What happened next was almost as close as it gets to a wild turkey reading the script and doing what you always hope they will do.  Some hens started tree yelping about 100 yards to the east and our gobbler let out a thunderous string of gobbles.  We had fortunately, although accidentally, positioned ourselves between this gobbler and the closest group of hens.  I made just a few soft tree yelps of my own the game was on.  Within a minute-and-a-half, the gobbler flew down and gobbled a few more times just for good measure.  But much to our surprise, he walked slightly away from us and circled to the east toward the real hens.  Bobby and I certainly shared that feeling where you wonder, is this going to happen or not?

As the gobbler slipped down a nearby fence line, we could see that he was met by another turkey.  I was certain it was a hen and I just knew we were done with this ol’ tom.  I made a few yelps hoping to appeal to this newly arrived hen’s social nature and was met with return gobbles from TWO gobblers.  It wasn’t a hen at all!  Our gobbler had gone out to meet this second gobbler, and now it was a matter of pride to see which one could get to our set-up first.  Both gobblers worked their way toward us, neither of them came in running, but neither of them wanted to arrive second either.  At this point, we weren’t sure which one was the original gobbler and which one was the “walk-on”, and it didn’t much matter.  The lead bird walked confidently inside of 25 yards and I knew Bobby had already drawn a bead on him.  Bobby leveled the first turkey and he fell stone dead where he stood.  The second gobbler hesitated for a moment before making a beeline back where he came from, but it was too late… Bobby had already shucked another shell into the chamber and he fired again, dropping the second gobbler in his tracks.  After some celebration and some follow-up camera work, we headed back to camp to relish in the fact that we had double the retribution for getting whooped the previous two days.  Bobby was now halfway through completing his 2010 grand slam, so he and Mike packed up the next day and headed to Kansas to chase Easterns.

The last week of our Texas camp was equally eventful.  Outdoor writers and friends Bob Humphrey and Tony Peterson came and both bagged birds.  Ol’ Tom employees Jeremy and Brad came down to hunt as well.  I finally got out and hunted by myself and shot a buzzer-beater gobbler in literally my last hour of hunting in Texas – meanwhile, Jeremy shot a gobbler in his first hour of hunting in Texas.  Later that day, Jeremy and Brad doubled up on longbeards in the rain.  The trip was capped off by hosting a gentleman and his son on their first Texas Rio turkey hunt, which they bought on the auction at our local NWTF banquet in Olive Branch, MS.  Texas has always been good to the Ol’ Tom crew, and this year was certainly a memorable year.

Thanks for reading… stay tuned for Kansas and not one, but two trips to Wyoming!

CW

We had some customers and outdoor writers coming to hunt with us later in the trip, but if you’ve read our blog before then you know the underlying mission for the season: for Bobby to get a single-season Grand Slam on film.

Jeff and Brad were there for Bobby’s Osceola kill in Florida, and they were also going to Wyoming for the Merriam’s hunt, so I wanted to take some of the pressure off them and film Bobby dropping the hammer on a Rio.  Some people think that the Rio Grande turkey subspecies found in central and south Texas are not as challenging as their relatives found elsewhere in the country.  Some people might even call them dumb.  These statements couldn’t be further from the truth.  After all, they are still turkeys and all turkeys regardless of location are going to act like… turkeys.  Bobby and I hunted hard for two solid days and only had one decent opportunity that just didn’t work out.  We worked birds, out-thought ourselves on a few occasions, and just flat out got whooped a time or two also.  In fact, we set out the second morning with a sure-fire plan to set up on a bird we had roosted only to find out that he was no longer where we left him.  As they say, “roosted ain’t roasted”.

We formulated a new plan for the morning of Day 3.  Our new plan was called “we have no plan”.  We were going to get to our spot early and get in the middle of a 90 acre mesquite flat where we had heard some gobblers roosted in a scattered pattern the day before and just wait.  We had no pre-conceived maneuvers planned to outsmart a gobbler or strategies to call him into submission.  We just went.

About 6:45am, Bobby and I heard a gobbler that sounded pretty hot and decided he was good as any so we struck out to get as close as possible before he flew down.  Fortunately for us, the birds had been gobbling quite a bit from the roost and it was still pretty dark, but you always feel that sense of urgency when it comes to gobblers on the roost so we were booking it pretty good when – Taa-aa-aa-ooow!! – a gobbler lit up right in front of us.  He was literally no more than 30 yards in front of us and slightly to our right, shielded from view by a small clump of live oaks.  I have no idea what made that turkey gobble at that exact moment, because a few more steps and we would have surely busted him out of the tree.  Our adrenaline was racing and our options were limited, so we sat down in the best possible location and set up the camera.  I held my breath for fear that we had spooked him anyway and right on cue he gobbled again.  After two tough days of hunting, it seemed that luck was finally on our side.

