Opening Day 2010 ~ article

"MISSED JUDGE"
ED NOONAN COLUMN 4-1-2010

Ever since my first wild turkey hunt back in the mid-70s I have been addicted to the sport. And because of this my love for it has taken me to 8 states and two countries which included a week in the heart of the Yucatan jungle sleeping in a thatched roofed hut covered in bug screening. And this year, as in the past 5 years my turkey hunting season began in Florida.

It began well before sunup sitting in a ground blind in Volusia County with Bill Henry of Southern Pine Hunting. His hunts are all on private land and this particular property was a 150 acre area made up of open overgrown fields, pine tree woodlots and plenty of wet land due to the recent heavy rain falls in the last several weeks. Our setup, which Bill had prepared well before my arrival was just 15 yards off a sandy grass road that crisscrossed through the property. And this road was full of turkey tracks.

For this hunt I was carry two weapons, a crossbow which was my first choice for the hunt, and a Taurus Judge 45/410 five shot revolver loaded with No. 4 shotshells. I was hoping to arrow my first wild turkey(Osceola) with the crossbow and the Taurus was my backup.

Several days before the hunt I met Bill at his home in New Smyrna Beach where we punched holes in turkey targets at various distances to insure that the crossbow was on target and to re-test the pattern of the revolver. Both had their limitations and that is what I had to be sure of, and is something all turkey hunters should do before their hunt; regardless of what they are shooting.

The crossbow was extremely accurate out to 40 yards and even 50 yards. The 6.5 inch barreled revolver however was really limited to about 12-15 yards with the No. 4 ammo which is not very far; but I also know that I have shot a number of toms at 10 yards or less. In fact, I called my first Florida Osceola tom in to less than 10 yards. Now with all this information I was ready. But, little did I know that this was the beginning of my “missed Judge” hunt.

It was actually about 6:30 a.m. when we settled into the blind. Bill had placed two decoys, one at 20 yards and the other at 30 yards both directly in front of us. Bill then set up the video camera while I set up a tripod rest and placed the crossbow on it.

As we waited Bill told me about the birds he had been watching in this area during the past two weeks. And he had added that at least 4 – 5 of them were mature toms; all of which he had captured on his trail camera. All I needed was one of these boys to walk in and investigate our decoys.

I don’t know what it is about sunup in Florida, but it is always beautiful. And on this morning it was outstanding. Just sitting there watching the sun coming up and its golden rays shining through the palmetto and scattered pines was really breathtaking; especially for a northerner who just a week or so earlier was looking at 5 foot snow piles at the end of his driveway.

I was anxious to here that first gobble and hen yelps announcing the opening of the Florida turkey season but unfortunately that gobble was not as quick as I had expected it to be. Time to call; and Bill began makes several low volume yelps on his box call. He continued to call at 5-10 minute intervals and eventually increased the volume which solicited a distant call first from the south then another from the north. Two different toms; a very good sign. Quite often this scenario of two toms answering a hen’s call can produce rivalry between the two males and both will come in. Unfortunately that did not happen. I didn’ know for sure but chances are both toms were with hens and did not want to leave them.

I don’t know how many times I put the crosshair of the scope on the decoys and hoping that before too long I would be doing it to a real Osceola gobbler. Bill continued his calling both with the box and a slate call. And it was about 7:30 a.m. when we heard a cluck to our right and minutes later out came a healthy hen that was interested in our decoys. Hopefully she was not alone and there was an attending tom not far behind.
In the years I have been hunting Osceola turkeys I found that unlike the other species they were not nearly as vocal. Of the 7 Osceola turkey that I have shot, only two actually continued to respond to my calls as they came in. The other 5 came in silent. All of a sudden, they were just there. In fact, my first Osceola answered my call at first light they several times when he was on the ground and coming but then just went silent. I continued to call with no responses for at least an hour then decided to move. I was up on my knees about to pick up my calls when he stepped out about 25 yards from me. I managed to get the gun to my shoulder before he ran off and I dropped him on the run.

It didn’t take long for the hen to get bored with our decoys and as she started to leave I did put the crosshair on her before she disappeared into the brush. It was about 8:30 and only after Bill had done some calling that we decided to try a little walking-and-talking. We were the only hunters on this property so we did not have to worry about other hunters. We knew there were at least two toms out there and hopefully we could get a response to locate them and then make our plans.

But based on the terrain and cover moving through the heavy brush quietly would be almost impossible with the crossbow. My only other choice would be – the Judge. In all honesty, I actually wished I had taken my 3 1/2 inch magnum 12 gauge.

Our first move we headed for a bordering field on the south end of the property and when we got there Bill spotted several hens on the edge of the woods; but no gobblers. He made several calls in case the tom was in the woods but there were no response. Now it was time to head to the south side of the property.

We hadn’t gone too far past the blind when Bill stopped abruptly and pointed: “There he is.” I could see the black round blob off in the distance of the displayed tom, and with the binoculars Bill said he was a good one. The problem was he was right on the trail with several lady friends and about 500 yards away. Getting to him would be a problem; but not impossible. All we had to low-crawl through the high grass next to the trail about 150 yards to our left and get to the heavy brush tangles and palmetto bushes, stay out of sight for about 400 yards or so, crawl on our hands and knees through the heavy grass and brush the last 150 yards and take the shot. Oh, and did I mention that a large part of this sneaking and crawling was through a variety of 3 to 12 or more inches of water left from the heavy rains? But neither of us gave it a second thought.

With the Judge safely holstered I followed several yards behind Bill who periodically would glass the tom to insure where he was located. He wasn’t moving; and that was good for us as we were able to keep a fairly straight line to where he was. We were probably within a 75 yards of him when Bill whispered my final instructions. The rest was up to me.

He pointed out a lone palmetto bush in the tall grass that he thought would be about 20 yards or so from the tom and where I would make the shot. Very slowly and made my way on hands and knees to that bush and I actually thought I could hear the tom’s vroom sound of him drumming.

When I reached the bush I sat up, drew the Judge and waited a minute to catch my breath. And yes, my heart was beating. I knew when I stood up all eyes would be on me and that there would be little time to do what I had to do. If I was lucky I would get one shot, maybe two but it was now or never.

Surprisingly when I jumped up the tom had its back to me but the hens were immediately alerted and sounded their putt putts. As was turning I cocked the hammer, placed the front sight on the base of his neck an unleashed the No. 4 shot which I immediately followed up with another. He never slowed down and took flight with his hens. “I should have brought my 12 gauge.”

When Bill ranged the distance of my shot it measured 30 plus yards, much too far for my revolver. Thus ended my “missed Judge” Florida turkey hunt. But then and there I re-booked my hunt with Bill for next year: A hunt on which I will more than likely be doing with my regular turkey gun.

If you are looking for a quality Osceola turkey hunt with a great guide, and at a reasonable cost Bill Henry of Southern Pines Hunting.com is the man you want to hunt with.