LOCATION: PARKER, KANSAS
SPECIES: EASTERN WILD TURKEY
HUNT TYPE: PRIVATE RANCHES SELF GUIDED
OUTFITTER: DO IT YOURSELF HUNT
Thursday April 12th: We arrived at Kansas City International and drove 80 miles south to a
ranch outside of Parker, KS. I met our gracious hosts Greg and Ann Christensen. By this
time it was raining and the Friday morning hunt was looking like a soggy one.
Friday April 13th: We woke up at 5 am to pouring rain and snow in the forecast. We decided
not to hunt since none of us brought rain gear. We spent the day scouting the different
properties Greg had lined up for us to hunt on. We saw a few birds and it looked like they
were still in somewhat of a fall pattern. Later that night it snowed and snowed hard. We
decided to head to Olathe, KS and see the new Bass Pro Shop. I had never been to Bass Pro
before and needless to say I could spend hours in there. I made it out with only spending
40 bucks.
Saturday April 14th: We woke at 5 am to more snow and figured it was worth going out and
slept in. At around noon the sun peaked out and the 3-5 inches of snow began to melt. We
went down to the back pasture and set up to see if we could lure some birds in. After an
hour or so we packed up to head to greener acres. I hunted a property made up of timber
pasture land and wheat. Barry and his dad headed off to try their luck on another property.
We stayed out until dusk and I didn't even hear a yelp. Barry saw some toms at the property
they were at and we decided to hunt there in the morning.
Sunday April 15th: This was our last full day of hunting. Barry, Tanner and I were up again
at 5 am to 32 degree weather, but the forecast was sunny and warm. Today was looking good
with spring weather. We headed off to the property Barry hunted the night before. After we
arrived we saw two other trucks parked on the property. More hunters, something we expected
since the weather was nice. A little while later the timber lining the wheat crop came
alive with gobbles and yelps from every direction. Today was looking good. We set up on the
edge of the wheat across from a roost area with a hen decoy and Barry's home made turkey
fan on a stick. We sat and Barry and I called back and forth for a good hour. After hearing
a few shots in the distance most the gobbling subsided. By this time my butt and legs were
numb and I turned onto my side to get some circulation. A few moments later I caught sight
of a hen sneaking towards our decoys. I slowly made my way to an up right position careful
not to spook her. Once upright, to my surprise I saw at least 20 more hens and a Jake. I
knew there would be a big Ol' Tom in tow and I eased my gun up to position. Then I heard
the unmistakable wings dragging sound that all turkey hunters know. I started to adjust my
gun when a hen picked up my movement out of the brush and the inevitable alarm putt went
out to warn the others. I looked over and saw the Tom near Barry's fan decoy, about 25
yards from where I thought Barry was sitting. Then I heard a BOOM then another BOOM, but
the Tom was still standing. I decided to spray and pray at 40 yards and fired one off at
the Tom by then he was on a dead run back to cover. We couldn't believe he made it out
alive. We tried another set up on the other side of the property and spent the remainder of
the morning hoping another Tom would find he way into our sights, but it didn't happen.
We went back for lunch and decided to go back to the same field in hopes of getting a Tom
on his way back to roost. We split up trying to cover most the property. After a couple
hours I heard two more shots and knew it was Barry or his dad. I stayed put and called
occasionally with the exception of couple of hens passing by and a few distant gobbles, no
luck. I met up with Barry at dusk and found he had shot and missed at a lone gobbler who
was about to rough up his homemade fan decoy at 10 yards and missed both shots. We called
it a day and headed in. Knowing we were leaving the next day I was truly frustrated. I have
never heard so many gobbles and not been able to lure a bird to me. I was looking forward
to our final morning hunt.
Monday April 16th: Up again at 5 am. Today we decided to split up and hit different
properties to increase our chances and I'll be damned if I was going home empty handed. I
was dropped off at the pasture behind the ranch where we had seen birds on the roost, but
the tree was over the fence on private property. I was sceptical but knew there were
turkeys in the area. Just as the sun started to break the gobblers started gobbling. It was
looking good. I found a good place to sit in a mess of logs and branches in a semi dry
stream bed. I could hear more gobbles and it sounded like they were now on the ground and
the good news they were on the side of the fence I could hunt. I made a few clucks and
yelps on my trusty box call every now then with only the occasional response from a
gobbler. I knew they were close and probably hen'd up. I just stayed put hoping the they
would head my way. After about an hour I saw a group of around 20 hens heading out of the
timber 200 yards to my south. Just beyond them were three full fans bouncing around over
the horizon. This was it. Time to get one of the Toms heading my way. I made some more
yelps from my box and got no response from the gobblers. I did how ever peak the interest
of a few hens and they started to head my way slowly. I slid deeper into the creek bed and
made a couple more soft yelps. After I saw the hens were continuing towards me I put the
call down and figured I'd let them do all the work. After sitting in the most uncomfortable
position I could possibly get in the hens were on top of me. They milled around for a bit
then steadily continued past me. I could still see the three fans bouncing back and forth
in the distance. They were Closer but not close enough. I sat tight and watched them. A few
minutes later I saw one of the gobblers bouncing around and giving a couple of wing beats
and kicks to the others. I figured he was the boss because they made no attempt to fight
back. After a few more minutes I noticed only two of the fans remained in the distance. I
sat and wondered where the third went. I continued sitting hoping they would follow the
hens and get in shotgun range. Just then I heard that lovely sound of wings dragging and it
was close. Then I saw him out of my peripheral vision standing in full strut about ten feet
from me. I needed to get up on my gun a little better since half my body was asleep from
sitting motionless for around an hour and a half. Luckily there was a small tree between
the gobbler and me, all I needed to do was wait until his head was behind it to adjust my
position. He broke strut, I'm assuming to see the hens behind me, then poked his head
behind the tree. I slid up on my 11-87 and waited. As soon as his head cleared the tree
BOOM and he was down. I got to him quick and saw that the shot had done the trick by
removing most of his head. 8 am I had the boss gobbler. Now all I needed was a nice field
photo. I got everything posed and to my chagrin found the batteries in my camera were dead.
I headed back to the road to wait for my ride.
Barry and the fellas picked me up and I found they had been unsuccessful in their morning
pursuit. We got back to the ranch to weigh and measure the beast. 24 lbs 11" beard and
longest spur measured in at 1 1/2" with an unofficial score of 73.5. The pictures are below.
This was my first time hunting Eastern turkey outside California and besides the weather it
was a pleasurable experience. I can't say Eastern birds differ from any other species of
turkey when they have a mess of hens. However, the birds we hunted are not pressured and
they did act more wary then most turkeys. I have never scene a bird in a field run like
hell when a car passes them. The area of Kansas we hunted holds a ton of birds and is very
unique. I never thought I would hunt turkeys in a wheat field.
I would like to give my sincere thanks to the Christensen family and Barry Woods for giving
me this opportunity to hunt the Eastern wild turkey. The bird is off to Andy Campbell at
Look Alive Taxidermy.