– Come back soon for the conclusion –

CW

It is nearly impossible to overstate how much fun it is to turkey hunt in Texas. Healthy populations of Rio Grande turkey are just the tip of the iceberg. The landscape filled with with live oak (most no more than 15 feet tall), mesquite, caliche rock, and half a dozen different kinds of cactus is strangely beautiful.  Some areas look as if no self-respecting turkey would ever set foot on such ground, let alone find a suitable tree in which to roost.  However, the turkey population throughout most of TX is as strong as ever and offers excellent hunting opportunity.

This was our fifth year in a row to hunt the same ranch in TX, located in the central part of the state roughly two hours north of San Antonio.  We opened the camp for 19 days total and hunted with a variety of guests, including family, customers, sports writers, and the winner of a hunt we donated to our local NWTF chapter.

After making a brief stop in Fort Worth to pick up a HuntVe 4×4 electric utility vehicle, Jeff went down first to set up the camp.  Jeff was accompanied by his dad Bob, affectionately known in our office as “Big Bob”.  Jeff and Big Bob did some hard work cleaning the camp and the unexpected chore of repairing the pump at the well -  our only source of clean water.  When the work was done, they got to spend a few days hunting together, which is something they don’t often get to do during turkey season.

Jeff and his dad set out the second morning and quickly found a bird gobbling hard from the roost.  They got set up as close as they dared to get, but as daylight began to creep in around them they realized the turkey was across an old barbed-wire fence.  The turkey pitched down and continued to gobble as he rounded up several hens from surrounding trees.  Jeff worked his calls to compete with another vocal hen in the area and must have said something the gobbler liked.  The longbeard flew the fence and began pacing about 70 yards in front of them.  Then, almost by divine intervention, a hen flew down about 20 yards in front of Jeff and Big Bob.  Jeff clucked a few times to get the gobblers attention and right on cue the tom turned and saw the live hen right in front of their set-up.  The gobbler made a beeline for the hen and Big Bob dropped him as soon as he got in range.  In addition to making an awesome memory for Jeff and his dad, the trophy had huge spurs and weighed over 20 pounds!  Check out the photos below and come back soon for more stories from Texas.

Limbhanger!

Ever wonder why we call our boonie hat the "Big Bob Boonie"? Now you know.

Jeff was eager to even the score on an Osceola and Brad was beating himself up for potentially boogering a nice longbeard, so everyone was anxious to find another gobbler and redeem themselves.  Mr. Evans suggested a change of scenery so everyone loaded up and headed to a different property.  The crew spotted a longbeard from the truck on the drive in, so they kept on driving and formulated plans to make a move on the turkey.

Mr. Evans and Jeff took off after the gobbler and the decision was made to leave the camera in the truck.  Getting a bird down became the first priority and filming could resume later.  After all, we are a hunting company – not a production house.  Bobby and Brad were left waiting at the truck, so they decided to pass the time by fiddling with their gear and stretching their legs around the truck.  Much to their surprise, a turkey gobbled less than 200 yards from the truck!  They quickly grabbed the camera and their gear and headed into the woods to try to call in the gobbler.

Bobby and Brad were in position within minutes and Bobby worked the bird in with some soft yelps from his box call.  The turkey came right to the edge of some thick brush but just wouldn’t come into plain sight for the camera.  Finally, after giving the gobbler the silent treatment for a minute, the bird emerged from the brush and Bobby leveled him.  Osceola #2 hit the deck.

When Bobby and Brad arrived back at the truck, Jeff and Mr. Evans were waiting empty handed.  According to their story, the bird they were after gave a few courtesy gobbles as he walked away from their set-up and disappeared from ear-shot in the direction of – you guessed it – Bobby and Brad.  So Bobby bagged his second Osceola on film, and Jeff got a little salt in his wounds from the mishap that morning.

All in all, the Ol’ Tom had a great hunt in Florida and left with some great video and great memories.  They made the long drive back just in time to wash clothes and repack for Texas.  Check back soon for posts from our Texas Rio hunt.

Bobby with a great Osceola longbeard

Check out some highlights from our Florida hunt


After Bobby dropped his first Osceola, spirits were high but the hunting action came to a screeching halt almost as quickly as it had begun.  The next day-and-a-half of hunting brought nothing but rain and tight-lipped turkeys.  The property had plenty of birds, but the steady rain made it tough for Bobby and Jeff to locate a bird.

