to find out, we'd use iNaturalist, uh, an app, and it would they were woodcocks. Didn't know. I I wasn't even aware that we even really had them, never seen them before. So that was kind of cool. Um, seeing that.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

And since then, those have shown up all sorts of like videos have showed up of them doing that goofy dance, you know, like you know, phones listening to us. And yeah, I showed my wife, like, yeah, Travis saw some of these. She's like, I've never even seen that bird.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

If you've never looked up, uh first off, look up a woodcock making his noise, you know, just like a little it sounds like a little miniature quack, and his head always goes back whenever he does it. And then the way they walk is this like almost rhythmic beat kind of thing, and people put music to it on YouTube. So check that out, you'll get a good laugh, like we did. Yeah. So, anyhow, just to speed it up, we get down to the to our spot where we call from, and bam, um, they they hammer up on the hill. And it sounds like there's two birds up on uh the lower part of this hill. We kind of know where they're at, and we're like, okay, we could go after the one, but we've never hunted that, we've never tried to roost hunt that. We know where they're gonna be up here on this hill. Um, it's kind of wide open, but we're gonna get up and in tight, put out some decoys, and Jeremy's gonna get his first you know true roost hunt in the morning. And so that was game plan. We get back to the house, Trav goes to bed pretty quick, and then uh you show up about 10:30, and and we're ready for the morning. So bring us through the morning, like what went down, and uh we'll we'll jump into it.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Yeah, so you said to set the alarms for 3:30, 345-ish. Uh, I woke up at 2.30, super excited to go, and I couldn't even go back to sleep. So uh, but we finally we get out there, um, we walk out, and I'm already winded walking up just this little hill, and I'm like, oh boy, I'm in trouble here. So uh we sit out and me and you sit down.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

I will I will give it to you. That is not a little hill. That is a like that's a hill. I I don't like my take my daughters up there because it takes a long time. Like, that's is it a mountain? No, but I will say it's I'll give you that one. I was I'm I was a little out of breath. I took some breaks. I was thinking about you, but I also selfishly was you know making sure I got my breath in too.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

It just it just lets me know, you know, I want to go elk hunting next year, and I'm like, all right, I I definitely need to do some working out here because you know, the flat it's totally different walking that same distance on flat lands here. So uh but we get out there, me and you sit down, and uh Trav takes the decoys out, and I mean once it starts getting light, we can start hearing the turkeys hammering. And uh, you know, at that point we're just constantly looking up in the trees, or at least I was. I mean, I couldn't stop moving, I felt like a little kid. And uh I'm checking every treetop just seeing if I can see the silhouette of a turkey. And um, but it finally gets light out, and yeah, we saw that one Tom. Uh I think Travis got it on video and everything. You I think you might have been the first person to see it, and you're like, I see him right up there.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yeah, I wasn't uh well looking back on that too. I'm not even sure if I actually saw where he was. Like I was looking, the sound, that's the thing, like the sound with turkeys, it still gets me, is like sometimes I feel like I'm looking right at where I think the sound is coming from, and maybe it's his head's turned or whatever. Um, but these birds were like really high in the trees. Usually I I haven't seen them that high, um, which tells me that they pitched off. We were just kind of over like one third, like if you're on the top of the hill, you come over like one third, and we're just like on the first flat down. We got a little bit of a valley in in front of us, and then there's the fence line. And so we're kind of just we're in there tight, multiple birds gobbling, and yeah, I looked up and I thought I saw one. I'm not sure if it actually was now looking back, but I was close. Like I was like, I think I see one, and then we start seeing it move a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Yeah, I think we ended up, I mean, my guess is we were like maybe 50, 60 yards away. I mean, does that sound about right?

SPEAKER_01 13:17

Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

And and he finally pitched down, and then when he hit the ground, he just hit the ground almost running. And unfortunately, he ran the other way, and then um you I think you started calling and putting, and uh, you know, he was responding, but just kept going away. And uh, I know we kept kept seeing them and hearing uh a bunch of gobbling going on, and uh still was super exciting for me because I've never been up close to that. Like I've heard it, you know, hundreds of yards in the distance, you know, hear them flapping down and stuff, but never been even close to it or seen it.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

So yeah, and that honestly, I'll be I I have not seen it a ton either until like the last couple seasons. Like I've been close a few times, but I've not played this roost game a ton. Uh most of the time we're calling birds. Um, first off, I've just been bad at blowing an alcohol. Um, you know, uh you heard me. I'm not great at it. So getting the bird to respond, and even if you blow it just right, there's been times I've had one bird answer and there would be three or four there in the morning that didn't say a peep. So it's still learning how to get them to shock gobble at night. Um, but yeah, that that bird, I mean, first I thought maybe it was Jake's like the one down below us. There was one I think he started it all, and he kind of had like a little bit of not quite a full gobble. And then this guy all of a sudden, I think there was him, maybe another one. So we're hearing at least five different gobblers, like one way behind us. Like it was just like this farm is insane. It just a lot of places of like experienced decline. This farm still is is pretty hot. And so this bird flies down, and what's supposed to happen is I call and he turns around, sees the decoys, comes right back in. Long beard on him, definitely a Tom. And I don't know if he saw movement, I don't know if he didn't like my call. I also think about that same time I heard a hen like on the adjacent property, and he runs up, and then I think he met up with another Tom, and like you said, he's just he's across the property line out of our lives. Like immediately, I'm like, man, like all this getting up early, getting on a roost hunt, and you know, it just didn't quite pan out, but it was it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Yeah, and we watched them kind of go back and forth along that fence line. Um and then I think you'd notice a hen uh you know, probably 50, you know, 60, 70 yards away up in the tree, and she was up there, and then like out of the blue, another hen flies down, and we watched that fly down towards the gate. And I was actually surprised how well that bird glided. I don't know how they how do you say that? Yeah, uh, was gliding down, like you know, because I know they struggle to fly, but they were gliding pretty well.

SPEAKER_03 15:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Um, so it was cool, and then that second hen uh finally decided to take off, and it was just a little bit after that we finally decided uh to pack it up from that spot and and head to another another area.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Yeah, we um I thought we heard maybe a Tom kind of heading our way, and about that same time, those hens finally pitched. They were on the tree a long time. Like I got the camera from Trav, was able to zoom in on a hen, and she had like had her head tucked underneath her feather. Like they were still just like they were right there the whole time with the toms, and the toms went to find other hens, I guess, that were already on the ground. I don't understand that sometimes all the nuances of like I don't know if they had already been bred and they were going to go down to their nest. Like it was bizarre to me, but they they flew down toward the other tom, and so the gig's kind of up. So we're like, let's let's get out of the roost zone, let's go see if we can find them someplace else. So we climb to the top of the saddleback, another big deep drop dive, and another climb, and we get over the other side, and I think that's where we heard them down toward the creek, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Yeah, like so you know the landscape, and I didn't. I'm just following along. I'm just like try not to seem like I'm too out of shape and just follow along. And uh, you know, and meanwhile, I'm soaking up a lot of this because uh I really don't know the nuances of calling. Um, but listening to you call, uh, I definitely learned a lot, and it paid off for me on Saturday when I got back, and we can talk about that later. Um but listening to how you call and the little chirps and just the nuances like, okay, now I'm gonna get a little bit more aggressive. And and the thing I learned too is like you would start off real soft, and and I think probably because in case there's one right near us, you know, you don't want to be too loud and aggressive, and uh you kind of build uh if they're if they're farther away, and um definitely some stuff I've learned just in our couple of days together.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

