Double Down - Turkey Hunting 2022
Springtime in Wisconsin is represented by the thawing snow that accumulated throughout the winter, the trees budding, and the grass becoming greener. But for me, it means spring turkey season! As the temperatures warm up, the thunderchickens come alive.
My flight was booked home for Period A of the seven week season in 2022 and my adventure began. I arrived back to Wisconsin the day before the season started just in time to get my gear situated and our plan of attack in a line. Every year, I tell myself I’m going out with a bow to shoot a turkey this year, and so far – I’m sitting at 0 turkeys harvested with my bow and 11 with a shotgun.
2022 was no different with what little time there was, I wanted to make the most of it. Usually hunting alone in one of our shacks while my father hunts another piece of the property in another shack; this year I wanted to do something different, harvest two tom turkeys together with my father… on video.
Wednesday morning came, the first day of our season and it was a chilly one! Before daylight the toms were trying to locate their competition and potential mates. We had toms on three sides of us calling from the respective valleys. Typically, around daylight is when the turkeys fly down from their roost onto the ground. In the spring, hens tend to roost with a flock of hens, the jakes will roost together as well, and the toms will be by themselves or with other toms.
With temperatures below freezing and calm skies, the gobblers were on the move. We quickly had turkeys to the field in search of their morning breakfast, mostly consisting of hens and a few jakes. When we hunt, we can be a little picky on our targets and usually turn to the largest toms we can get into range to harvest.
A few minutes after 8am, gobbles came ringing in from behind us. Two toms were headed our way, setting us up exactly for my plan to take effect. As the two toms got closer, the GoPro turned on and the Remington 12 gauge went out the window - only one thing was missing - the barrel of my fathers Winchester 12 gauge out the window as well.
During the seconds that existed as the toms rushed their way towards our two hen decoys set up in front of us at about 20 yards, my father and I were in disagreement of what we should do. Him wanting me to get my turkey first and worry about him later as I had a flight back to Washington State in just a few short days, and me wanting us to shoot them together at the same time.
The turkeys were barrelling right at the decoys, not stopping for me to get a shot out of the side window and forcing me to move to the front window. Straight-lining for the hens, I didn’t have much more of a decision to make. The brand new Vortex Crossfire Red Dot scope bounced its way onto the head of the larger tom, I pulled the trigger and that thunderchicken took a dirt nap.
I ran out to grab my tom as the other flew away at the moment of the shot. After some pictures and talking in the field with my father, we headed back to the shack to begin field dressing my 2022 Period A Spring Turkey harvest. As I got back to the door, another set of Toms had worked their way on the opposite side of the field from where our shack sat. I quickly hopped inside and told my father to get ready. Confused, he asked why and I pointed.
Roughly 80 yards away now, two more toms had their eyes on our decoys again, and he knew then what I was pointing at. These two decided to take their time, strutting their stuff and fanning out to showcase to the hens who was a better pick. Meanwhile, we were doing the same, and the first tom was clearly bigger than the second.
My father grabbed the Remington 12 gauge with the Vortex Red Dot I had just shot mine with and placed it in the window. 50 yards away and coming, 40 yards, 30 yards, 25 yards - BANG! The first tom went floppin’ and our season was over in a span of 15 minutes.
Jarod and Bob Whaley
Spring Turkey Hunting 2022
While it was not exactly what I was hoping for by shooting toms together with my father for a memory, we did harvest two toms within 15 minutes of each other, both on video out of the same shack with the same gun. A different story and moment I will never forget with the man that put hunting into my life.
