Sandy’s rainy day gobbler – Her first ever!

Entry #6

© By Othmar Vohringer

This is the story of a husband convincing his wife to join him on a turkey hunt and would you know it she harvests her first tom. Needless to say Sandy is hooked and her husband Arnold is happy to have a new hunting partner.

I am a great supporter of getting more women into hunting and what better example then this husband and wife spring turkey hunt story.

Story by Arnold Okonski

It was May the 8th a cloudy morning with rain showers in New York's spring turkey season just west of the Mass border.

The night before I had convinced my wife to go out turkey hunting with me, She has before but never any action so she gave it up for a few years. We set up on the edge of a field before daybreak. I started with some soft tree calls and right away had a gobbler answer.

I told the wife that this was a good sign and noticed her ready to shoot. I laughed and told her to relax that she will know and I will tell her when to be ready. After a short time it was time to start to call, and now at least 3 gobblers answered. I told her to be ready and went over the distance and shot placement with her. She was worried about missing she left her glasses home. The gobblers came to the edge of the field but into a depression so they never seen the decoys and they hung up on us. I continued to call and now we had a bird gobbling behinds us. I was excited so you can picture her excitement. Now it starts to rain after an hour of calling and the birds answering every call but will not come out of the depression.

The bird behind us now circled to our left and was in the field also. But we never had seen them. Now an hour and a half goes by and the goes “I have to move I can’t sit like this to much longer.” I also had to move so we shifted slowly and I told her to relax for a bit but to have her shotgun ready on her lap. We started to laugh on how many times the birds would gobble and never come close. They would even gobble when some heavy equipment was heard in the distance. After an hour and forty-five minuets went by I told the wife I was going to try an old trick. I will climb up the tree and if I can see the birds I will stay and continue to try to entice them to come in, but if I could not coax them closer I would go 40 to 50 yards behind her and then call again and it may bring the birds closer.

She said "OK as long as you are here when I shoot ". I laughed and said that would be hard to do from 50 yards away but be ready it may happen fast. I inched up the tree and could not see the birds so I slowly took off and went 40 yards behind my wife’s position. I sat down and called. As I had hoped one bird fell for it and came trotting up the edge of the field. Now I know she can see the turkey and I called again and the tom gobbled again.

A few seconds went by but it felt like forever and now I am thinking when is she going to shoot. I went to call again, figuring the bird was moving as I could not see him any more just then I heard a shot rang out. I got up to run over to my wife and seen her jumping up in the air saying; " I got it, I got it, I got it “. To see her face, the excitement and the thrill was priceless. I went over to the bird and seen it was a nice size 21 lbs, 9 1/2-inch beard and a whopping 1 1/2 inch spurs.

Right away she asked; “Is it bigger than your bird?” I said that it was and she got even happier. I asked what it looked like form where she was positioned, as I could not see the final seconds, and she told me. “I seen him come over the hill and I was going oh my God, oh my God. I hope I don't miss and he was moving. So when he went behind the tree I got ready and thought I will lead him and have him walk into the shot and he did .I shot and he went right down no flapping just plop.”

Looking into her face as she told her story was like a little kid telling of her adventure's wide eyed and a big grin. I told her she did everything right and to wait to get ready was a pro move. We still talk about it today and still smile each time and yes she will remind me that she is the new king of the turkey hunting household, but I don't mind I have a new hunting buddy and who better than my life long buddy.

Tags: Spring Turkey Contest, Rainy Day Gobbler, Husband and Wife Hunting Team

John's first turkey hunt in Minnesota

Entry #5

© By Othmar Vohringer

John is a member of the SHS Hunting Chat Forum and he went recently on his very first turkey hunt. Notice as you read his exiting story that when he changed his turkey call to a Heirloom Turkey Call he got lots of gobblers answering him back. There is a reason why I became a pro-staff member of Heirloom. They make the best turkey calls in the industry, simple as that!

Now without further ado here is the hunting report in John’s own words. Enjoy!

This was my first time turkey hunting of the 5-day hunt here in Minnesota. My first day hunting I had toms gobbling all morning but they where all the way across the river. I watched them strut and gobble along the river bank for couple hours, I had 2 hens and 1 jake decoy sitting out on the ridge top looking over the river but they still would not come over.