So well, and honestly, I'm I'm trying to get better at that. My I I said at some point, if anybody knows elk hunting, I'm I'm I tend to go with the Corey Jacobson style of like elk hunting. Corey wants to find the bird or wants to find the elk that wants to play the game. So he's gonna rip location bugles, he's gonna be loud, and he's gonna find that aggressive elk that wants to fight. He's not interested in the lazy one that just kind of throws out a lethargic bugle, from what I understand of Corey and the things that I've seen. And so, like with turkey hunting, there's been so many times that I've kind of been loud, aggressive, and bam, he hammers. I sit down, he comes in, somebody gets a shot, or I get a shot. But I've learned gotta start that, you gotta build it up because there are times that they're right there, and I think I've scared, I've bumped some birds being a little too loud. And so I've been trying to get better at that, but I still struggle because I love on a pot call, you saw me do it, I love making this real loud pop noise. Um, more than any other call that I've used, like even probably even more than a Yelp. Using that little pop and then throwing a Yelp on it after as soon as I'm done with that pop, pop, pop, pop yelp, bam, he hammers. That's what I'm used to. And really doing that the last season. Uh so far, I haven't had uh nearly as many successes with that as I have been, but I've been trying to get, like you said, start a little softer, build up, and get better at that.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

So yeah. Yeah, so I know we we chased uh a bird or two, and I remember running into some deer, yeah, and uh that was cool, like they were just staring us down, and um really I was just kind of following along, wasn't even sure what we were doing, you know, just uh kind of following along for the fun. And uh you guys kept stopping and calling and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

We we set up at one point on some birds, we were on this lower the other side of the saddleback, and there's a big you know, long hill going down to the creek, and we've always the creek's the property line. Well, this year I got a hold of um the people who leased that that other property, and I said, Hey, just out of curiosity, anybody turkey hunt that? And then they said, No, go for it. And I was like, Oh, I didn't even ask, I wasn't even asking, I was just trying curious, and they said, Yeah, have at it, man. Nobody turkey hunts it. You're more than welcome. We just deer hunt it, go for it. And I'm like, awesome! So I've got the green light, I'm allowed to take whoever I want there, and um, so these birds are gobbling over on that side. So always before I had to call them to me, but now I'm like, I can go to them. But yeah, I was telling you, like, Trav Shire and I, we sometimes have different ways of playing things, he's a little bit more patient than I am, and so I'm playing this game, and he thinks that they're getting closer, and I'm not really sure that they've moved or if they've turned their head. A couple times I thought maybe they were coming up, so I'm trying to be like, yes, let's be patient, but at the same time, I have like a shot clock in my head. I'm like, we they they're gobbling, so I want to get to them before they stop gobbling. So at a certain point, we're like, don't think they're coming. So we start kind of working our way down over, and uh, we call again and they answer. So I'm like, okay, let's let's get on their side. So we bail into this creek. Well, the creek is thick, and then you're that hill that I took us up was thicker than thick, like a turkey, like we're we're trying to go crawling, trying to get up and over to the same level that they are, and it is not not working nearly as good as what I want. At this point, I'm starting to feel fatigued. I don't know about you, but I'm like, this stuff is nasty, we need to get out of this like ASAP.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah. Um I remember just going and it's getting deep, and I'm like, oh boy, this is this all we we gotta go through. This is gonna be rough. And knowing that we already know where these turkeys are at, like we've we've gotta we've gotta get there because pretty soon they're gonna be gone. So and they're only gonna gobble for so long. And and that from what I remember, we're on uh and I don't know what I don't remember which direction, but let's just say we're on the south side. Well, let me think. The sun was shining on their side, yeah. Um, and we're in the shadows, so we make our way over and we're like, you know, they're only gonna stay there for so long. So yeah, it was it was a a rough climb uh down. And back up the other side. It was definitely probably the two steepest hills we went up.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Definitely. We finally get to the knob. Trav had the idea instead of trying to go at them and be on the same level, get above them and call them up, which is which is a pretty good idea. And going at them, we were already we were just in such thick junk that I'm like, I don't know how we're gonna call a turkey into this, where there's deadfall. It it felt like elk hunting, honestly. It was it was rough. And then finally it opens up. We get up on top, and I think I don't know if I switched my mouth call yet or not, but I call and you remember where they answer it sounds like Yeah, you we stopped and then you switched, yeah. Yeah. And they answer in the spot, it sounds like the spot that we had already been to.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Yeah. Yeah, they're like it's like we're on this left slope and they're on the right slope. We make our way over to the right, and by the time we get over and call to the ro on the right slope, they were over on the left slope, like exactly where we were at, which was kind of devastating. And we're like, do we go back? Or like no, because if we go back, there that we already called, they'll probably come back over to us. And yeah, so we found that clearing, and and Travis says the decoys up.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

And yeah. So bring us through this, bring us through the next uh a shot is fired, so let's let's jump into this next next part here.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Yeah, so we set up me and you uh are sitting on different sides of the you know, on sides of the tree. Uh Travis has got the camera, and uh then you hit the call, and I mean they're close. And I don't remember what you called that, what the name of that call was something Betty or something bad Betty or it's uh I called it ugly betty, but it's a Woodhaven um oh, I'm gonna lose it right now.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Shoot. It's a red uh wasp, I think it's red wasp is what it is, and it makes a lot of my calls are real clear. Like I use toxic orange from Woodhaven, I love that one, it's high pitched. Um been using uh the ninja U cut, I like it. But I was like, I've been using the same thing and I'm not getting any gobbles. And I think we're getting ready to get up and kind of move, and I was like, wait, let me try this other call. And so I pull out the the I think it is the red, uh it's a red batwing cut, I think. But anyway, I forget exactly what it is. But I hit that thing and it just sounds like a raspy chain smoker, and all of a sudden, bah, like they they hammer down there, like they're they're fired up.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Yeah, so we're like, all right, get ready, get the guns up, and um, we're expecting them to kind of come straight on at us, and all of a sudden I catch motion 90 degrees to my right, and I'm like, they're right there. And I mean, they were uh 10, 15 yards maybe. Yep. And I'm like, I can see like a four-inch beard in this thing, and and earlier we talked about it, and I was like, You're like, Are you settling for a Jake? And I'm like, nope, only a Tom. But and that was when we were just gonna expect them to kind of walk into us. Well, we worked hard for these birds, so I was like, I was willing to take a Jake. I didn't care at that point. So I see him, he's he's coming in, but I don't have a clear shot because some really thick woods over on there, and then I'm like, there's a second one. And I I'll be honest with you, I would have loved for us to double up. So I was like, let's wait, let these guys get in there.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

That's exactly where I was at. And I I was to the right of you, and because I'm a left-handed shooter, I'm sitting there, and at a certain point, like I see the big guy, and he steps into a gap, and I'm like, I could kill him right there. Like, all I gotta do is lift the gun, point shoot. But then I see two or three behind him, and I don't know that they're jakes. Like, I by their gobbles, and it makes sense, they weren't cutting me off every time I was calling. Like, they weren't, you know, being super aggressive in their in their callback. Um, but in my mind, like they were big, they look real big to me. And I I mean I'm like they're toms, which you know, for four toms to be together, that'd be a lot. But I can't I don't see a beard, I'm not paying attention to that. I just see him right there, redhead. I'm like, this is I'm but I'm like, if I let him come, and I thought he's gonna keep coming, and then we're gonna double. And you know what? I'll double on a Jake with you. More be more than happy given the day that we've had, the struggle that we've had. I'm like, that would be pretty sweet. I've never had like a true well, my brother and I kind of doubled, but it was a little bit different circumstance. Never called them in, I guess you'd say, on a double. And so the first one's there, and he's got his head up, but then all of a sudden he, I don't know if he caught motion or something he didn't like, and we hear that noise that we don't like to hear, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

He putts, and all of a sudden I see heads just go sky high, and I'm like, oh man. And I'm trying to just find like I'm leaning left and right to try and just find a way around these little branches and stuff to see ahead. Um, and the other ones take off, and I see one head left, and he starts moving, and I shoot. Um, no idea, you know, the kind of smoke clears, they've all flown away. I swore I heard flopping and wasn't really sure. And I'm like, what do I do? Do I chase him? You know, like, yeah, chase him. So I start running, but I don't even know where I'm running to at this point, and the birds are gone. I I don't know which direction the one bird that I shot at went. Um, and we kind of wander around and and really find nothing. And I'm I'm kind of bummed, um, but excited and pumped at the same time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

