2008 Hunts are brought to you by: Click on a logo to visit the sponsor's website                                                 Opening Morning Double 2008 -- By Paul Beasley -- Starting the season off right, Paul and Kevin enjoyed a double header on opening morning; the same way they've enjoyed the opener for three years in row. This year was different, this year they were able to enjoy it with their father in the blind with them running a camera.         The melting of the snow, the greening of the grass, the warming of the daytime air...these are all things that I look forward to each spring but the thing that gets to me the most, is hearing that first gobble of the year or seeing that first strutter out on a field edge. The 2008 season was looking very promising with lots of birds around and pre-season scouting revealed a group of birds working one of our favourite fields.     On the evening before opener, I was out in the woods trying to put the birds to bed so that we'd know exactly where to set up for first light. As luck would have it, I found the group, which consisted of 2 two toms and 3 or 4 hens. Luck was certainly on my side this evening as I inadvertently snuck in way too close to them. Luckily, I spotted a couple of the hens before they spotted me and I was forced to sit my butt down as quickly as possible and as it ended up, I was pinned there for the next two hours until they went to roost.     I was only able to see a couple hens at first but slowly more and more birds started popping up. I was up on a high hill that overlooked the field I expected them to be feeding in. When I arrived, they were actually on their way out of that field and coming up the hill I was on. Thankfully, I was dressed in full camo and had my RedHead Turkey Lounger vest on so I was able to sit up against a brush pile and with the help of the Turkey Lounger vest, I had back support.     The birds put on a great show for me which helped to pass the time. Back and forth across the top of this field they went. Eventually, while watching the two toms strutting up on top of the hill, I heard a lone gobble from down in the field below. Slowly, a hen appeared and not far behind her was another tom. This was great! I was thrilled to see two toms but three was just awesome. I don't know if the two original toms were brothers or just buddies but they stuck to each other like two new kids on the first day of highschool. Always trying to keep some distance between the intruder tom and the hens, the pair of gobblers were always running around trying to keep ahead of him. It was actually comical as the two toms were constantly trying to be the center of attention but the girls paid them very little. In fact, by the end of the night the girls went off to roost leaving the two toms all alone in the field. The lone tom and his hen had already left the scene and went back the way they came. I was anticipating that they were roosted on the edge of the field but couldn't be sure.     With the lone tom and his hen back down the hill in the field and the other hens roosted in the trees on the opposite side of the field, the two toms almost seemed torn up about where to go. Back and forth across the hill they went until eventually, very close to dark, they ran down the hill, across the field and flew up into the trees on the far side. This was great news because I now knew where all the birds were roosted and to make it even better, it seemed that all the birds were split up.     Below is a video of the birds on the evening before the opener.         I was really excited to get home and call Kevin to tell him the good news. He had been out scouting another farm but my results were much more positive so we began to make plans for the morning. We felt that the group of hens were most likely going to head towards that field in the morning after flydown so we felt it would be best to set up on the path between the two toms and the hens. We were so excited about the prospects of the morning hunt that our dad agreed to come and videotape for us. We actually went out late that night and set the blind up in complete darkness. Rather than risk scaring the birds in the morning, we felt this was the best method of approach.     The next morning couldn't come quickly enough. The three of us were nestled into the blind all ready to go well before daylight. Kevin was shooting his shotgun and I had brought both my shotgun and my bow. My goal was to use my bow but I brought the shotgun just in case we got into a situation where the bow wouldn't work.     We couldn't even see across the field before we heard the first gobble...and then another...and another. These birds were really fired up and well, needless to say we were too! By the time it got light enough for the camera to start filming, the two toms were already on the ground and we could see the other tom strutting up in the trees with his hen roosted not far from him. The two toms strutted around in front of that tom and hen for a long time before they finally started to show a little interest in our calls and ever so slowly began working our way.     Seeing a little bit of progress as the two toms inched closer, our hopes were dashed when the lone tom and hen flew down from the roost and began walking away from us. Figuring we had nothing to lose, we got on the calls pretty heavy and sure enough, the two toms turned their attention to us and started coming. Slowly but surely, they worked their way across the field and when they got to about half-way, the lone tom actually left his hen and started coming with them! It's very rare that you ever see one tom break away from a hen let alone all three! So with three toms now working our way and no hens to deal with anymore, we were feeling very good!     They took their time coming across the field to us and without decoys set up, we were a little concerned about getting them to cross by us within range. Kevin was ranging them as they came in and we had decided at the beginning of the hunt that since I was using a bow and Kevin was using a shotgun, I would take the first shot and Kevin would take the next bird. Kevin was counting the yards down as they progressed but when the closest bird hit the 35 yard mark, he turned to veer to our right. Feeling that he wouldn't get any closer, I stopped him with a cluck and squeezed off the shot. My arrow connected in a puff of feathers and my tom only took 3 more steps before collapsing. Kevin's bird hadn't figured out what had happened yet and stood around long enough for Kevin to get a solid bead on him and send a load of Winchester Xtended Range #6's on their way, crumpling him on the spot. The third tom, who had been hanging back a ways, turned and slowly walked off, gobbling as he went.     We jumped out of the tent and ran up to our birds, celebrating our success with some high fives and back slaps. It was a truly phenomenal morning that was exciting from start to finish. We're extremely grateful to have had our father, Ken, along with us for his first real experience in the turkey woods.     Below is a video of the hunt. Below is a video of Paul and Kevin discussing the hunt afterwards.     Return to 2008 Hunts Page