AL gobbler season 2021

AL gobbler season 2021- the "Joker"

I throttle my season back a bit, I've been wide open since before the opener, scouting birds, then hitting it hard once the season began. With one bird left I don't want to finish too early and not be able to hunt. I'm feeling like I'm pretty hot stuff. Fourteen hunts (13 AM, 1 PM) and I've killed 4 gobblers. Yeah, I'm really something............:cool: Ya ever notice that life (or gobbler hunting) will set you back a step or two when you get to feelin' that way?:(

16April-no hunt, COVID shot #2 in the afternoon. Feel OK. I slip off onto the WMA to roost in the PM, but did not hear anything.

17April-Woke up at dawn sore all over. Every old surgery, injury and some new aches and pains for good measure. Go back to sleep and sleep 'till 3:00PM and feel OK. Had to be the injection.

18April-no hunt, church, family

19April- I decide to hunt public land on what I call the Highway Ridge. Season before last, and this year too, I've heard multiple birds out there, but never got back to hunt it. This spring I figured a way in, using the ATV as far as possible. But I oversleep and never arrive 'till 8:00AM. I stay 'till 1:00PM, the end of legal shooting hours (on the WMA) but never hear a peep. Sure was a pretty day and there's a gorgeous hardwood bench on the side of the ridge that just screams turkey roost.

20April-I'm headed back to the Highway Ridge. I unload the ATV from the trailer and decide I better take a peek at the gas level. Surprise, surprise, ...I'm basically out of gas....poor preparation. I can either hoof it, or go for gas and start late....again. I decide to go for gas, by the time I'd walk over there, it'd be about the same amount of time. I arrive on the crest of the ridge about 6:30AM, and decide not to drop out onto the bench. I'll listen from up top, and maneuver for a calling spot if I hear one. Staying up high lets me hear back over where I parked , and a couple of small hollows in between, as well. I stay planted 'till 8:30AM, working the crow call just a bit, but no response. I'm going elsewhere.

I return to the ATV and beat it out to Slim Ridge. Aptly named, Slim runs E. to W. and is just wide enough on top for a state maintained gravel road. Dropping off on either side are two vast hollows, and the road itself is flanked by steep rocky buttresses that are tricky to negotiate if descending into either hollow. I stay up top again, sitting on a big log, listening off either side. Occasionally gobblers will come up here and strut if hunting pressure is not to high and vehicle traffic is light. I'll work the crow call a bit too. I heard 2 birds here before season, and despite indications of significant hunting pressure, maybe one has survived.

I settle down on a big log about 9:00. When I hear crows in the distance, I get my old wooden Olt out and respond,and typically they'll answer back. I get 4-5 episodes in over the course of an hour, and a little past 10:00, some start again. I clatter back, and on my second run, a gobble breaks out on the hollow floor to the N., just not that far away, I think maybe 150 yds. In business, I don mask and gloves, and start down an old logging path that allows access to the hollow floor. I haven't gone 30 yds, when the tom gobbles again, likely at my footsteps, geez,.........he's gotten closer. I figure I'd rather not try and call him up the steep path, and hope to make the hollow floor and set up. There's no cover on this path anyhow. I don't make it much farther, 10-15 yds, and I see him, ....and he sees me, about 60 yds out.

He doesn't spook hard and flush, just wheels and saunters off, putting as he goes. Nuts. :mad: I overran him. Contributing factors:. 1) I misjudged the sound with the leaves out, he was closer than I thought. 2) He was likely moving in my direction to begin with, probably headed to the very path I was using to descend. 3)s My footsteps contributed to it, my easing gait sounded like a hen and he was on his way!

He sure had me fooled, and for that he gets the name "Joker", and I'll be back!
 
AL 2021, hunting "Joker'

21April- I wake up motivated to hunt the gobbler I named Joker. Any gobbler that whups me, gets a name and put on my "most wanted" list. When I step outside I'm surprised. It rained, it's cold, and I missed it on the weather report. But I wanna hunt, and so off to Slim Ridge I go. It's a miserable morning, compounded by the fact that I did not dress warmly enough, simply grabbed my hot weather stuff and headed out. I can't sit more than 15 minutes before I begin to shiver, it drizzles briefly twice, the wind comes up, and I'm plain miserable. By 9:00AM I've had it, and head home.