So yeah, same. It was just one of those things where you know we were in a really good position. Uh, it's just we thought the their last gobble was down over the hill, and we thought they were gonna just kind of come right up into the decoys, perfect, and whatever it was, they decide to swing right, kind of like they do sometimes. And I don't know if they caught the motion or if the sunlight was hitting us or what it was, but all of a sudden gigs up, and we've got to take a quick running shot, you know, or I mean, you know, kind of swing shot, and that's just uh funny part about that was uh I realized at a certain point I'm not gonna get the shot, you might get it. So I plugged my ear and I'm like, I was like, You got him? You're like, no, no, I don't got them. So I unplugged my ear and you go, now I do, boom! Ears ringing real bad, your gun's right by my head. I was like, all right, okay. But it uh it was fun, man. It was just like, you know, we had a good time. Uh we got some action heart pumping, and it was just like pretty sweet. Uh Trav, I think I actually got some of that on film, and um, you know, we're trying to keep our cameras alive because we've been filming all morning, and you've got your cameras. We've got three we probably had like a dozen cameras between the you know the three of us going. And um but it was a good time.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

But then we uh good. I don't know if I even told you I had the that GoPro on this little arm on my shotgun. Uh I don't know what happened, but before I shot, the camera starts to like take a nose dive. So I don't even have the shot on that camera that was there. I'm like, really?

unknown 28:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:46

Um part is you know, deer hunting is you got a camera arm, you're up in a tree, or if you're hunting out of a blind, it's just like you know, you got your tripod. But when you're doing the run and gun thing, I right actually right now I'm finishing up a 3D print of one of those stakes that go in the ground. I was buying Travis Shires that go goes on this uh thing that he had here. So I took it and put it on uh an extendable stick that I had today, and somehow I lost that thing. So I'm 3D printing one, and then I'll probably end up for myself, and I'm gonna buy him one. Um, but it's just like a little stake that goes in the ground. But yeah, it's you're trying to figure out all the ways that you carry stuff, and you know, trying to get it on film is that's why it was nice to have Trav. He was mainly filming. There was a couple times I told him to pop up front, do you want to shoot? Um, you know, but he was still nursing his shoulder a little bit, trying to be careful. So I think he was just happy to be along for the ride.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

So yeah, it was that was really cool. Um so we make our way down this mountain and see some awesome scenery. You know, maybe you guys might be a little numb to it, but to me, like just seeing this little creek flowing through and these massive, like I don't know what you call them, like shale rock formations, like that just have little coves tucked in them and stuff, just was awesome for me to see, you know, Michigan boys.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

So yeah, man. I was excited for you to see that because it's one of my favorite spots on that farm. Is it where the creek goes? There's this big rock wall, there's the old antenna stand where one of our buddies literally took an antenna, stuck it in the ground by this giant oak, and then built a platform. And the platform's like a Hilton, like you could, you know, park a car up there, and that's where I shot our first deer on camera with with Trav, you know, behind me. So taking you through there, dropping down in the creek, and just kind of walking that out. Didn't hear a gobble on the way out, I don't think. Um, but it was just yeah, I was glad you got to experience you know what what it looks like down there.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Yeah, it was super cool. Um, yeah, it sometimes you you know, maybe you seeing it all the time might just totally bypass it, but I was I was soaking that all in for sure. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

So we get back to the truck um with no gobbles there, and um, I think we hit one of my other properties that has usually in previous years, like it's just a quick little property you can walk up in. And honestly, I've gotten really spoiled by it because many times I've walked up and called, and there's been a bird gobble out about 100-150 yards. Matt Dove uh killed one there last year, took a kid named Jonah there once. Uh I missed one there. Like, it's just been consistently a great spot. And unfortunately, this year I've only heard one gobble and it's been clear across the road. So that one hasn't so far hasn't been uh um like like it has been in the past. So we decided to go grab some lunch, um, head to the local diner. Uh Trav is gonna probably pack up and head back. He's got stuff that night. So you and I we uh we head back to the house, drop Trav off, get our stuff. You know, um I think you maybe cleared an SD card, and then it was time to head off to the afternoon spot. And uh we head up to this uh field and uh bring us through that what you remember of that part of the hunt.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

Yeah, so we walk up this uh kind of access road on the power lines and kind of walk into the field. There's a gate there, and uh didn't want to deal with the chain, so we we weasel our way underneath the fence, and I'm a little fatter and get a little stuck, mostly the camera gear. I think so, yeah. So we get out, uh, get tucked in, or we're we're we're getting ready. We pick the spot we're gonna sit, and uh I'm gonna go put the decoys out, and you're gonna kind of set the camera gear up, and all of a sudden I turn like I'm walk starting to walk away, I think, and you're like, Tom. And I'm like, what? You're like, there's a Tom right there, like 75, 80 yards away. There's a Tom walking away from us, not like aggressively, and he wasn't running, but he was just walking away, head up, alert, knew something wasn't right. So immediately we sit down and you start calling, and then finally we're like, all right, let's get the decoy set up. And then uh how I remember it at least was like maybe a half hour later, you call, and all of a sudden he responds, and we're like, whoa, from that same spot. And there's uh like a little valley down in the back there, and he's definitely in that valley. It's like he never left. Yeah, yeah, like he never left. He just he kind of walked away and hung out there, and so you start calling, he he's answering back and answering back, and then all of a sudden we hear him, and and honestly, my from my point of view, he was like 10 yards directly behind us, is what it sounded like. Uh whether or not he was that close, I don't know, but he was less than 10 yards, and I'll tell you why.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

I'll give you a little preview to today's hunt. I went back there today. There is a path, so we crossed that gate and that fence. We got per by the way, we had permission to cross. I uh gained access on this other property by first off, I saw some hens down there last week. I called my way all the way to the fence and I hadn't got permission. I was like, I need to get permission on this. There's two hens here. I didn't hear a gobble. So, anyhow, we have permission to cross, we go in there, and so yeah, today I went up in behind there, and right on this side of the fence, there's a pretty decent path. And there is a spot where the bobwire fence, where it looks like they can probably get under it pretty easy and get up into more open area. A lot of that is real brushy, multiple rows, just real thick, nasty stuff where the gate is. There, it's real bushy around there. And so, you know, I'm like, how are these birds getting but yes, uh, whenever he gobbles again, I I was like, I it just shook the inside of me. I'm like, he's gotta be probably five to ten yards behind us, like directly behind us. And there's nothing, there's nothing to do. Like, we're behind like up against a tree, but I'm like, he's gonna swing right into our decoys. This is gonna be perfect.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

Yeah. And so, like, I mean, my heart's beating out of my chest. I'm like, he is I mean, I feel like if I just jumped up and turned around, I could just grab him. Like seem that close and just kind of waiting. And I'm just I got you like turn and get your gun up now. And I'm like, I'm right-handed, and I'm trying to turn to my right, and I'm like, and you're like, shoot left-handed. So I'm like, all right, I'll shoot left-handed, and like I'm I'm lined up and I'm just heart beating. I'm I'm just waiting to see his head pop out of the bushes here, and just it never happens. And then we start hearing them, and he and it sounds like now he's on the other side of the fence, and he keeps gobbling. And uh, so there's the fence, and then there's like a path, and it seems like he's almost pacing up and down that path, and he just decides that I'm not crossing that fence. Yeah, so finally you tell me you're like, hey, you want to try and reap them? And I'm like, I've seen it before. Uh and it from what I remember, I'm not 100% positive. And I think I told you this, I don't think it's legal in Michigan. So it's nothing I've ever thought I'd ever do. But you've got all the stuff, so I clamp it on the gun, get it already. I start crawling, and it's probably, I don't know, uh 75 yards to the fence, maybe something like that. Yep. I crawl my way up to the fence, and I'm peeking through the little vent there, and and I don't see him. And now I'm like, what do I do? Do I sit here at the fence? And meanwhile, you keep calling, and he sounds like he's farther and farther away. I'm like, I gotta do something. So I think me and you were texting at that point, I think.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