I was using a mouth call it started to rain and started to hail so I called it a day and went home. My second day I went back at 5:00 am put one hen decoy out and got in my blind and waited for the pheasants to crackle they got the toms talking soon. I heard a tom sound off I picked up Toby’s Rebel Yell box call (Heirloom Turkey Calls) and an answer from a tom came back, then the whole river bottom lit up with turkeys. This was at 6:00 am so I waited some more and listen for a tom to gobble and then I would answer him back.

This went on for a couple hours. Finally I look out my blind window and there was a bird straight across from me and the other side of the river so I used the box call a little more aggressive and then I acted like I was going away from him. All of a sudden I heard him flying over my ground blind and he landed 15 yards on the other side of my blind so I quit calling. Then I saw the farmers sheep coming in the area and chase the bird away. One of the sheep took off my hen decoy and drops it about 5 yards from the blind. I used the box call to try and get the tom to come back. I see the bird running towards the decoy as the sheep moved away, so I pickup the shotgun and fired at hi from five yards he did a couple back flips and it was over. The tom had a beard but the shotgun blast at such close range destroyed it. The turkey weighed 19 pounds.
Thanks to Heirloom Turkey Calls for getting me hooked on turkey hunting.

John Schroeder

Tags: Minnesota Turkey Hunt, Spring Turkey Hunting Contest, Heirloom Turkey Calls, SHS Hunting Chat Forum

Two toms in one day

Entry #4

© By Othmar Vohringer

The following submission has been sent in by Marc Alberto from New York. You can read and see more of Marc at his blog NYBowhunter

The following submission has been sent in by Marc Alberto from New York. You can read and see more of Marc at his blog NYBowhunter

It was the second morning of New York's spring turkey season and I was hunting just south of the Adirondack Mountains with my college buddy, Kevin. We set up along the edge of a field that had recently been tilled and we knew birds were using a cut cornfield behind us. Our plan was to catch the birds moving across this field on their way to one of the other fields.

As day began to break only a faint gobble was heard way off in the distance; this was not looking to be a promising day. I had my full strut decoy and hen decoy about 20 yards in front of me so that any bird coming into the large field would see the decoys and hopefully come in and that was just what happened.

About an hour into the hunt I caught movement about 150 yards away on the opposite corner of the field. I saw two birds making their way in and one appeared to be a gobbler although it was hard to tell. As the bird came in closer I noticed the white head, but couldn't find a beard and never saw the bird strut or heard it gobble once. I then realized it was a Jake as the second bird was clearly a hen and smaller in size. I still do not know why the Jake came right into a full strut Tom decoy, but as he passed the decoy at 40 yards I sent a 3 1/2" round of copper plated number fours his way and bagged my first bird of the season. It just so happened that both my college buddy and his father had watched the whole thing from opposite ends of the field and it was a great start to our morning.

Now we had to get my buddy a bird. I moved about 100 yards away from where I shot my bird watching the same field as my buddy moved up into the hardwoods near the upper cut corn field. Not more than 15 minutes after I sat down and started to call I saw a hen in the open field. I quickly radioed Kevin, but heard no response. The hen walked across the field and almost into my lap. It was an incredible experience. Then I heard a gobble not more than 50 yards away and five minutes later there was a huge eastern longbeard strutting and drumming about 15 yards in front of me. I was tagged out for the day (you can only take one bird per day in NY) so I let the bird walk back out into the open field and then watched him for an hour strutting and gobbling his head off. I called my buddy on the radio repeatedly, but he must have shut it off cause he never answered. Having fun with the bird I called using a diaphragm and slate call at the same time and got the bird all fired up. About an hour later the bird started coming back my way. This time I didn't call and let him walk into the woods. No more than ten minutes later I heard him start gobbling and then BOOM! My buddy called me on the radio - got him!

Later that day we weighted the birds and my Jake came in at a whopping 12lbs with 1/4" spurs and a 1" beard while Kevin's bird that I had to kick off my feet as it tried to walk over me weighed 22lbs, sported a 9.5" beard and had 1 1/4" spurs. It was a hunt we'll both never forget.