22April- Determined not to have a repeat of yesterday, I dress in fleece this morning and head back to Slim Ridge. It's cold, but bright and sunny, and little wind. I sit up on the gravel road for about an hour at dawn, no telling which side the old bird could have roosted. Hearing nothing, I decide to drop off to the N., as I've heard him on that side twice previously. The easiest way down is the logging road he busted me on Tuesday. I figure I'll throw the old boy a curve ball.:rolleyes: He's probably heard lots of calling from that spot, and I certainly spooked him there just two days ago. I walk back E. about 1/4 mile, and ever so carefully pick my way down off the bluff through the rocks, to arrive further over on the hollow floor. There I fashion a simple hide with a few saplings I clip, thrusting them vertically in the ground at my feet. It's 8:00AM. A relatively open white oak flat is ahead of me and I like my set up. I begin calling lightly, every 15-20 minutes, not to loud, not too much. So I think anyhow, but I hear not a peep from a turkey! :confused:I stay 'till 10:30, completely comfortable in
my layer of fleece, it's a pretty morning. Highlight of the day happens about 9:00AM. Three deer pick their way along the flat, and as they close, it's clear all are bucks, displaying the first of their summer antler growth at the swelled pedicles where the antlers begin. One is clearly much larger than the other two, and they all continue to close, the lead two passing by a just 4-5 yds. The trailing larger deer veers off slightly and comes right at me, stops at my feet, and stretches out to take a bite of the leaves on my improvised blind:p. At the absolute last moment, he realizes somethings not right, and bounces backward about 10 ft or so. I likely could have bonked him on the nose with my shotgun barrel:o My camo set up is working pretty good! With a wave of my hand, I run them all off. I see three other deer that morning as well. It'd be hard to get a deer out of here, but I need to remember this little white oak flat next deer season.

23April- A long time friend calls the evening before, he needs a ride to the doc's office this morning, and we spend the day together, do lunch, and swap stories.

24April-It rans overnight and into the morning, and I sleep in 'till 10:00AM
 
Do you have to hunt them with shotguns only like we do here or can you use rifles? I used to talk to a fellow in Virginia that hunted turkeys with a .22 rim-fire magnum.

Tony
 
i,m ready for sat. the first day here, cloths tick sprayed, shotgun patterened(scoped 2.5x leupold) 320 #9 tss in a 10" circle at 40 yards. just about all the shot on the 18" target at 40 yards. i,ll go in at 5:00am and settle in .
 
Bama
I am having delirium tremens from going cold turkey without the updates. :D Is the season over or are ya just resting up for another run at the birds?
 
went in at 5:00am today with a light rain falling to sent up a small blind, several goobles at around 6:00am, no calling just setting listining. saw two hens and 9 deer. i have high hopes for sat.
 
AL gobbler season 2021-the last week

Geezer, AL allows shotguns only. Most of the state has just the spring gobbler season. There are a couple of counties in S. AL that have a very brief gobblers only fall season, which is a whole different game.

ebank-Sounds like you're good to go. Tick spray is essential, you don't want to mess with Lyme disease, an advanced case will really mess you up. I deer hunted with a fellow who contracted it during spring turkey season. It effected his health to the extent that it ended his hunting career. I first scoped a turkey shotgun about 3 years ago, and have never looked back. I've always been an advocate of good rifle sights on a turkey shotgun, and now I've extended that opinion to scopes. As tight as modern guns and shells print, a scope ( I use a Leupold 1.5-5x) allows one to zero and extract the max range from their shotgun. Helps with old guy eyes too!

25April- church and family

26April-After 3 days off, I'm anxious to get back in the woods. Despite that, I oversleep, and though I had plans to hunt elsewhere, I hit Slim Ridge on the WMA, mainly because it's close and I will not loose as much time driving to another spot. Hunting public land on a Monday is poor tactics (all the weekend pressure), but I'm back for the Joker as dawn breaks. I pick my way down through the rocks on the E. end of the ridge and settle into the exact spot I was Thursday when I hunted here last. I sit for 5 hours, calling lightly on occasion, and even risk using my gobble tube a wee bit (chancy on public land, you never know when you might call up an idiot). But I hear nothing. Last Thurs was a perfect morning, and today is too, but no gobbles. I have a gut feeling that bird is still alive, but hunting pressure has likely caused him to catch lockjaw. That's it for me and the Joker.