Yeah, and I so what what had happened is I'm like, this bird doesn't want to come across this fence, and if I can keep him coming toward you, uh you know, true reaping is you see a bird out in the field and you go at him with a fan and he doesn't have a choice. A lot of times, I mean he'll either run away or come at you. This was more of a kind of reaping, but like I wanted you to be able to get to the gate because in my mind he was just up that path, just and I felt like he could see the decoys, he had to, and he was just calling at the decoys, and I thought, if you can get up there real quick and I can keep him there, then we might be able to get get a shot. Well, it sounds like he's getting further away, so I take off. I bail over this hill, I got plenty of cover for him not to see me, and I start calling like I'm running away. And I get out a hundred yards, he keeps calling, I go out 200 yards, he keeps calling, I get 300 yards away, and I'm like calling, and I can kind of still hear him up there, but I can't tell where he's at at this point. And I'm like looking for you, and I can pull up my binos, and I see you, you've made it back under this gate, and you're crawling up the hill with a fan. And I'm like, oh man, I was like, I don't think anybody else is hunting over there, but you are now out of the open field and going up a path into like the woods, and so I think I called you because I was like, Yeah, like last thing I want is a guy that I have hunting with me to get shot in the face because he's you know, because I mean if somebody was up there for whatever reason, which shouldn't be, I think I'm the only one that really has permission to turkey hunt that spot. Um, but still, I was just like, maybe you should just wait until I get over there, so there's two of us, and less likely. And so um, so back across the field I go and I crawl underneath the fence, and I see you up there, and I call, and he's just above you, not too far. So I'm like, I'm trying to call him back down, but it doesn't seem like it. So I make it up to you, you take it from there.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

Yeah, and and that's going through my mind too. Like, if it was a hen call, I would have like not, I would have been second guessing it, but he was gobbling, and I'm like, there's no one's recreating that gobble. So I'm like, all right, it's definitely him. And yeah, so I'm crawling, and you're finally like, take the fan down and just crawl up to the top of that hill. And I'm like, all right. So I crawl up there, and you're like, now put the fan back on and just get ready. And I'm like, and it sounded almost like he was maybe going farther away, but couldn't really tell. And and then all of a sudden he gobbles and you're like, he's right there, and you're like, stand up and just chase after him. As soon as I stand up, I see his red head, I mean 15, 20 yards out, and I I'm trying to I was just so flustered, trying to see my sight with the span there and stuff, and I just he took off so fast he was gone.

SPEAKER_01 39:03

Yeah, I was kicking myself over that one because at a certain point, once I got as I was getting closer, he was getting more fired up and he was actually starting to come. I I thought that last gobble, he turned toward us, and I'm like, oh, he's 40, 50 yards away. And you took one more step out to the right, so I'm trying to get the camera too, which I should have just not even worried about trying to film. I was trying to film because I'm like, I think you're gonna be able to a lot of times with a fan, I've I've used that, and the bird, like they'll see it, and they don't immediately like run away or spook. Like they they're kind of like confused, it's almost like deer in headlights for a second. Yeah, and so you kind of take a step to the right, I step out around, all of a sudden I see him, but it's it's too late. Like he's he sees legs poking out underneath his turkey fan, and it's it's up. The gig is up at that point, which was like, oh man, it was so close.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

And he was already seemed like on high alert because he'd already seen us the one time, and so I mean, me and you were just either way, I even not getting that bird, still a cool memory, something I've never done, got the blood pumping for sure. So then we're like, all right, we're just gonna go sit back down, relax for a few minutes, and then probably call it a day. And we sit there for I don't know, maybe like 10-15 minutes, and then I don't think we even called. All of a sudden we just hear this gobble right down by the creek again. I'm like, no way, it's that same bird. So he had traveled and got right back in that creek bed and followed along. Um, and so then I'm watching, and sure enough, he he passes by and starts kind of walking away from us, but is answering every time you call. And I'm like, man, we might have a chance of this bird again. So finally, I think we we were there for quite a while. And we're kind I'm I'm kind of getting impatient. I'm like, dude, he keeps walking away, like, let's just chase after this guy. And you said the same thing, like we should maybe we should just go cut him off. And this bird, I think, had our number for sure. And so we we chase after him and we're gonna kind of cut him off, and we got cover in this valley and and and uh trees and brush, so we we hide out, and we I mean, at least I did. I thought we made it ahead of him and we're gonna be able to see him or something, and we don't.

SPEAKER_01 41:25

It's real, too. So it's really hard to hear by the time we finally got out. There was this big wide open, you know, the timber kind of opens up out there, and I thought, I mean, first it looked beautiful, like this is a great spot to kill one, but don't hear anything.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

Yeah, never responded after that point. Uh, so we finally start to head back to our gear, we're gonna wrap up and we're walking back. And I think we kind of joked about it, like, oh, we should probably go careful because he might be out there. And sure enough, you're like, there he is. I'm like, where? And I never did see him, but you're like, he is like literally like two yards from where we were just sitting by that tree. So that's the one.

SPEAKER_01 42:03

Yeah, like our stuff is still up there, like the chairs and all that. And this bird is walking two yards away from like and it's clearly him. He's you know, he's walking right by. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. Like, he he just he came back, he wanted to come to that spot where we were calling from to check it out, and we weren't there. I think he knew that.

SPEAKER_00 42:24

Yeah, it's like he it's like he lured us, like, watch what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna lower the lure these guys away, and then I'm gonna go check out their hunting's their gear, see what the see what they're trying to shoot me with here, you know.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

Yeah, so that was uh pretty much the end of that day. Uh, we did go out and try and roost that night, and man, it was just cold, like nothing called, didn't hear anything, went to the saddleback. I had every intention of hunting that same property we started on because there was a so many birds there. But then I started, I guess honestly, I started having self-doubt. I'm like, I've never been able to kill a bird off the roost on that hill. They're always there, but they always go the other way, never pans out. I honestly, truthfully, too, I didn't really want to get up that early to do a roost hunt again. I was just like, and some of those birds sounded like they went down toward the killing field. And then whenever I hunted with Ansley and Sayla, it also sounded like there had been birds that passed through the kill in field. I'm like, I have not have I been sleeping on the kill in field? Have should I should we just start there? Is was what was going through my head. Like, you know, it it for his history's sake, it's always been a good field, good spot, but what I didn't know was how high the grass was in it. So that next morning, I mean it's not like we slept in, you know, super late or anything like that. We got in there early, but we step in that field, I'm like, I immediately like grass is kind of high. Should we just go? I was second guessing myself the whole way. Like, maybe we should go up just back to the roost where he was, but I'm like, it's definitely like probably a half hour later than what we did yesterday. So if we bump one off, then I'm gonna feel terrible. So we set up on the killing field.

SPEAKER_00 43:55

Yeah. Just kind of trampled down the grass and you know, put the decoys out. We heard some gobbles. And stuff, but uh yeah, and nothing that seemed like nothing that was coming our way, but we heard gobbles all around us. I mean, just off in the distance and and nothing coming out towards us. And like you said, that I don't know if they'd even seen the decoys, the graphs was so high.

SPEAKER_01 44:14

So yeah, the one was calling on the hill um that we were on the day before, but the second I hit my slate call, he completely shut up. Like he did make another call. And I'm like, that's that is kind of offensive to me. I don't understand what's going on there. Usually you try and at least cut me off, and he wanted nothing to do with it. So I don't know if he knew the call or knew the spot, but um, yeah, so it was pretty, you know, pretty quiet, honestly. Um, and so I think we went back up on the saddleback and crossed down over. We had a bird gobbling over um on the other hill, and we sat there patiently for I don't know, 15-20 minutes, and he wasn't coming, and he sounded like he was going away, so we tried to go over around the corner and get on him, and then he went completely silent.