Tags: Spring Turkey Hunting Contest, Turkey Hunting , Turkey Hunting In New York

Working hard to get a tom

Entry #3

© By Othmar Vohringer

Ken Coulson of Liberty Lake, WA sent me his entry for the 2008 Spring Turkey Hunting Contest. Reading his story reminds us all that turkey hunting is no picnic. At times it is hard work and it doesn’t always turn out the way we plan it. However, if we keep at it and keep going out to pursue our dream it will be rewarded.

Here is Ken’s picture and story. Enjoy

After a terrible weather report for this weekend Saturday afternoon wasn't to bad. Decided to go hunting Sunday morning (April 20, 2008). Nathaniel couldn't go, studying hard for a big AP test in a couple of weeks. He was also gone for the last couple of days to jazz competition in the Tri-Cities so was feeling even more pressure.

Again I got a slow start in the morning. I was going to go to Mt. Spokane but it was completely covered with a big black cloud and Mica Peak was out in the sun so I decided to go that way. Went up to some Inland Empire Paper Co property that we've been to before (the same place Chuck and Roger got birds last fall).

I parked in the normal location at about 9:30 and started walking in.
Going up first hill I knew I had too much long underwear on. The sun was on me and I was getting pretty hot. I got to the top of the hill and stopped to cool off and watch some white tail deer just in front of me.

They just looked back. Then all of the sudden a turkey flew away only 20 feet away! I hadn't even seen it! I thought it was a hen but wasn't sure so I went back downhill looking for it. Didn't see it again. Started back up hill again. This time looking more carefully for sign, which I did see.

Continued walking north and entered into an area that was pretty logged.
Not much cover, it was all pretty open in the area. I had been making occasional calls, no responses. Then in the distance I heard a gobble.
I worked my way slowly to a spot where I could see further ahead.

Spotted a group of 6 or 7 birds. They were still lots of hundreds of yards ahead and there was very little cover. They did not respond to calls other than a couple of toms displaying. What to do? They weren't coming to me so I had to go to them. I was in downed trees so I started using them to get to a little gully that had a bit of brush cover in it. I climbed over a tree and a tom flew away right next to me.

Got to pay better attention!

I could see the group ahead of me still and had a bit of cover. They had move up to higher ground so I had some chance to sneak up. I moved forward with what cover I had, getting closer to ridge top. They then moved to other side of ridge and they were out of view. This was good. I was able to quickly move to close to the top of the ridge without being seen. (I think they had already seen me even though I was a long ways off.) I got close to the top and there was next to no cover. I crept in and was getting close to range when two of the birds went left along the ridge and five flew off.

They went quite a ways, but I could see where they went. It was some of the only standing timber in a creek drainage (they have to leave some for watershed protection). Which way to go? I had already picked out what I thought was big tom; it was one of the two that went along the ridge on foot.
I decided I'd better look for those two first. This was again difficult as there was basically no real cover. I crept along and spotted the two and I was in range, about 35 yards. Boom, they were both still moving, boom! At this point they were slightly downhill and I couldn't see them.

I sprinted over there. No bird. I was sure I'd hit one. Keep looking around. Found one of them in a little bit of brush about 40 yards away.
Luckily it was still flapping a bit making it easier to find. This was a nice sized bird. Was looking around and spotted two more groups of birds, both 6 to 7 in number way in the distance. Looking good for further hunting!

Took a couple of pictures, called Roger, and then started the mile walk
back to the truck. Luckily I was pretty close to the main logging road
running through the area so the walk was pretty easy, though a big bird
starts getting heavy quick! Back to the car and home.

Talked to Tamara, who was over at a friend's house (Jensens). Gary was excited to hunt also. I told him I'd be glad to go again. He rushed out to get license/tags and his gear together. We headed back up there at about 2:30.
We went to spot where I had seen one of the groups of 6 or 7. We were in this steep valley when we spotted them up towards the top on the hillside.

I told Gary was what we should do is have one person go up and the other stay in the bottom. If they fly, they are going to fly downhill right towards the bottom. Gary decides we should both go up the hill. We worked up the steep hillside. Again this is Inland Empire property and is pretty logged.
Not much cover. After not much time I spot the birds. A group of 7. I'm in a good spot, a little group of small trees and am out of sight.