27April-Up fairly early, I'm off to Irish Ridge. As I wind through the pines on the W. end, an owl cuts loose down in the bottom and a gobbler sounds off. When the owl hoots again, the original bird gobbles and a second answers him. I increase my pace, pop out into the hardwoods, and descend the old logging path to the bottom. There's just barely enough darkness to close down on these birds and I want to be within 100 yds if possible. I slow down and begin to pussyfoot close, and now there are what sounds like 4 gobblers:o hammering away down along the creek. Problem is, I'm running out of room, the creek is across the boundary line, and beyond the creek is those accursed old pastures where the birds seem to pull most every morning I've hunted here, and that's a lot of mornings. I slide into the base of a big beech tree with a small woodland clearing to my front, the birds are still on the roost and gobbling madly, the closest might be 75 yds, the most distant, 100+. Using my old slate, I tree call softly, but there's so much gobbling, it's hard to say if one actually answers, the racket is constant, and to a turkey hunter, it's angelic. :). I tree call again, and the incessant gobbling continues. I feel I've got to get these birds attention, and there's enough light now that hen's could be leaving the roost. I swap to the raspy carbon striker and hit a loud fly down cackle, and get an immediate solid response from the bird farthest to my left. I hush, they all had to have heard that, we'll see what happens. The gobbling eases a bit, and I hear the bird to the left power off the roost, he's got a spot in mind, that's no simple sail down! He flaps off to my left, then flares and lands, and it sounds like a helo, that is one big turkey, even though I haven't seen him. I'm hopeful he flew across the creek and is on his way, and I get the gun up and cover left. But when he gobbles again, he's more distant. The other three come off the roost with much less fanfare, and begin to drift the other direction, to my right. Once again, the birds are out in those pastures!:mad: I've got to try something else, so out comes the gobble tube.

I hit a lick on the tube, and the bird to the left hammers a reply, a distinct change in his tone. I gobble back, and he nails it again. The other 3 gobble as well, but they continue to drift right and away. The next time I gobble, the left hand bird responds and he's closer, he's headed back! I use the old slate to float some rosewood yelps his way, and when he answers,
he's the closest he's been, maybe 75 yds, undoubtedly standing down on the creek bank. But that's as close as he gets. The three birds that went right drift off that direction, and the aggressive bird on my left retreats back the way he was going, and it's all over by 8:00AM. I slide along the boundary line to the W. , set back up, and call blindly till 9:00, when I hear the farmer rattling out across the pastures in his truck to drop round bales off for the cows. I climb back up to the edge of the hardwoods where I can hear better in multiple directions, but no more gobbles sound. I stay till 11:00, working the crow call, but that's it for today. I didn't even see a turkey, much less kill one, but I bet I heard 100 gobbles and that makes this a special morning.

27April-I have no trouble getting up this morning, I'm on birds:D. Through the pines and down into Irish Hollow with time to spare. As the morning grays, I owl call, and a bird gobbles back, same dang place they were yesterday. I close down, and end up exactly where I sat the AM previous. Once again, I'm under 100 yds from a roosted gobbler. Yesterday I called aggressively, today, I'll be passive. When there's ample light, I tree call once, ever so softly, and the bird responds from the roost. OK, now I'll hush. There is only one turkey gobbling, and I've got his attention. I hear wings as a turkey sails down out in front. I get the gun up and cover, float some soft yelps with the mouth call. I hear wings again and a second bird is down, same place. In a minute, heavier wings, and then a gobble, ....on the wrong side of the creek....again. What I heard initially must have been hens. When the hens got down, and likely the gobbler saw them, then he came down. And the whole bunch is over on pvt. property again, in those dang pastures!:mad: They drift off right, to the E., and go out of hearing, just the one bird gobbling.

That's turkey hunting....100 gobbles yesterday....maybe 10 today. I drift E. along the property line, working the crow call, without results. There was one more highlight though, nearly to the Bronco, I come upon two snakes entangled. One is definitely a smallish timber rattler, maybe 30 inches. The other appeared to be a similar sized black rat snake, though in hindsight it may have been a kingsnake. And it's the end of the line for that rattler. The constrictor has him for good! I'd read about it, heard folks talk about it, but never saw it till this morning!

