Last turkey days

“It all happened so fast, and before I knew it he was no more than about 10 yards away from me,” Johnston said. “I took my shot and finally got to admire my first springtime tom.”

In Wheeler County, near Shamrock, Kevin Whiteley, said his hunters with Bones & Beards Outfitter have been dealing with decoy-shy birds and gangs of jakes during the tail end of the season.

“The gobblers have been more hesitant to come into decoy set-ups that have incorporated jake decoys,” Whiteley said. “We have had some large groups of jakes start to behave aggressively over the past couple of weeks. However, if you can catch one by himself when the jakes aren’t around, he’s usually willing to play.”

Whiteley’s hunters have had the most success hunting near watering holes and travel corridors the birds use daily.

“We still have quite a few toms following hens around,” he explained. “There aren’t too many of them roaming by themselves like they usually are at the end of the season. Because of this, the odds for success have been better for those willing to be patient and wait the birds out by setting up in high traffic areas.”

Shannon Scott also has been hunting in Wheeler County, where she has been chasing gobblers with her bow.

“I’ve been seeing a lot of birds, but getting them to come into bow range has been a different story,” Scott said. “They really haven’t been gobbling much at all, even on the roost, and they have not seemed to be interested in decoys much, either.”

“Most of our birds are making their way to fields with green grasses to feed on bugs during the day,” she explained. “The gobblers are still following hens, and it doesn’t seem as if many of our hens are tending to nests just yet.”

Cooper McFadin said most of the gobblers in the Leakey area where he has been guiding hunters have split up and are running by themselves.

“It seems like the majority of the hens have been bred, and the toms are really responding to a call pretty well,” he said. “They’ve been gobbling a lot, especially during the early morning hours and the late evening hours. If you set up in an area where they are moving through regularly, it’s just a matter of time before one comes in to your set-up to investigate.”

On overcast and cooler days, the birds have been talking all day long, McFaddin said, but on warmer days, the birds have been pretty quiet during the midday hours.