They have not acted as if they've seen us. I radio Gary to not move, the birds are just ahead about 50 yards. (Chuck the radios are great!) I've got the scope on and the safety off. They are a long shot but marginally within range.
I'm thinking to let Gary try a shot and it's a long shot so I'm holding off.
He gets to antsy and moves. They all fly off down the valley. I almost shoot, but it was a long shot so I hold off. I told Gary they aren't going to stay down at the bottom of the valley, they can't fly very well out of there.

We wait a few minutes and then continue moving along hillside. Just a bit later I spot 4 birds ahead. It was amazing how fast they came back up
(I'm assuming it's not a different group). This time they are nervous and know we are there. We are now in a snow squall with thunder and lighting!
We try to work towards them (no response to calls this entire hunt).
They move ahead of use, out of range. Finally they drop out of sight over a little drop. I radio Gary to get up there super fast, they can't see us.
I quickly move up to gully top and peer over. Four birds just ahead. 40-ish yards. Gary is still 40 yards behind me and not moving to fast. I decide I'd better take a shot they are in range. 3 of the 4 are toms. Boom.
Doesn't drop. Boom. They fly off. We pull back to regroup and try again.
By now it's getting a bit late and we end up having to leave. Near freezing with occasional snow. I'm convinced the RedDot scope is a piece of junk. Just too much parallax error.

Back home. 22 1/2 lbs before cleaning. Tamara and I plucked and cleaned.
This was a big tough bird. It had fighting spurs and a 8" beard. Very nice fan, going to keep this one. The gullet was completely empty. Hmmmm.
Stomach had grass and small pebbles.

Tags: Spring Turkey Hunting Contest, Turkey Hunting Team, Turkey Hunting In Washington

Making a lifelong friend through turkey hunting

Entry #2

© By Othmar Vohringer

Wild Turkey Fever reader Brian Keck from Boonville NY sent me the picture bellow showing him and his Cousins husband and hunting partner Dom with two nice Eastern wild turkeys the harvested on May 12th.


Here is the story of that particular hunt in Brian’s own words. Enjoy!

These birds were taken May 12th 2008 in Boonville NY by Me Brian Keck and my Cousin’s husband Dom Ventiquattro.
I am originally from upstate NY and now live in West Virginia. For two years Dom has left an open invitation for me to come to his home in Boonville to hunt turkeys. I was going to go last year but killed a bird in southern NY and opted to head back home early.

Well this year I decided to definitely go to Boonville. Dom and I really didn’t know each other to well other than meeting at the occasional family get together. I arrived at Dom’s house late Saturday night and the next morning we headed out to the farm he hunts and had birds gobbling all morning. After having some deer sniffing are decoys, we called in a Jake at around 9:00am and I took him with my Remington 870 super mag.

The next morning we headed back to the same spot, which is a hedge row on a hill side that overlooks two fields that are divided by a drainage ditch with scrub brush and a small stream. From the hedge row to the end of the second field is a good 400 to 450 yards across. Well after a fairly quiet morning of just seeing a couple hens come in and out of the fields, at around 9:30 we spotted 7 birds all the way across the second field. We were mixing up the calls yelping and clucking, I was switching between my HS strut diaphragm, a lynch box call and my Knight & hale old yeller with a wood wise wet stick striker. Those birds worked there way across that field, as they got closer we could see three gobbles and four hens.

The big tom took the lead as he was gobbling and strutting. The hens were yelping and clucking like crazy. When they arrived at the drainage ditch they milled around still strutting and gobbling but I was not sure that they were going to cross the stream. We started yelping and again the big guy took the lead across the water and the rest followed. Dom let out a few purrs and pulled those birds right in close, he let loose with his favorite double barrel 12 gauge on the big tom, after his shot rang out there were birds running every where, one of the jakes stopped about 25 yards out and I put him down as well. That was by far the most fun and most exciting turkey hunt I had ever been on and I will be going back to Boonville for years to come. But the best thing of it all is that I made a very good friend and a life long hunting buddy in Dom. You couldn’t ask for a better guy, he mad me feel like we had been friends all our lives. Thanks Dom.