SPEAKER_00 44:58

So we made it our way up there, and you're like he went totally quiet, and then I think you called and he gobbled, and you're like, Oh, I think he's right at the top of this hill. And I'm like, I think he's on the other side of the hill. We can make one more move, and we make one more move and never heard him, and you know, then I'm second guessing, like, ah, I should have just shut my mouth. We should have set up right there, and you know, maybe that's what it was, but you know, he went silent, never saw him.

SPEAKER_01 45:28

But turkey hunting, you it's just so hard because you don't know because their eyesight's so good, so most of the time it's it's that they're and they don't say anything. Like sometimes they do that nervous putt, but honestly, sometimes they just tuck their head and go. And yeah, uh, so you don't know if you got spotted, you don't know if the calling was too much, or and the other thing you don't know, and honestly, what I think most of what we experience with you and what I experienced today is they still have hens. The toms are not by themselves lonely, they still have what they want, so they don't need to come to you because they've already got it right there in front of you, in front of them. So that's been kind of the experience that I've had. But uh, we cut out of there and we hit another property, a spot where I missed one the other day. Um, I don't know if I've told that story in the podcast, but quick story. Went to a spot called bird came to a fence line, got permission to shoot across the fence line. I chose to shoot too far and um did not get that bird. So we came back there and we're walking to that same spot, and a bird gobbles on his own out in the far end of this field. Yeah. And that was cool. Uh I thought, this is it, man. We're gonna get him. He's clear at the far end. We're just gonna sit down. I have permission to shoot across the fence now, and nothing. Hit the call. Probably the one that I shot at. He's probably like, nope, ain't doing that again. Um, so once again, another bird that I called to, and he goes completely silent. And so we sat there for maybe 10 minutes, 15, probably should have sat there for an hour. But I'm just at this point, I'm just like, man, we've gotta find the one that wants to play the game for you. So we're like, why don't we go back to that spot where that bird was yesterday? I think you kind of also were like, I want to get back there. I want to go after that guy. He has it coming.

SPEAKER_00 47:05

So yeah, like he's outsmarted us, and like, how are we gonna get outsmarted by this dumb bird? We gotta we gotta kill him. So yeah, so we head back there. Um, we decide this time we are not, you know, going underneath the fence. We unhook the fence, we get through, um, we set up our decoys, and uh we wait a little while, and all of a sudden he hammers off uh on the opposite side. So before he was on the creek side of this this uh saddle or whatever, and uh this time he's on the opposite side, and this guy just gets absolutely fired up. Like he's just gobbling like crazy. Um and the problem is he doesn't seem to move though. It's like he he I I put him at maybe 80, 90 yards away.

SPEAKER_01 47:56

He was yeah, I mean I I didn't think he was super far, and he was just over the hill. I mean, I I thought it was gonna happen, honestly. I thought he was gonna come.

SPEAKER_00 48:06

But yeah, and we swapped out the Jake decoy that I had for a different for your Jake decoy, and uh, but this guy's just hammering like crazy and thought for sure he'd come up and check it out, and uh then you took off again, like same sort of thing. Like you ran away and started calling, thinking that would call him in. And uh at one point he got farther away and then got closer, um, but just never never made an appearance, and then slowly started working his way what sounded like he was outside that fence again.

SPEAKER_02 48:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:42

Uh so we're like, man, here we're gonna play this game again. And uh he kept calling and calling, uh and then finally he just shut up. He just he stopped calling completely, but we kept hearing movement behind us, and we just really don't know. I mean, maybe they'd come back around and we're in that same path is what it kind of sounded like. Um only we're in a different spot this time, and it sounded like we don't know, maybe it was a squirrel or a chipmunk, but I mean it sounded like it was another 10 yards off to our side, and uh this time we're tucked into some just some pickers and stuff, and no nothing to rest our backs on, and we're just sitting there and it it was getting warm, and we both I mean we walked between these two days like 10 or 11 miles, yeah. And uh yeah, so all of a sudden, I think we think we were both kind of like, all right, this is about it. Like let's uh let's pack things up, you know. We'll we'll call a little bit more and then we'll pack things up, and then all of a sudden you're like we well, we were talking, we're like, man, it'd be cool. I think there's enough room that a bird could literally just duck underneath this fence, and sure enough, you're like, there he is, shoot him. And I'm like, what? You're like, he's on he just climbed underneath the fence, and I look up, and there's this big old bright red head that had just poked up from underneath the fence. So I'm slowly getting the gun up and I'm looking, and I'm like, I don't see a beard. Yeah, you know, shoot him. I'm like, I don't see a bird, I don't see a beard, Travis. I think it's a hen. And then you're looking and you're like, it is a hen.

SPEAKER_01 50:21

Yeah, it completely fooled me. First off, it was like we have our backs against the fence, the gate is 10-15 yards away, and I'm talking to you, and all of a sudden I look, and past your face, I see a head sticking up, and it is red. Like it was very it wasn't like a gray, bluish gray head, it was red the way it was looking. I'm like, Yeah, pretty much. He's came back, he's popped up, shoot, and I I almost like I because I'm left-handed, I almost thought, like, I'm gonna pull up, but I'm like, I'm not gonna take this bird away from you if you can get a shot at it. And then uh then all of a sudden you're like, it's hen. I'm like, oh yeah, I guess it is. But what happened next was awesome.

SPEAKER_00 50:57

Yeah, so the decoys are only maybe like 15-20 yards away from her, and she kind of puffs up just a little bit, just a slight puff up, and she starts walking up right to the hen decoy, and she just attacks this thing. Like, I don't know. Do hens have spurs? Um, I don't know the answer to that. I I don't know, but it's Tom's, but yeah. Yeah, she just jumps up and is hitting it with her her feet, and just and what's cool is this hen sitting on a single post, and she starts dancing around and just spinning this decoy around, and I think that's making her even more mad that this bird is this hen is dancing with her. Oh, yeah, and she's just clocking, going crazy, and I've never seen anything like it. I mean, I've seen videos of Tom's doing this, but I've never seen a hen doing it. And I mean you were just like, This is awesome. Like it was cool. I wish I'd had like my big video camera there, uh, because that would have been really cool. Because like I have the action camera that's just taking this huge, wide picture. When you zoom in, it gets real grainy. You got some video with your phone, but at that point she'd stop flying at it. But like, just super cool. I mean, it was for two or three minutes, she just nonstop attacked that decoy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:18

Um I thought at any minute, like I've been in situations like this where a hen came by and eventually, like, we're kind of in the sun almost. So we're trying to get our backs against this, you know, bramble bush. And but every now and then the clouds open up and we're just in the sun. I'm like, she's gonna see us at some point. But she's focused on the decoy at the start, and then she kind of just starts chilling out, like she starts eating, kind of purring, fucking, and then we watch like she preened probably for like 15 minutes where she just picking her feathers, like direct in front of us, like no more than 10 yards. Yeah, it's just crazy.

SPEAKER_00 52:52

And then we hear another hen well, actually, I guess she did, she like cleaned herself up, and then she ends up laying completely down, like just I'm gonna bed right here, 10 yards from these guys, and I'm gonna go to sleep. And we're like, is this really happening?

SPEAKER_01 53:08

Especially because you and this point are like, you had already told me, like, I think I'm probably gonna head back. You know, you'd consider maybe stay until Saturday, but we had some stuff going on that night. I had a neighbor night that got scheduled, and we had some stuff in the morning. So the morning hunt was gonna have to be a super fast one, and I think you were just like, This will be the final hurrah. And I'm so I lean over when she lays down. I'm like, I don't think you're gonna make it back very very soon. Like, she's like just falling asleep right in front of us. It was insane.

