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Opening Morning Double Header- By Kevin Beasley -
Preseason scouting, a strategic ambush site and some patience were all contributors for this opening morning
double header. Despite roosting on the other side of the field, our patience and confidence in our set-up was tested
as not a single gobble was heard until just before they walked into sight.
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Opening day of turkey season! Can it get any more exciting than that? I love going into the woods and
hearing turkey gobbles it seems to make that year without them all seem worth it. Paul and I were really excited for this
year’s hunt; he had scouted the farm a few days before and saw a couple good toms chasing a flock of ten birds around. We
got talking and decided it would be really neat to have an opening day double header and with these two toms still grouped
together, we figured this would be the perfect opportunity.
The next day I went and looked for a spot to set up a ground blind close to where Paul had seen the
turkeys. I walked the fields looking for the perfect spot and found a good location with ample sign that was on a tractor
path separating a cornfield and an alfalfa field by a small strip of woods. The trail was only 40 yards long so I made the
blind on the edge of the corn knowing that if the birds entered from the opposite end they would be in range. After it was
all set up the only thing left to do was to wait until that much anticipated opening morning.
The night seemed to last forever, waking up and looking at the clock may not have helped. Finally the
alarm went off at 5:00 am and we were up discussing how the morning would hopefully turn out. We were a little disappointed
as we could hear the sound of water dripping on the tin roof of the shed behind our house and from past experiences we
knew the birds were not as vocal in this type of weather. Nevertheless, we were still excited to get out in the woods and
give the calls a chance to do their jobs.
We got into the car and made the 10 minute drive to the farm that we had previously scouted. This is a
farm we have been hunting for 11 years; we have taken many nice bucks from it but had never seen turkeys until recently.
We had been waiting patiently for this property to get turkeys and finally 2 years ago was the first time that we had the
opportunity to finally see them. Paul shot a huge tom there that year.
The next step for us was to stalk into the blind; we decided to come in from the back line because we
figured we would have less of a chance of putting the birds off their roost. It made for a little longer walk, but we knew
it would be worth it for the chance at a couple of nice long beards. As we were getting close to our set up we put our two
hen decoys out 20 yards into the field and placed a single jake decoy off to their right.
As we were sitting there we decided we would not touch the calls until after we had heard the first few
gobbles so we would know where the birds were situated. After 30 minutes of daylight and hearing the crows going we had
still not heard a gobble so we decided to give a few calls and see if we could make something happen. We called but received
no response. A short time later Paul was scanning the tree lines with his binoculars and spotted a bird roosted in a tree
across the field 400 yards away. Even with good optics we couldn’t decide if it was a gobbler or a hen. We watched that bird
intently until 7:30 when it finally flew down from the tree. Still not hearing any gobbles we continued to make selective
calls every 15 minutes. At this point it was 8:00 am and we figured the bird we saw come off the roost should have made its
way over to us by now, we were getting a little frustrated thinking that it must have went the other way. It was the only
bird we had seen all morning and figured all the birds we had seen while scouting must have moved to another property. Paul
and I started to talk and decide that we would wait until 8:30 and if we had not heard or seen anything then I would walk
down the trail and see if there was anything in the alfalfa field. When 8:30 arrived we were really disappointed that our
first morning we had not seen or heard anything and the thought that our plans of an exciting double header was fading fast.
I had just got up from the blind and I was half way down the trail when I heard what I thought was a
gobble coming from the cornfield behind me. I wasn’t sure that I heard it until I turned and looked at Paul and he was
frantically waving at me to hurry back. As I scurried down the trail I heard another gobble and then immediately after that
another one. It was music to our ears as we now knew there were two gobblers approaching. Luckily for me there was a small
hill in between our blind and the birds so I was able to sneak back into the blind without being seen.
We have done enough hunting together to know that things don’t work out as planned when trying to shoot
on the count of 3. It always seems that one gun goes off quicker than the other and one if not both end up missing so we
always pick a shooter and the second guy is ready to make his shot immediately after the first gun goes off. That way the 1st
shooter can take all the time they want to make the shot count. Earlier in the morning we had been talking about who would
get the first shot and after some deliberating Paul was nice enough to let me have the first crack as I would have less
time to hunt this season due to an 8-5 work schedule.
Paul held his slate call in his hand while making some calls; he had these gobblers responding to
everything. We now knew the birds were interested in us and from every gobble could tell they were getting closer. Finally
we got the first glance at the fans just over the hill. They were a perfect half moon, which brought the thoughts of an
opening morning double header back to reality. They were both coming in as if on a string right into us, we were ready and
waiting.
Paul whispered for me to take the shot whenever I had the chance, but I did not want to take one until
I knew that he would have the opportunity to have a shot as well. The lead tom came straight into the hens; I knew he was
well in range but Paul’s bird was hanging up. I held the gun on my bird waiting patiently for the second tom to come into
range. Finally after a stubborn few minutes the rear tom turned and strutted in. When the second tom came into range I knew
I could confidently take the shot. I whispered to Paul, “get ready” and looked back over at the bird in front of me. I then
buried his neck behind the bead of my 12 gauge and fired; in a puff of feathers he instantly flopped over. As the roar of my
gun ended Paul’s instantly sounded off and I was able to turn in time to see our second gobbler doing the death flap. With
this all happening in seconds we ran out to each bird and made sure they were down for good. After realizing what had just
happened we were still going crazy with excitement. We gave one another hugs and congratulated one another on the amazing
opening morning double header that we had just had.
This morning was full of ups and down as we really thought we were going to be going home empty handed,
instead we went home with two beautiful big Toms. This will be an opening day that we will never forget as it was our first
ever double header.
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