What I especially like in this story is how Brian Keck explains the different calls and calling sequences they used to lure the turkeys into their set up. This illustrates an important point I always stress in my seminars. In order to sound natural it is imperative to mix your calling up and use different calls. Especially on hard hunted birds. This is often all the difference needed to be successful. Sounding like a flock of turkeys always will get the resident birds fired up to investigate.

There is still time to take part in this contest and win a top quality Heirloom turkey call. For more information on how to take part click here! But hurry up it all ends on May 31, 2008.

Tags: Spring Turkey Hunting Contest, Turkey Hunting Team, Easter Wild Turkey, Turkey Hunting In New York, Turkey Calling Tips

Getting a tom the hard way.

Entry #1

© By Othmar Vohringer

Wild Turkey Fever reader Mike Carruth harvested this beautiful tom, what appears to be of the Merriam’s subspecies, in Placer County, California.

Unfortunately, Mike did not volunteer more information on the hunt other than that he harvested this gobbler with a compound bow, which is in itself a great achievement. His good friend Dan called the bird with a box call. The tom’s spurs measured 1.25” and he had a beard of an impressive 10.75”.



There is still time to take part in this contest and win a top quality Heirloom turkey call. For more information on how to take part click here! But hurry up it all ends on May 31, 2008.

Tags: Spring Turkey Hunting Contest, Bowhunting Turkeys, Merriam’s Turkey, Pacer County, California Turkey Hunting

Your 2008 Spring Turkey Shots

© By Othmar Vohringer

The following picture was sent to me by a reader of Wild Turkey Passion, the caption said that this was the hunter’s first turkey harvest ever and he used a Heirloom turkey call.

Unfortunately this is the only information the reader provided me with. I am proud of his first turkey hunting success and as a Pro-Staff member of Heirloom it thrills me that the hunter used a Heirloom Turkey Call.


This has given me the idea to make a contest here at Wild Turkey Passion.
Send me your 2008 spring turkey harvest pictures and include a short story about the hunt and equipment used.

(All pictures submitted must be from turkeys harvests made during this years spring hunting season. Only one submission per hunter is permitted.)

All submissions will be posted here at Wild Turkey Passion. In addition I will chose a winner of this contest. The winner will receive an original Heirloom Double Barrel (photo) from my personal stock.

The double barrel call features two sound surfaces one in glass the other surface is made of quality slate. This unique feature gives a hunter essentially two in one call and the sound variety needed to fool a tom in thinking that he follows the calls of several hens.

Contest ends on May 31. Submissions of a later date are welcome but cannot take part in the contest of winning a Heirloom turkey call.


I am looking forward to see your pictures and read your hunting stories. Send all submission per Email.

Tags: 2008 Turkey Contest, Turkey Hunting, Turkey Hunting Pictures

The Ultimate Turkey Camouflage

© By Othmar Vohringer

You have done your scouting and found a flock of turkeys. You learned where they come and go from and chose several ambush sites. You brushed up on your turkey calling technique and patterned your shotgun. You have done all you can to turn hunting fortune in your favor and all you need now is a bit of luck and the right camouflage.

It is said that turkeys have eyesight equal to that of an eagle. Wearing camouflage from head to toe including hands and face is very important to turkey hunting success. What camouflage you wear often will decide if you bag a tom or go home without ever having fired a shot. We all have heard well-meaning advice that the camouflage has be chosen to suit the environment you hunt in. If you sit on the green grass and lean your upper body against a tree trunk you preferably should wear pants with a greenish camouflage pattern and a jacket with a brownish colored pattern. What that means for the avid turkey hunters is that he or she should have a wardrobe full of different camouflage patterns in all variations of patterns and colors. The downside to all this is that you need a lot of room to store all this camouflage and that it probably is going to cost you an arm and a leg.

There is a much simpler solution to this dilemma. Enter ASAT, a revolutionary camouflage pattern. ASAT stands for All Season, All Terrain. Yes, you read that right. A camouflage pattern that works anywhere any time regardless of terrain and seasons. It works so well in fact that it will render a hunter invisible to any game animals and even to other hunters in plain sight of them.

