by Luke Clayton – catfishradio.org
I’ve often stated that after over forty-five years of hunting gobblers, no two hunts have ever been the same. Each one is a unique experience with varying circumstances dictating the way the hunt unfolds.
Well, I came close to having to eat my words this past week while on a hunt with my longtime friend Bill Carey, owner of Striper Express, a well-known striper guide service on Lake Texoma. This most recent hunt shared many similarities with the past year’s hunt but there were a few things different, let me tell you all about it!
Last spring Bill invited me to hunt, and I bagged a big gobbler during the first hour of the hunt. We set up a little camp under a big oak situated on the banks of a pond loaded with bream and ‘eater’ size bass. After a little fishing, I butchered the bird and chunked up and seasoned the breast meat. We shared a meal of golden-brown fried turkey strips and grilled asparagus. To my way of thinking, this is the stuff from which great outdoor memories are made. Gobblers were ‘hot’ on this hunt and once I got my old hen decoy “Heneretta” in position and began calling, I was answered by three different gobblers, the sounds coming from different directions. One bird was close, I estimated it to be within 75 yards and I softened my calling. In a matter of minutes old Long-Beard came sneaking in with another gobbler. The cover was very thick and the birds close, maybe fifteen yards. When both gobblers went behind a big oak, I positioned myself for the shot, thumbed the safety off my shotgun and when the head and neck of the biggest gobbler appeared from behind the tree, I dropped the hammer. Turkey hunting doesn’t get much more textbook or easy than last year’s hunt.
Just last week, I had Heneretta positioned in the little clearing, pretty close to where she was sitting last year, on a bit of a rise so she would be visible to any gobbler that might come out of the heavy brush into the clearing. I had my back against the same old oak, there were some limbs from a dead tree on the edge of the clearing in front of me which I hoped would help conceal me in case a gobbler might approach from across the field. I was in position just before sunrise when gobblers usually begin sounding off from their roost. Nary a peep did I hear. The woods were quiet as a graveyard, only the chatter of a fox squirrel in a nearby tree did I hear.
It’s always best to begin calling softly, you never know when a gobbler might be really close. But this morning, the woods were silent, the gobblers were simply not talking, and I had no idea if there were turkeys in the area or not. After ten minutes or so making soft yelps with my box call, I began bearing down on the striker, my intent was to make the sound carry as far as possible. With that first series of yelps, I heard a gobbler respond, but the sound was faint, as though it was coming from a distant hillside across a deep draw. A minute later, I again hammered down on the call and the bird’s answering gobble was still faint but sounded somewhat closer. The next ten or so minutes were textbook turkey hunting and one of the reasons I get up early and often drive long distances during turkey season.
I called loudly about once every minute and by the gobbles I heard back in the woods, I tracked the movement of the bird. He was obviously what we turkey hunters refer to as ‘hot’. Immediately after each series of loud yelps, he would stop, strut and gobble. Obviously, I couldn’t actually see the bird in all his strutting glory but that’s what gobblers do when they are coming to a call. They stop, display those beautiful feathers in a strut and gobble.
When the bird had closed the distance to an estimated fifty yards, my confidence went through the roof when he ‘cut off’ my calling with a leaf shaking gobble before I finished my series of hen yelps on the box call, a sure sign a bird is fired up and making a beeline to what he thinks is a romantic encounter with a receptive hen.
Heneretta, my trusty decoy, was positioned to my left out in the clearing and the bird was using the same route as that of last year’s gobbler. It looked like an exact repeat of the previous year’s hunt. I was sitting on the ground against the same tree, using the same call, same shotgun and my decoy was very close to where it had been a year ago. Last year I shot my gobbler at about 20 feet and fully expected this one to come directly to my calling. But as luck would have it I noticed his head bobbing through the heavy cover at 25 yards. He had spotted Heneretta in the clearing, and he approached what he thought was his lady love at a fast walk. The shot was anticlimactic! Boom! I had another big gobbler on the ground. This was an older bird with a full beard that measured 10.25 inches. We didn’t have scales, but I think he weighed at least 22 pounds, the heaviest bird I’ve shot in several years.
Back at our little camp under the same old oak where we enjoyed lunch last year, Bill and I broke out the camp stove and were soon dining on fajitas made from marinated venison steaks cut into fajita size pieces. A couple days before the hunt, I defrosted a package of venison from a whitetail doe I killed last January while hunting with my friends Edgar Cotton, Larry Weishuhn and Edgar’s son, David, on Edgard’s beautiful ranch in Kaufman County. The fajita pieces spent 24 hours marinating in Fiesta Brand seasoning with the juice from a couple limes squeezed into the Zip Lock bag. I put the meat on my Smokin Tex electric Smoker for a couple hours of hickory smoke which added greatly to the flavor. A few minutes in my old cast iron skillet with some jalapeno and bell pepper slices, onion and freshly chopped garlic and our fajitas were ready. I had prepared some of my camp beans that have become very popular with all my friends. The finished product is a bit like baked beans but better and very easy to prepare. Begin by sautéing jalapeno and a little bell pepper, fresh garlic and onion in a skillet after the fajita strips are done. Olive oil adds a lot to the flavor of fajitas but I sometimes render a couple strips of fatty bacon. When the veggies are tender, I dump in the no name Dollar Store canned beans and a handful of brown sugar with just a little BBQ sauce. Next goes in three smoked venison sausage links, sliced crosswise into small pieces. After the ingredients simmer for about fifteen minutes to blend flavors, they become some of tastiest “baked” beans you can imagine!
Mr. Carey and I stuffed ourselves under that old oak tree and then kicked back in the shade to rest a bit before I made the two-hour drive back home. It’s a fact that no two turkey hunts unfold exact the same but these two were very similar. I think Bill and I have started a new tradition! We made a pact to be right there next April under the same oak, hopefully dining on fresh turkey. But I’ve hunted long enough to never depend upon meat that you don’t have in the cooler! I’ll probably again pack some fresh venison or wild pork- just in case!
If you’re looking for an exciting striper fishing trip up on beautiful Lake Texoma, plan a trip with Bill’s famous striper guide service “Striper Express”. Check out Bill’s website www.striperexpress.com
