[bison]

Well had a new one today… Went to my buddies ranch where I keep a couple of hives and was planning to go turkey hunting afterward so I had my gun and equipment along with my hive stuff. I dug deep into one booming hive and had forgotten my smoker so the bees were pretty angry and swarming all around me. After I put the hive back together I walked 50 yards or so from the hive… and saw the bright red head of a tom turkey! Back to the hive I go and get my gun to try to stalk the gobbler. For those of you that don't hunt turkeys, usually you hunt them in full camo and sit under a tree for hours not moving an inch to keep from spooking them. Well, I'm about the opposite of that, still in a full suit with veil and gloves on, with bees still buzzing me! I stopped just below the rise where the tom was and suddenly he walks down the hill ten yards from me, stares at me, and keeps walking behind a bush. That gave me a chance to move and lower the boom. Attached is a "selfie" with me and Tom, with bees still circling! Now I just need to find a recipe for the smoker tomorrow that includes honey.

 

[tacomabees]

nice...

 

[Jeyster]

Looks like you've got a new marketable cammo pattern!

 

[Bill91143]

I'll bet the turkey thought you were just a big snow goose!

 

[Leather Jim]

I wonder if that suit would work on whitetail deer? might be enough to throw them off.

 

[Coach B]

That's great! Figure out a way to catch some crappie and you've got the spring trifecta perfected.

 

[Daniel Y]

I sure hope you post this on a Turkey Hunting forum. It has to be painful to see for all those folks that spent all that money on Camo and gear. You may have stuck on a new hunting technique. Camouflage yourself as a Polar Bear.

 

[McCoslin]

Bison,

You are in good company. I have a turkey freeway behind my house. Two mornings ago, bunch a big Toms came cruising by..... I was still in my jammies and slippers. Waited until they just topped a ridge, ran up the ridge ( in my jammies and slippers) and got a nice one!

Nice Tom!

 

[Brad Bee]

I'm an avid hunter but I don't turkey hunt. I've been there though, killed one my first attempt. I deer hunt primarily.

All you turkey hunters remember this as you leave for the woods every morning. You're spending a lot of time and money in an attempt to outsmart a bird with a brain the size of a peanut.

 

[Phoebee]

I tried turkey hunting last spring about this time. Full Mossy Oak camo, camo face paint, using a friend's custom turkey gun. All I can say is, nobody got hurt.

He spent all day telling me the details of how clever and sneaky turkeys are and how hard they are to fool, and that it is patently impossible for you to have bagged a tom that way.

 

[bison]

I tried turkey hunting last spring about this time. Full Mossy Oak camo, camo face paint, using a friend's custom turkey gun. All I can say is, nobody got hurt.

He spent all day telling me the details of how clever and sneaky turkeys are and how hard they are to fool, and that it is patently impossible for you to have bagged a tom that way.

That's funny! I do turkey hunt and there are times that they seem to be the smartest things in the world, other times they're the dumbest. I suspect it's related to the amount of testosterone in their system - lucky for me this one was loaded on that!

 

[Adamandeverest]

I work at Cabelas and thought this was awesome! So funny. I'll bring my bee suit on my first turkey hunt

 

[jdmidwest]

I know I am changing my camo when season opener comes in 2 weeks. Good eatin.

 

[hjsmith00843]

No hunting gear needed here for turkey's. I think they are over populated. Everywhere you go you see them.

 

[richieii]

I have hives in the same woods I hunt. This story is killing me for sure

 

[Phoebee]

That's funny! I do turkey hunt and there are times that they seem to be the smartest things in the world, other times they're the dumbest. I suspect it's related to the amount of testosterone in their system - lucky for me this one was loaded on that!

The way my mentor described it, generally when you get a tom, it is a bird that is "ready to die". This comment threw me. With a little prodding I got the underlying theory. This depends somewhat on where you are in gobbler season and the population of hens the old dominant tom has access to. For a while, he's pretty busy bedding down his girls, but after a while they're all knocked up and sitting on their nests. He's still feeling randy and is willing to take a chance by going after strange hens clucking out of his usual harem. The local population of jakes is glad to be rid of him.

How this applies to your bird is beyond me.

In the meantime, by the time you've gotten all your out-of-state licenses here, you're out about $163. You can get two toms in spring gobbler season if you're outrageously lucky, and one bird (either sex) in the fall. For my money, I think the locally overpopulated deer are a better bet.

 

[jdmidwest]

That old tom was thinking with the wrong head and did not see the guy in the white suit with a gun.

But if I was buried in a tree with a blind all around, full camo, and moved my shotgun slightly, he would have spooked and survived.