Before you say “But Othmar, now you’re pulling my leg…” let me explain why ASAT works better than any other camouflage you have been wearing. ASAT’s pattern is based on nature and how animals see things and not how humans do. Let me ask you: have you ever seen a deer or any other critter we hunt, with leaves, branches and bits of bark printed on its fur? No! I thought not. Animals have colors that range from white to tan and brown and as we all know a deer can vanish from our sight by just standing perfectly still.

ASAT has used that knowledge and combined it with the study they did on how animals view their world. Most animals see very differently from humans in that they do not see details and do not have color vision. Even animals that can differentiate between colors are more limited than we humans in what shades and hues they can perceive. ASAT does not mimic a forest, dessert or grassland with their pattern. What they did do is to create a light and shadow pattern that animals see everywhere in their environment.

The light and open pattern creates such a perfect illusion to an animal’s vision that it cannot distinguish the pattern from the surrounding; in addition, the human outline is completely broken up fooling the animal even more. Some years ago I conducted my own independent camouflage effectiveness test and found that most camouflage patterns hunters commonly wear are to dark; even if an animal might not see a human form it can see a distinct dark blob. ASAT on the other hand came out completely invisible to animals in the test.

On an interesting side note, during my research I asked a representative of a major camouflage company: “How do deer see your camo?” He answered me back: “I don’t know - we do not sell camouflage to deer we sell it to hunters and they like what they see.” That statement says it all. Modern camouflage is made to appeal to the hunter’s fashion sense. ASAT on the other hand does not look pretty to hunters but works great to fool an animals vision, even that of an eagle eyed turkey.

It is for this reason that ASAT is my camouflage pattern of choice for the past 15 years. Since I wear ASAT my game sightings have gone up. Sure you see turkeys by wearing fashion brand camouflage but how many did you not see because they saw you first? Or have you ever wondered why that big tom hangs up and intently keeps looking in your direction. Could it be that he has seen something that does not quite fit in the picture? Not frightening enough to turn and run away, but still suspicious enough to keep a healthy distance from you.

If you go to all the trouble of learning how to call turkeys, pattern your shotgun, scout and then sit in the woods on your chosen turkey ambush doesn’t it make sense to wear the ultimate turkey hunting camouflage to become invisible to turkeys? Sure it does.

To learn more about ASAT camouflage visit their website.

Read how ASAT camouflage helped me to a once in a lifetime Close Encounter with a whitetail deer buck.


Photos courtesy of ASAT OUTDOORS, LLC

Tags: ASAT Camouflage, The Ultimate Turkey Hunting Camouflage, Hunting Product Review, Turkey Hunting Tips

Hunters Helping Kids, Inc Youth Turkey Hunt.

© By Othmar Vohringer

As many of you know I am a proud supporter of Hunters Helping Kids, Inc and had the privilege to make an interview with Richard Worden, the New York Chapter President of Hunters Helping Kids. Today I received a long awaited update on the activities of this outstanding organization that does so much to pass the hunting heritage on to our young generation.

Youth Turkey Hunt Weekend Summary

The Northern New York chapter of Hunters Helping Kids, Inc. held their 3rd annual Youth Turkey Hunt weekend event on April 26 & 27th, 2008.
Fifty youngsters between the ages of twelve thru fifteen registered for the event with fourteen hunters harvesting a turkey.

On Saturday the 26th, after the turkeys were weighed in and pictures taken, hot dogs and hamburgers were served at the Sandy Pond Sportsmen Association’s Clubhouse to the youth hunters, their family and the callers. The Oswego County 4-H had their laser hunting game for the youth, which all enjoyed trying their luck. Also Katie Eastman gave a seminar, "The Life Cycle of a Turkey" which gave the young hunters some knowledge of the turkey.

On Sunday, back to the SPSA clubhouse again, there was weigh-in of the birds with pictures. Mr. Don Miller of Lakeside Taxidermy gave a demonstration of a full turkey mount, prior to a delicious roast beef dinner. Prizes were handed out to all the youth turkey hunters, even the younger kids were given something to take home. Dallas won the essay contest and won a Primo hunting blind. There were numerous door prizes given to the youth. Also the lucky successful hunter's name drawn was Ora and he won a full turkey mount from Lakeside Taxidermy in Fulton.