28April-Bad weather called for this AM, but I figure I can get a hunt in closer to home without a lot of walking. I beat it over to the Little Lease, and take the easy, back way, into Arrowhead Hollow. On que, at dawn, a gobbler sounds off to the west, and I head his way. High water has washed the leaves out along the creek and hollow floor, and I can move nearly soundlessly. The tom continues to gobble with frequency, and I end up about 75 yds from him. I can't tell if he's on my side of the creek or not, but he's not far, and I can hear him drumming up on the limb. I settle in next to a big whiteoak and float some rosewood tree yelps up from my slate. He doesn't really answer, but continues to sound off. I can hear some live hens tree yelping nearby, I bet Ol' Tom can see them from his roost. Heavy flapping tells me the gobbler is on the ground, and he begins to drum and parade back and forth on the high ground above me, just out of sight, maybe 50 yds away. I hear the hens sail out as well and land close by and I figure that's the end of that. The drumming fades, and the next time the bird gobbles, he's on the ridge top and in ANOTHER pvt pasture. It's 8:00AM. I stick it out for another 30 minutes, then a storm breaks, and I hustle out amid rain, thunder and lightning, to ride the ATV 1/2 mile down the county road and I'm soaked through. Highlight of the day was I carried the 1949 16ga double. After toting magnum pump guns all spring, the slim double is no more trouble than a walking stick!
 
today was a wind out, called one in but he hung up and then just left. i saw two others but they were on the move and i couldn,t keep up. monday in to be cloudy with light rain showers.
 
Last edited:
Geezerbiker said:
Do you have to hunt them with shotguns only like we do here or can you use rifles? I used to talk to a fellow in Virginia that hunted turkeys with a .22 rim-fire magnum.

Tony
Click to expand...
Shotguns only, at least in the Southern Counties where I live. What is interesting is the amount of hunter I came across that scored some nice gobblers with 410 ga. They seem to be really becoming popular. If the ammo shortage was not here, I would get yet another Midland 4 1/2 weight in 410. They take Beretta mobile chokes so could experiment with which to use. The Turkey guns comes tapped for scope and comes with a mount. The Turkey choke on the gun on the right is 12ga/

LborBPp.jpg
 
Al Gobbler season -that's it!

Here's the last of it:
29April- Back in Arrowhead Hollow, the same tom sounds off from the same hillside as the morning before. It's a complete repeat of the day previous, just no storm! He sounds off steadily from the roost, I'm a mere 60 yds or so away, hens fly down, and he parades off, just out of sight, to the pasture. I cannot hunt that hillside, and the pasture is out bounds too. He can dang well stay there. I'm hunting somewhere else tomorrow.

1May-tired of the Arrowhead bird taunting me, I hunt the WMA, weekend and all, in an area we call the Beauty Shop. It's a mix of pine plantations and narrow steep sided hardwood hollows. Further back there's an enourmous hardwood ridge.
One hundred yards from the Bronco, in the gray of dawn, I can see gobbler tracks in the dirt road. Since it rained Thurs,( this is Sat AM) these tracks are at most 1.5 days old, the gobbler that made them is likely alive and close. I may very well have driven right in here on top of one. As the day breaks, I can hear multiple hens cackle and fly down in a hidden hollow about 200 yds away. I can also see where a lot of trucks have pulled up, guys likely listening and owling. After 15 minutes or so, I try my crow call, and risk the gobble tube as well,, but no response. If the gobbler is there, he's likely heard it all from this very spot. I'll try back here later in the AM. I push on out the road and onto big timber ridge and spend the morning there till 10:00 AM, working the crow call. No gobbles, but this big timber sure is pretty. By 11:00, I'm back down low, near where I'd heard the hens earlier and not far from my 4WD. I work up a narrow hollow and out on top of a slight ridge I did not know was there, there's a lot of turkey sign. I'm in the right place. I sit quietly for the last hours of the hunt, one has to be done on the WMA at 1:00PM, but I do not hear a peep. I crash out through the pine plantation and emerge 50 yds from the Bronco, hot and brush whipped.

And it's all over. I heard and killed far more gobblers than I thought I would this year. Had I shot straight, I would have been tagged out by mid season. That's always bitter sweet, and honestly, I'd rather hunt the full season like I ended up doing. It was a strange year with property lines and out of bounds areas. I had no real trouble with other hunters, or too much hunting pressure. My old 870 seemed to weigh a ton by the end of the season, and I'm going to think hard about some type of lighter alternative for hunts where I ramble. My Dad's guns all got lighter and shorter as he aged, now I know why!:)
 
Good story. A lot of hunts end that way, sweaty and tired, but we keep going back! Enjoy your birds, and look forward to next season.
 
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