I had an amazing trip last week out in Kansas hunting with my good buddy Matt. If you have never hunted long beards in Kansas, do it. To say there the birds are plentiful is an understatement. This was my third year in a row going out there to hunt and the hunting does not disappoint. Coming from Indiana, it is just amazing to see the number of birds that Kansas has.
I tagged out on opening day this year. I passed up a few birds right off the roost while holding out for one stud of a bird that our scouting had pinned down. He was easy to recognize with one missing tail feather from fighting. At 9:00 that morning he came in with two buddies and SLAMMED the DSD strutter decoy. Unfortunately when I shot, I clipped the blind window with the Magnus Bullhead and it sent the arrow about 6" off course for a clean miss. With that chance blown, I decided it was time to settle for nice long beards the rest of the day. After running off several jakes the rest of the morning, right at noon a long gobble struck from a field behind us. Some sweet calling on the GhostMaker crystal pot call was all it took and the 2 year old strutted right to the set up. I took his head completely off with a Magnus Bullhead at 5 yards. So after a quick bite to eat and a slight adjustment to the set up, we settled in for an afternoon. Again, jakes all afternoon. They came and went every 20 minutes or so, breeding the hen decoys and just reeking havoc on our spread of DSD's. At about 5:00, two toms came on a string from the left. The keyed in on that DSD strutter and at 4 yards I let an arrow fly, and the same Magnus Bullhead from earlier in the day took the head off of bird #2, a good 3 year old bird. Both kills on video.
On day two, I ran the video camera for Matt. After a morning of jake action, we moved to a new location that was crawling with birds. We actually ran several long beards out of the field when we pulled in. We set up, settled in, and about 1 1/2 hours into the hunt, here came three toms, 3/4 strut all the way to the decoys. At 6 yards, Matt throat punched the nicest of the three birds with a Magnus Bullhead as the bird sized up the DSD strutter. Since Matt lives out there, he did not want to end his hunting for the year so he opted to call it quits to prolong his season and not take a 2nd bird.
A huge shout out goes to Dave Smith for custom painting a strutter for us. Matt called me one day to discuss an idea. He wanted a very dominant looking strutter for the Kansas birds. We discussed it at great length and then got our buddy Dave Smith on the phone. Dave was willing to roll the dice on it as well and so was the birth of Ol' White Face ... our custom painted strutter. Between a youth hunt over the previous weekend, our hunts, and some hunts later in the week with other of Matt's buddies, Ol' White Face put down 9 long beards in 8 days. Some of the most insane turkey/decoy interaction that I have ever witnessed.
I will at some point release my videos of the hunts, but first they are gong to air on the Sportsman's Channel as part of Dreampoint Outdoors Game of Inches show in about 3 weeks.
Frame grab from Decap #1
Frame grab from Decap #2 (tiny flap of skin was all that connected his head when done)
Ol' White Face the DSD strutter
Matt's bird after a solid throat punch
One of many Kansas jakes that would not leave us alone
Matt and I with our birds.
I tagged out on opening day this year. I passed up a few birds right off the roost while holding out for one stud of a bird that our scouting had pinned down. He was easy to recognize with one missing tail feather from fighting. At 9:00 that morning he came in with two buddies and SLAMMED the DSD strutter decoy. Unfortunately when I shot, I clipped the blind window with the Magnus Bullhead and it sent the arrow about 6" off course for a clean miss. With that chance blown, I decided it was time to settle for nice long beards the rest of the day. After running off several jakes the rest of the morning, right at noon a long gobble struck from a field behind us. Some sweet calling on the GhostMaker crystal pot call was all it took and the 2 year old strutted right to the set up. I took his head completely off with a Magnus Bullhead at 5 yards. So after a quick bite to eat and a slight adjustment to the set up, we settled in for an afternoon. Again, jakes all afternoon. They came and went every 20 minutes or so, breeding the hen decoys and just reeking havoc on our spread of DSD's. At about 5:00, two toms came on a string from the left. The keyed in on that DSD strutter and at 4 yards I let an arrow fly, and the same Magnus Bullhead from earlier in the day took the head off of bird #2, a good 3 year old bird. Both kills on video.
On day two, I ran the video camera for Matt. After a morning of jake action, we moved to a new location that was crawling with birds. We actually ran several long beards out of the field when we pulled in. We set up, settled in, and about 1 1/2 hours into the hunt, here came three toms, 3/4 strut all the way to the decoys. At 6 yards, Matt throat punched the nicest of the three birds with a Magnus Bullhead as the bird sized up the DSD strutter. Since Matt lives out there, he did not want to end his hunting for the year so he opted to call it quits to prolong his season and not take a 2nd bird.
A huge shout out goes to Dave Smith for custom painting a strutter for us. Matt called me one day to discuss an idea. He wanted a very dominant looking strutter for the Kansas birds. We discussed it at great length and then got our buddy Dave Smith on the phone. Dave was willing to roll the dice on it as well and so was the birth of Ol' White Face ... our custom painted strutter. Between a youth hunt over the previous weekend, our hunts, and some hunts later in the week with other of Matt's buddies, Ol' White Face put down 9 long beards in 8 days. Some of the most insane turkey/decoy interaction that I have ever witnessed.
I will at some point release my videos of the hunts, but first they are gong to air on the Sportsman's Channel as part of Dreampoint Outdoors Game of Inches show in about 3 weeks.
Frame grab from Decap #1
Frame grab from Decap #2 (tiny flap of skin was all that connected his head when done)
Ol' White Face the DSD strutter
Matt's bird after a solid throat punch
One of many Kansas jakes that would not leave us alone
Matt and I with our birds.