We were honored to have in attendance: NY State Senator Darrel Aubertine, Assemblyman Will Barclay, Oswego County Legislator of District I, Margret Kastler, NYS DEC officer Matt Harger, the new Pennsylvania HHK chapter, headed by Mr. & Mrs. Troy Miller and Mike Strickhouser with his daughter, Danielle, which was one of the successful youth turkey hunters plus Mr. Dale Dodson, National Director of Operations of Hunters Helping Kids who flew in from North Carolina to take part in the event.

A big THANK YOU goes out to the Sandy Pond Sportsmen’s Assn, the many sponsors and all the volunteers that made this a big success.

Richard Worden
Chapter President

If you would like to donate to the Hunters Helping Kids, Inc. to continue their important work or would like to become a volunteer visit the Hunters Helping Kids, Inc. website.

Here are a few pictures from the event.


These are just some of the prizes donated for the event.


The participants of the youth turkey hunt


Oran is the winner of the full turkey mount from Lakeside Taxidermy.


Dallas the essay winner admires his prize, a ground blind from Primos.


New York state Senator Darrel Aubertine posed proudly with a young turkey hunter.

Happy faces of some lucky young tukey hunters.






All images are courtesy of Richard Worden

I Spooked a Flock of Turkeys, What should I do?

© By Othmar Vohringer

The following is an excerpt of an email sent to me by a novice turkey hunter from British Columbia. Since this seems to be a regular occurring problem I decided to write about it here on my blog.

“…However, this morning I was an idiot and spooked 2 flocks in there at separate times this morning. One flock ran about 500 yards. So my last question is, will those turkeys that I spooked return in the next day or two? Obviously there is something about the area they liked, I just hope that they will return and that I didn't scare them out of there for awhile.”

Turkeys are a prey species for many larger animals. Coyotes, wolves, foxes, raccoons, and even raptors like to feast on turkey eggs and poults. With so many predators having turkey on their diet list it comes as no surprise that these birds are highly suspicious of everything that goes on around them. Lacking sharp teeth, horns or any other physical feature that a turkey could effectively use in defense against predators the only option for living another day is to flee the scene of real or perceived danger.

It is this cautious behavior that makes turkey hunting such a challenge. Whenever a turkey sees or hears something suspicious he reacts with heightened alertness and uses his eagle like vision to observe the area for any suspicious movement. A hunter walking up on a flock of turkeys is one of the suspicious behaviors a turkey looks for. Depending on the degree of the perceived threat the turkeys will react in one of the three following ways:

1. If the threat is perceived as an immediate danger the birds will take off flying.
2. If danger is recognized but not perceived as an immediate threat the flock may just run a few hundred yards in order to get some distance between them and the situation that caused them to spook. Once they have reached a safe distance the turkeys will usually observe the area for a few minutes and if nothing further happens they will resume normal activity.
3. In the least alarming situations where turkeys just see or hear something that is unusual they will usually stop whatever it is they are doing and use their keen vision to observe the area for a possible threat. Once satisfied that no danger is nearby they will resume normal activity within a few minutes of the incident that aroused their suspicion.

As turkey hunters we should take every precaution not to give turkeys any reason whatsoever to get alerted to our presence. I know that this is easier said than done and at times no matter how cautiously we move through an area we are bound at times to bump into turkeys (or spook a deer) which in turn, with its actions, alerts the turkeys in the vicinity to our presence.

To avoid been spotted by turkeys a hunter should never walk in the open or risk being silhouetted by walking on an open ridge top in an area where he is likely to run into birds. Wherever possible use the terrain and structure of the land to stay hidden from a turkey’s view. If you scout during the hunting season use the same stealth to move around as you would when you hunt. An old but very true adage is to use the binoculars more often than your legs. Nothing is more detrimental to hunting success than stomping around and making a lot of noise. Here is a piece of advice by which I scout and hunt: Never walk if you can drive, but never drive when you can use your binoculars to spot game animals.
The good news is that not all is lost when we spook a turkey flock. Depending on the situation, there are a number of things a hunter can do and still walk out of the woods with a turkey hanging over his shoulder.