SPEAKER_00 53:36

Yeah. And the whole time this is all going on, like, I'm like, this is why that Tom wasn't answering, because he's with this hen. Yeah, so we're just waiting for the Tom to come underneath the fence, and then all of a sudden we hear a hen clucking behind us, and we hear movement on the other side of the gate or on the other side of the fence. So we're like, there's another bird. You know, so we're kind of waiting this whole thing out. And this girl just lays there, and occasionally she'll pop her head up, and then she looks around and lays back down, and then uh maybe 10 minutes goes by and she finally stands up and she just starts eating. She's just kind of pecking at things, and uh she walks maybe 10 yards, and at this point she's out of your sight line, but I can still see her. And then all of a sudden we hear what sounds like a bird hopping the fence and landing. We didn't hear wings flapping, but you could hear like it wasn't just like, of course, I mean, we've all been out deer hunting, and you know, and we think there's a herd of elephants coming through and it's two squirrels. So I mean, maybe it was a squirrel, but uh it was loud, and it was definitely a hop down, whatever it was. But I was convinced that it was that Tom, you know, maybe it wasn't, it might have been a hen or something, but then yeah. It seems like it's only five, ten yards away from us, and we're all, you know, both of us are looking out of the corner of our eye, expecting to see a bird, and it just never happens. And then finally we make the decision like she's out of view, and let's go. I'm gonna go walk around the corner and see if that tom has maybe popped out because she's constantly watching where that noise is coming from. So we're I'm kind of thinking that the Tom is now out in the open and and she's going after him. So I kind of sneak around the corner and you know, don't know it, but she's right there, and she flies off, and that definitely was the end to it. They're like, Well, that's it, let's pack things up.

SPEAKER_01 55:30

So man, it was it was fun. I mean, I was dog tired too. We had covered, like you said, over 10 miles. We'd hit five or six different properties, we'd heard gobbles, but just couldn't find the one that really wanted every now and then you just find the the turkey that wants to die. Like, I just don't know how to say it. Like, there's just you find that one, he reads the script, he comes to the decoys, and so far, other than Ansley's, I just haven't found the birds that want to play the decoy game yet. Um, or I don't know if they will. I just it just seems like they're hinned up a little bit later than what they usually are. Um, but it was still a pretty awesome experience, you know. I I was glad that you got to at least because I've been out on some days where you don't hear a gobble, you know, and that's that's super disappointing. You also got permission to hunt that farm that I has always been so good to us, and um, you know, so that was that was a blessing in my book. So I was I honestly, as the guide, so to speak, I was happy that you got to at least experience what true run and gun hunting is like, all except for the turkey coming in the last 10 yards to die. Like we had him multiple times, probably within 60, 70 yards, but just could not get him to close the distance. And um, but yeah, I I had a good time.

SPEAKER_00 56:45

And I consider it a successful time. I mean, we had we made some great memories, had some fun, a lot of firsts for me. You know, I think it was we said it was uh first time I've seen birds on the roost, first time seen a fly down. It's the first time I've shot at a bird with a shotgun and not killed it. Uh, first time I've ever reefed on a bird, first time a hen watching a hen attack. So, I mean, a lot of cool firsts for me. Um, first time running guns style, and uh definitely I was not disappointed one bit. Um, you know, definitely enjoyed it. Uh, you were a great guide. Um, so it was just an absolute blast. Um took it took a little, I think six and a half hours or so. I mean, I stopped once for food, and it was like six and a half hours home. Got home about uh I think ten o'clock, something like that, and had already set up to go hunting the next morning with my brother to try and get him a turkey. So woke up at 3 30 the next morning again. And that was fun. My my brother's only got one turkey before, um and I didn't get to take him out last year. I already got a turkey this year with my bow, so um took him out to the property and learn from you. So we set up an you know here in Michigan, put up the nice box, or not pop box blind, pop-up blind, throw that thing out, put a couple decoys out, and here only two or three well, three gobbles, two uh two toms, probably two or three hundred yards away, and then one probably about 75, 80 yards away. Um and then I kind of wait because normally what I would be doing is I'd be calling already. But I learned from you, I'm like, I'm not gonna do that. And I I was it you I think you did the fly down with the hat. I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna pull that one out. So I wait till I've already heard like a hen just doing a little putton on the other side of the field, and I'm like, all right, it's time. So I do this little hat fly down, and then I just make some real soft purrs and he hammers. And I'm like, okay, this is cool. And I do just a couple a little more and then just go quiet. Let's just wait. And he flies down, but he starts to walk away. And I'm like, are you kidding me? Like you can tell he's facing away and he's getting farther and farther away. So I get a little bit more aggressive, and then I do that one where you're holding the striker up a lot higher, and then a lot of pressure. And as soon as I do that, he just hammers and I can hear him turn around. And he starts coming in closer. And I'm like, oh, is he getting closer? And sure enough, I mean, he's on a B line. And I mean, he covers, I've got to guess, about a hundred yards in about a minute, it seemed like. I mean, he you could tell all of a sudden he's out in the open field. I can just hear the difference. He's out in the field, which means if he's out in the field, he can see my decoys. So I tell my brother, like, get your gun ready, it's about to happen. You know, like he's fired up and he's gonna see these decoys, he's gonna come running in, and you're just gonna blast him right in the face. And uh he hangs up and he's only maybe 75 yards away. I'm trying not to make too much movement, but I finally I peek open, I hold the window open to the blind and the back window, and I look and I can see him. And I'm like, okay, he's got a good beard on him. And he's just walking in circles, just gobbling like crazy, but walking in circles, he just will not come in. And I do some more aggressive calling, I do some light calling, it doesn't change. He just will not commit. And then he finally starts to walk away, and I start aggressive calling him, and he he keeps gobbling the entire way. He walked off, you know, I don't know how however far, you know, 100-150 yards and continued to gobble the entire time, but just would not come in. So I don't know uh if it was the way the Jake decoy looked or just uh what it was. He at that point, I mean, we're in a blind, he couldn't see us moving or anything like that. So I don't know what it was, but he would not come in.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:00