Brad, designated cameraman for the trip, definitely caught the worst of it on the second morning.  Brad was in the process of crossing a creek when he lost his footing and filled his knee-high snake boots up with water.  Something was going to get wet – either Brad’s feet or the camera – and he made the wise choice by saving the camera.  After more than an hour of listening to Brad’s squeaky boots, Bobby and Jeff convinced Brad that he was making too much noise and that he needed to take his boots off.  For some reason, he agreed and took his wet boots and socks off.  He continued the morning hunt.  Barefoot.  In the swamps of Florida. Nice.

Brad shakes off a little water

The outlook improved considerably on the third morning, despite a dense fog and scattered rain still in the area.  Mr. Evans had roosted a bird the night before and directed our team into position.  The longbeard gobbled only once on the limb, but flew down into the middle of a field and gobbled his way through the fog as Jeff worked him in.  Jeff was to be the shooter on this bird.  The gobbler came in to 30 yards and in plain sight for Jeff.  Unfortunately, the bird was hidden from view of the camera from Brad’s position.  Brad tried to reposition but the bird saw something he didn’t like and hot-footed it out to 50 yards or so.  It was now or never, so Jeff drew a bead on the gobbler and took the shot.  To everyone’s surprise, the bird bolted over a rise and escaped unscathed.  The shot didn’t seem to even cut a feather.  So our guys found themselves at another low point on this roller-coaster hunt.

The Ol’ Tom team is not one to quit on a low note so the hunt continued, and the story gets better.  Stay tuned for the conclusion!

Jeff (front) and Bobby (back) track down an Osceola

Jeff sloshes through the swamp

Like most people that attempt a single-season Grand Slam, we started in Florida chasing the Osceola subspecies.  Conventional wisdom suggests that you should either begin or end your Grand Slam quest with the Osceola because this is the subspecies that either makes or breaks your hopes of a Slam.  Osceolas are the most regionally confined of the subspecies – located only on the FL peninsula, commonly considered south of Interstate 10 – and, like most rare objects, outfitted Osceola hunts can be more expensive than the other subspecies.  Unless time and money are no object, most people only get one shot per year at the Osceola.

We booked our hunt with James Evans near Lake Helen, FL, for the last week of March.  Spring turkey seasons open around March 5 in the southern zone of Florida and around March 19 throughout the rest of the state.  While we chose to hunt with a great outfitter, there are also many permit-only public quota hunts in some of Florida’s rich Wildlife Management Areas.  Our crew consisted of Bobby Windham, Jeff Jones, and Brad Payne.  The guys chose to drive because the weather outlook called for some rain and they wanted to be flexible enough to stay a couple of extra days if needed.  They arrived late Sunday afternoon and had just enough time to head out with Mr. Evans to roost some birds, which proved to pay off.

The first morning’s hunt led them to the edge of a pasture across from a group of longbeards they had roosted the previous evening.  Jeff put out a few decoys while Bobby settled into shooting position and Brad prepped the video camera.  The hunt unfolded pretty much like turkey hunters dream about… the birds gobbled numerous times on the roost, pitched down into view, and responded favorably to the calls.  Jeff worked the birds across the open field and into gun range, and Bobby touched off his Remington 870 ShurShot and dropped his first Osceola.  Less than an hour into the hunting portion of the trip and one tag was already filled.  After some photos and video work, the guys were eager to get back into the hunting action after such a textbook beginning to the hunt.

But as the renowned turkey hunting author Tom Kelly often describes in his books, there is a blindfolded lady holding the scales of justice that evens things out in the turkey woods from time to time.  Check back soon to see how the rest of the hunt went.

This Spring has been a season of “first” for us here at Ol’ Tom.  For example, this is our first venture into the world of blogging and perhaps we are the last ones to arrive, but we hope fans of our brand will find some entertainment value here regardless.  Second, we introduced a new fabric for 2010 — DuraLite™ — our new lightweight, durable, quick-drying fabric and hunters seem to be receptive so far.

Another “first” for Ol’ Tom is a quest for a single-season Grand Slam captured on video.  The lucky hunter is Bobby Windham, co-owner of the company.  Plenty of people have accomplished Grand Slams, and I’m sure many of them have done it on video.   This is not new territory for the turkey hunting population.  However, we felt like this was important for Ol’ Tom as a company to immerse ourselves into how other woodsmen hunt in other parts of the country.  All of us here hunt a few different states each year, but this year we really wanted to put our gear and ourselves to the test in a wide range of environments to look for ways to make Ol’ Tom better.  We expect it and our customers deserve it.

In the coming days, watch for blog posts about how things have unfolded so far.  I’ll give you a hint at how things have gone… we’re making room on the walls of the conference room for a few more turkey fans.

CW

One side of our conference room wall