By Chad Searcey | April 07, 2011

The 2011 turkey season started off with many highs and lows. Only experienced turkey hunters know how draining both mentally and physically turkey hunting can be.  A day of hunting doesn't end until dark. The next day of hunting begins before light. There usually isn't much sleep in between. There are times when a plan comes together and harvesting a thunder chicken can happen quickly. Then there are days when you can't seem to get a bird to come within range. Archery hunting makes this challenge even more exhausting.

While recently hunting with RDP teammate Drew Simon, we experienced some of the most exciting yet frustrating turkey hunting we've ever been a part of.  The number of gobblers we were hunting was just amazing. In a small area of just one of the pieces of land we hunt over 20 gobblers can be found roaming the ridges, corn fields and creek lines. The first two days of hunting we just couldn't get close enough to arrow a bird, even though we could often hear them and see them.

This story begins on the evening of day two of our three day hunt.

I know where the gobblers in the section we were hunting roosted every night. I've been hunting them for several years and every year they are roosted in the same spot. Drew and I set up between the picked corn fields they had been feeding in and the trees in which the birds roost. We set up our ground blind and a hen decoy late in the afternoon. We patiently waited for the turkeys to return to their roost. As luck would have it, turkeys started to flood our way as the sun began to set. Anticipation built as gobbles got closer and the sound of leaves rustling could be heard in the timber. Drew had the Hoyt ready and the camera was on and ready to record. As night fell our bad luck continued. Over 20 gobblers passed within 20 yards of us. As they passed by us in groups of 2-3 at a time we did everything we could to get a shot. We were experiencing several issues. There was brush in the way, Drew couldn't get a shot off because the toms were moving, or I couldn't get the camera on them, and it was getting too dark to video! I couldn't believe the size of some of these gobblers. Several of them had to be 4-5 year old birds! One by one the toms flew up into their roosting trees. Three of the toms roosted within 30 yards of us. We knew we would have to wait till well after dark before getting out of our blind. As night fell, we closed the windows in our blind and laid down for about an hour before quietly slipping out.  We had to exit back to my hunting suburban a different way than we came in because of where all the gobblers roosted. I used pieces of toilet paper to mark our route through the thick timber and cedars. It was like a maze in the dark trying to find our way out!

The next morning we got up an hour earlier than the day before...4:00 a.m.! We knew in order to slip into our ground blind under the three roosted gobblers we would need to get there early while they were still sleeping. In a pitch black night we slipped into the thick cedars. Luckily we found the first piece of toilet paper in a tree. Maybe our luck was turning around. About every 10 steps we found another piece of toilet paper. In a matter of minutes we found our blind in the pitch dark! We quietly slipped back into our blind and waited for the sun to rise.

As the western sky began to lighten, we watched as the three toms above us woke up, stretched their feathers and began to strut and drum in their tree. The ridge we were sitting on was rocking with gobbles. I had never been that up close and personal with that many gobblers gobbling on the roost. It was simply incredible!

Our anxiety and anticipation was sky high in hopes that the gobblers would pitch down right next to our hen decoy. Unfortunately we watched as each long beard flew down to the bottom of the ridge, strutting in the picked corn below. We couldn't believe it. We were sitting amongst over 20 gobblers and not one had flown down into our decoy set up!

Anticipation turned into disbelief!

As the 20+ toms and numerous hens began to disperse to the north, Drew and I decided to move our set up to a location about 75 yards away where we had seen some toms strutting with some hens the previous afternoon. As quickly as we could we picked up shop and moved. It wasn't too long after getting situated that we heard a loud gobble behind us in the timber. Drew worked his magic with his mouth call. A few moments later an earth shaking set of gobbles rang through the timber only 5 yards behind us! I looked at Drew and said; "they're right there!" I peeked through a crack in the window of the Primos Ground Max blind and saw three gobblers at full strut heading toward our hen decoy. Drew got the camera ready and I prepared my bow for the shot. As the toms worked from left to right I drew my bow. All three strutted within 7 yards in front of us. I settled the pin on one of the gobblers and let the Carbon Express Maxima fly. In route was a rage two blade broad head. The rage ripped through the side of the tom! The thunder chicken took off running and then fell head over feet.

Wow how our luck had changed!

Drew and I switched places as he picked up the Hoyt and I manned the camera. We sat in that ground blind for a couple more hours and worked a couple other birds. Gobbles could be heard all over the area. As it grew closer to noon we knew we had to end our hunt as it was time to head back home. I'm pretty sure if we could have just sat in that spot the rest of the afternoon we would have had several more encounters with some of the 20+ toms that reside in this section of the property.

It was a sweet ending to a great weekend of hunting. I'm looking forward to heading back in a couple weeks for shotgun season. The video of my hunt should be up on our website in late April or early May! Make sure to check back later to see this exciting episode!

-Chad