It is tough sometimes, yeah. For sure. You know, definitely uh it's cool that you got him to turn, though. I mean, it's neat that you got that experience, and the that that that little pot you know cluck on that thing definitely is sweet to learn and definitely helps. Um, so I went out to Saturday, went out with Nate Godfrey, went back to the spot uh where uh I'd missed one and where you'd heard one. It was raining Saturday morning um and could not hear anything, unfortunately. Didn't hear a gobble. That's I think it's about the only morning I haven't heard a gobble. Um, and then we had kids stuff and um you know birthday parties and all that. So Sunday is Mother's Day. I was tempted to go Mother's Day because my buddy uh lives over um close to where you and I hunted the first day, and he said he was out shooting his bow and he heard two birds gobble. I was like, get somebody the onyx where you hear them, and they were a property away from the spot where I can hunt. Not not the place you and I um could go, but just property over anyway. I was like, it's Mother's Day, I better not do that. That might be wise. So slept in, which was really good, got a nap on Sunday, so I decided to go out this morning. I gotta put the kids on the bus. I get them on the bus at 6 45, which now it's pretty well full light at that point, you know. So you know, fly down's over, and so I'm trying to just get there quick. I go to this property that I took Trav and Nate route to uh this morning. So here's the story, you haven't heard this yet. Um I go over to a spot where we I filmed a guy shooting a Jake. We get over Trav and I and Nate, we called um clear across this property to like four miles, and we get to this spot where we hear a hen and we go back and forth with it and look and come to find out. Hold on a second. Yeah, sorry. Um, that it's another hunter, and we're like, oh shoot, there's a hunter there, and then we back up and we see decoys. So we're like, let's get out of here. So we get 200 yards away, and all of a sudden we see these jakes come up out of the woods, and they go straight to these guys. They have a blind over there, they have a strutter, and these five jakes go in, and I zoom in with my camera like 300 yards away, and one of these guys just smokes one of these jakes. They all run away. I'm like, that was pretty cool. I got that on film, and these two older guys get out. So, you know, it wasn't us, but it was cool to watch one get get hit, you know. And so I was like, I'm gonna go back and check that spot. I'd been there one time before last week, and the blind was still there. So I'm like, I'm gonna try and I'm trying to stay away from that spot, but I know it's historically really good. So today, you know, it's like seven o'clock. I drive over and I can drive my truck all the way out this access road and I can look and I see no decoys out in the field. I'm like, I think I can hunt that. So I walk to the spot, their blind is gone. I'm like, all right, good to know. Perfect. And it's over, and so I got a cut, you know, a field out in front of me that's been planted and it's you know dirt, and then I got a path up behind me, and I'm like, I'm just gonna tuck in right here, and I make a call before I even have my decoys out, and a hen goes off in front of me, just over the hill. And so I quickly go out, throw the decoys out, get my back up against a tree real quick, sit down, and not like 10 minutes later, I see a hen comes out. And she's yeah, but she's kind of almost like nervous putting though. Like she's not real like yelpy, she's not real angry, she's just kind of doing that little pss kind of thing. And I'm like, so I yelped some, gave some purrs, clucks, and eventually she works her way all the way in, but doesn't care about my decoys. She's coming to where she heard the sound, and she comes into the woods about 10 yards away and passes by my left-hand side at five yards. Oh wow, right by me. I'm like, holy cow! I thought she was gonna land on me at some point. And so she goes behind me and kind of disappears up in the brush. I'm like, all right, well, that was cool. So I'm sitting there for a bit, do my Bible reading plan, you know, texting my wife and just kind of chilling, just enjoying the morning, and then I hit a call and I hear another hen. And I'm not, it's and I'm like, is that the same hen? Did she just go back there and get all ticked off? But she got kind of loud, and and then next thing you know, I hit it again and I hear a gobble. And I'm like, oh, okay. So there's a gobbler back there someplace. And then I hear, I think, two more gobbles. The second gobble, he's getting closer. That third gobble, I'm like, he's probably within 120 yards. But he's over my right hand shoulder, and I'm facing out toward this field, and I'm like, do I turn toward him? Like watching the hunting public, those guys aren't using decoys. They would have turned and gotten themselves ready to shoot where they last heard the last gobble. But in my mind, I'm like, I got that decoy out and a hen, and I put the hen down in like a uh breeding position. So she's on the ground, you know, Jake decoy behind her. I'm like, no, I just need to stay patient because I don't really have my there's just this little tiny path going up there. Sure enough, you know. I'm like, I think he's gonna come right around, he's gonna hook right out through this field, and he's gonna come right into the decoys, and I'm gonna I'm gonna smash him right there. It's gonna work. And so I just say focus forward. Well, then next the next thing you know, I call and that hen got hammers right behind me. Like she is probably within 40, 50. Yards behind me, and I I'm kind of trying to look, but I can't see her. I'm like, I can't spin, I can't do anything, and she's on that path above me someplace. So I had enough time to turn on my 360, and I got my cell phone filming in front of me on this little tripod. And so I'm like, okay, I guess I'm gonna have to call her past me, which is gonna be really hard because I got no blind, hardly any cover, but I'm like, I can't really turn. I don't know where the tom's at, but I thought I heard spitting, but I can't really tell. I'm just trying to look. I can't tell. So I start doing some light yelps, trying to cut a little bit, and she just she's going. I'm going back and forth with her, and probably for like I think it's about five minutes, I'm going back and forth with her, and eventually she kind of goes over my left hand shoulder, and then she just kind of shuts up. And so I'm like, oh man, what do I do here? So at a certain point, I'm like, doesn't seem like they're gonna come in. I don't see anything at my decoys, so maybe I can spin on her. So she calls again and she's higher. So I'm like, okay, so I spin real quick, get my back against another tree, and I start pointing up this line. Don't see her. I'm like, this is stupid. I'm facing away from my decoy. That Tom's gonna probably come around here and come right in my decoy, and then I'm faced the wrong way. So then I spin back around again after about two minutes. And so finally, like, I hear nothing. 15 minutes goes by. I'm like, gigs up. They must have spotted me, they must be going the other way. I go to stick, get on my knees, and I look and I see two birds cross the path right above me. I'm like, doggone it, they're right there. I thought it's one. I couldn't tell if one was the tom or not. They're out there maybe like 40 yards, just crossing this path that goes up in the timber. I'm like, I need to look at that 360 footage whenever I get back. So quick story. I buzz over to the spot where you and I chase that wily Tom. I get into that spot, I go down over, I grab my lunch, I'm like, I'm really looking forward to just having a relaxing lunch with my back up against a tree, and maybe that bird will come right in. So I sneak my head around the corner to kind of look to see if he's in the spot where we bumped him the first day. I don't see him. So I put my backpack down, get the decoy out, and I'm like, I'm gonna do a single hen. I go out, stake the hen, I come back, I'm almost about ready to sit down, and a bird takes off and flies. Same spot. I'm like, was that the Tom? Was that a hen? I don't know what it was. It just and it was in that exact same spot, just down over the hill to the left. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. So then now I'm just angry eating. I'm sitting there just like eating my sandwich, and like, man, I need to drink my Red Bull. Like, come on, man. So sitting there for a little bit, and long story short, um, oh, I hear a hen over my right hand shoulder. I'm like, and so I start calling, she gets mad, I'm like, she's gonna come through that gate again. So I'm up here kind of getting ready for her to come through the gate. I uh I'm like, I need to move stuff out of my way. So I move something at a certain point down to my left hand side, and all of a sudden I hear down to my left. Same spot. She's came in underneath that bobwire fence someplace, and all of a sudden she takes off running. I'm like, great, now I've gotten one bird to fly, and I got a bird putting. I'm like, I've got to go up there and see where those stinking birds are coming in. So I finish my lunch, I call, I don't hear anything. I'm like, I'm gonna just I'm just gonna go up in there. I go up in there, I see the path, and then no sooner do I find out that there is a path up there, a third bird, a hen, takes off flying. I bump her out of wherever she was at. So that's crazy. I think it's a Tom that flew first, and I think it's those two hens. And I think he's just hanging with those two hens, and I just busted them for like the third time. So I'm gonna give that I'm gonna give that a while before I go back there, probably another couple days before I do that again, because I've clearly that bird has figured us out. I come home, Jeremy, I get up the 360. I'm like, alright, I gotta watch this footage back, and I point it up the path, and I do a little quick scroll, and all of a sudden my eyes get wide. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. You can see him. He comes off the hill behind me, full strut. He gets to the path, and he can see my decoys. And for two minutes, you can watch me calling, just trying to look, but he is directly at my six, and he is up there, and he is within 30 yards of me, and he is going back and forth on that path, making zero noise, just trying to fan my decoy hen up to him, and I have absolutely no clue that but you can see it on the 360 footage. He's just up there doing a back and forth, back and forth kind of thing. The craziest thing about it all is I don't think I actually bumped him somehow. I think I stayed still, and he went down into my left, and then a hen comes by and follows him. I think I turned around at that point somewhere around in there, didn't see him, turned back around, and I think whenever I got up on my knees to leave, I think those were the two birds going right across the path, or maybe another hen, that same hen that came by first. Yeah, I think they just came by and I they didn't putt, they didn't run, I think they just kind of veered out of there. So I'm like, okay, that's where I plan to head tomorrow. If my daughter, Sayla was a little sick today, but she might be better tomorrow morning. So I might try that in the morning. But I'm just sitting there thinking, I had a Tom behind me at 25, 30 yards in the wide open, and I had no clue it was there.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:17

Like that's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:19

Yeah, just insane. I and I'm almost mad that I even watched the 360 because I would have just prefer not to know that this bird got the upper hand on me. Like he's just standing up there just laughing, you know. So oh man. But anyway, I uh you know, you've got a bird this year, you know, you got one with your bow, right? So that was so have we heard that story on here? I don't think we have.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:43