In the first scenario where the birds take of flying watch where they are heading. Then, when the flock is out of sight, follow their direction as quickly and quietly as possible. Usually spooked birds do not fly very far. When you come near the point where you last saw them in flight slow down and stop frequently listening carefully for turkey sounds. As soon the turkeys land they start calling each other with the assembly yelp. Get to within a hundred yards or so of the calling birds and set up where you are well camouflaged and start imitating the turkeys lost yelp call. This tactic is likely to bring a turkey or two in your direction looking for one of their lost flock members.

In the second scenario where the birds run away do nothing. Let them run and watch where they are heading. In most cases the birds will not run far but if they are near a woodlot they can quickly disappear from sight. In either case, while the birds are still running you have two options. Either you slowly back away and then carefully stalk in a big circle and out of the birds view around the flock and try to get slightly ahead of them. Set up and resume calling once the birds return to their normal activity.

The other option is to back out of the area and go home. Come back the following day and be in that location just before dawn. Be set up and ready to hunt. A turkey’s daily routine, routes and places they visit remain a constant for as long as the area fulfills the turkey’s daily needs and is considered safe.

In the last scenario where the turkeys just appear alarmed but don’t go anywhere remain absolutely still. The turkeys will look very carefully in your direction; peering over every inch of their surroundings looking for the slightest movement. How good is a turkey’s vision? Let me put it this way: a turkey can see you batting an eyelid from a hundred yards away. So remaining still for as long as the turkeys are looking in your direction is very important. Turkeys key in on movement, meaning as long as you stand still they likely will ignore you. Once the birds are satisfied that you are no threat to them they will do one of two things. Either they resume normal activity or they will remain on the cautious side and walk away. In either case you can employ the same tactics that I have outlined in the second scenario. Either go home and be back the next day or try to get within range of the flock.

It is worth remembering that whenever you decide to follow a fleeing turkey flock you must do so with the utmost caution. Should you spook the birds a second time the game is usually over for good and it could take several days until the turkeys re-visit that given area again.

Tags:Turkey Hunting, Spring Turkey Hunting Tip

Heirloom Introduces New Turkey Call

© By Othmar Vohringer

The following press release has been sent to me by Heirloom Turkey Calls of which I am a proud Pro-Staff member.

Here at Heirloom Turkey Calls, we get a lot of feedback from all over the country
and as much as we love to hear our praises, we listen closely to suggestions
on how we can improve on our line of calls too.

It's these suggestions that have spawned a whole new member of the Heirloom Turkey Call family of game calls; the Over 'n’ Under!

This call is a hybrid call, combining the compactness of our Single Barrel callers
with the dual striking surfaces of our Double Barrel callers.

Whoever said you couldn’t have your cake and eat it too, was mistaken!
The Over 'n Under call was designed to utilize a hand turned hardwood pot
with a crystal striking surface placed above one of our patent pending Harmonic Resonators, which has been situated atop of a 1/8th inch thin wafer of Pennsylvania mined slate seated in the bottom of the pot.

From the top view, the call looks nearly the same as our Nationwide Best Seller,
the Single Barrel caller, but turning it over, you'll find that the bottom
of the pot has been partially removed to allow the user access to the slate surface.

How's it sound?
Incredible!

The top crystal striking surface retains all of the harmonic characteristics
expected of an Heirloom Turkey Call, while the bottom slate offers a real surprise.

It hasn't the intense volume of the crystal, but has mellowed a bit and offers
unprecedented purity of sound making this the most realistic,
short-range caller you will ever play.

Heirloom Turkey Call's Over 'n’ Under friction call
is a true beauty of workmanship and design,
thanks not only to the vision of our master call maker, Mr. Brian Warner,
but to you, our valued friends and customers who's input and suggestions have made this call possible.

Each of these hand crafted and tuned calls are signed and dated and will be released in limited quantity until Spring of '09, so order yours today and once again be the envy of all of your turkey hunting pals!

View and order the Over ‘n’ Under Call here

Tags: Heirloom Turkey Calls, Turkey Hunting Products, Slate Turkey Calls