No, no, all right.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:44

Let's let's wrap up with a successful story. Give us one of the bird dies, real quick.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:50

All right, so I'll be I'll try and make it real quick because I know we're we're getting long. But so I've been wanting to kill a turkey with my bow for years, finally decided this is the year it's gonna happen. No, I didn't go with the DCAP broadhead. Uh, I decided I'm gonna body shot. Just because I've already cut my arrows, I don't have an arrow long enough. So um my first hunt on this brand new permission property that I got, I go out there, set up the decoys, pop up blind, uh, had a bunch of calls around me, nothing happens. About 9.30, two toms make zero gobbles, come walking into my decoys, and I see them 150 yards off, and they just they strut the whole way in, come up to my decoys, and I wait till this one tom is completely broadside, I pick my spot, I shoot, and at 10 yards, I completely miss the turkey. And I'm like kicking myself. Like, how like I shoot some long distances, I've gone to tack. Like, I like how do I completely miss a bird at 10 yards? And I'm looking at my blind and I look and there's a hole. I I hit the blind. So I'm a little relieved, honestly, when I found it because I'm like, okay, I'm not a terrible shot, I just hit the blind. So, all right. Uh and I actually had it on camera, so I end up going back, I watch a footage, and sure enough, I can see you can see the blind flop, and I'm like, okay, yep, I hit the blind. Um, so about an hour later, one lone Tom comes in and he gets broadside. I pick my spot and I drill him, and the arrow sticks in him, and he runs off, and I assume he's gonna run off and just flop over dead, and he doesn't. He runs into this swamp that's you know got water up to my knees. I try and go in after him to try and find him, and I search for an hour and a half, I never find him. Kind of give up. You know, I mean, I've looked everywhere I can look, and you know, they don't bleed, they don't leave a blood trail, so like I've got nothing bummed because I don't like that. Um, but there's nothing else I could do. So uh the landowner said that uh you know he was gonna be him and someone else were gonna be hunting in the afternoon, so I gotta be out of there anyway. So I pack up all my gear, I get out of there. Let just let the landowner know they have shot one, didn't find it. He's like, nope, no worries. It happens. Uh so I go back out a third time, uh, see just a hen or two, a couple hens. Uh, and then I went out with my son-in-law on a Saturday morning and get him out there just so he can experience he's uh he's only hunted with me one time, and that's the only time he's ever hunted in his life. So um he didn't have a license to hunt, otherwise I'd we'd have brought the shotgun and stuff. But we get out there and we hear Toms firing off all over the place. None of them will come into the field once daylight hits. Finally, I think it was uh like 8:30-ish. We hear a gobble, probably about 100 yards away. I start calling, he's just hammering. Um, and then finally he steps out into the field and he's probably about 75 yards away. And I'm like, all right, it's gonna happen. I got the bowl in my hand, I'm ready to go. Got literally five different camera views going on. I've got uh GoPro and action camera mounted on my chest, I've got another action camera pointed at me, I've got my main camera and a cell phone mounted looking at the decoys and a 360 camera sticking out the front of the pop-up blind. So, like, this is gonna be awesome. The problem is I've already recorded a bunch of footage earlier in the morning because of all the gobbles. And this Joker takes over an hour to close the 75-yard gap. And one by one, I'm watching, hmm, that action camera just died. Oh, the 360 camera just died. My main camera just died. Like, this is terrible. I look down at the action camera I've got here, it's dead. Or I shouldn't say it wasn't dead, the SD card was full.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:59

So my son-in-law hand him my cell phone and he records at least my shot. And the cell phone that I have up here is still facing forward and it's still recording, and it's on over an hour and 15 minutes at this point. So it from the time I turn the camera on to the time I take my first shot is an hour and 15 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:17

Wow, that's crazy, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:20

So we he finally gets up to the decoy, and and it's kind of funny. Um, I've I've don't want to take a frontal shot because you've got the breastbone there and it can deflect. It's like a V. Um, and I already tried the broadside shot and that didn't work for me. So I'm taking what you know, what's called the Texas heart shot, and I tell my son-in-law, because he's like, Where are you gonna shoot him? I'm like, I'm gonna shoot him right in the butt. And I'm gonna shoot what's called the Texas heart shot. And he thinks I'm joking, so he googles it and he's like, That's a real thing. I'm like, Yeah, yeah. Well, you think about it, you got the intestines and it's tied to all your other vital organs, so you just follow that thing on up and you know, it should be a good shot. So I don't know what happened. He's only 10 or 12 yards away from me. Uh, he turns his rear end towards me, I shoot, and I hit high and right. I chop off a couple of his tail feathers, feathers go flying, but he is so worked up, he doesn't even care. And for over 14 minutes, this dude paces back and forth around the decoy, chest bumping him, pecking him and stuff. And I'm just waiting for him to turn his rear end around, but he will not do it. And I'm getting like I'm getting anxious. I'm like, maybe I'm gonna take this broadside shot then, but I'm like, nope, I I'm I'm doing the the heart shot here. So all of a sudden he perks his head up, comes out of strut, and he starts to kind of walk away from the decoy, and I'm like, oh, he something something happened. He doesn't like it. And so I draw back, and just as I draw back, he turns just enough, and I let it rip, and it just hits exactly where I wanted to. Uh that bird runs about 20 yards and literally just does a whole flip and just dies claws straight up and just doesn't even move.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:07

So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:09

And uh, you know, at least I got the shot on cameras like just about off a screen, and he dies off screen, but uh just it was just cool. So finally got the bird, you know, with my bow. So was excited for that. My son-in-law was there to see it, you know, just kind of a cool memory to make.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:25

So yeah, that's cool, man. And hey, you know, I mean, that's your first one with the bow, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:31

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:32

That's what an accomplishment, you know, especially after some of the struggle that you had. So pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:38

Yeah. So it's been an exciting season, you know. I'm excited to go out with you, and now I'm looking to get, you know, some other people, some birds. Uh, we actually have a funeral on Wednesday, and I'm trying to talk my brother-in-law to come in from out of town, and uh, I'll take the day off of work and try and get in a morning hunt before the funeral, see if we can make that happen. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:59

Yeah, that'd be cool, man. Well, Jeremy, it was uh it was awesome having you here. You know, it's been cool having you as a co-host and getting to know you over the last few years and um still rocking your camera arm and all that stuff, and uh so it was just neat to get to spend time. And I mean, I think for me, one of the things that was really cool just watching that hen. I just remember at one point, I think I said, or you said, like, we're just blessed to be here. Just watching a hen has no clue we're here, she's preening herself, just doing what God created her to do. And just I don't know, I just thought I was like, there's we're just really just the last few days, being able to see a woodcock for the first time in the wild like that, and the hen and the toms, and just all the experiences, the hills, the creek. It was just uh for me, I I love it. I love deer hunting. I won't say I love turkey hunting more, but I just it's a unique love that I have for turkey hunting. It's just neat to be out there, something new every time you're there.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:52

Oh, yeah, yeah. And I got back, and you know, an out-of-state license is not cheap. Um, so it was not a cheap hunt. I came back, and and my wife and kids are like, what was the point then? Like, you didn't even come home with a bird. I'm like, that's not the point. Like, the point is I made some awesome memories with a good buddy. Like, we had we I saw a bunch of firsts for me, and that's what it's all about. Like, it's not I that's why I say it was successful, it was a success uh successful weekend. Um, had a lot of fun, made some memories, and uh just had a blast.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:25

So yeah, absolutely, man. Well, I appreciate you coming on tonight, sharing uh the stories, and for us to kind of recap that. And congrats on your bow bird. You know, I'm still there for my first, so hopefully tomorrow. Uh, I'm gonna be aimed up the path, and you know what'll happen. He'll come into the decoys. Uh so yeah. Uh we'll we'll see what happens, man. So Jeremy, thanks for your time tonight, buddy. I appreciate it. Yeah, no problem. All right, talk to you later.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:53

All right, see ya.