Opening Day - trip report

[Bwana]

This past Saturday was the opener for the ND spring turkey season. Due to other obligations the youngest two kids were not able to go, so it was just my oldest and I.

It was a great morning to be out as there was no wind and with temps in the upper 20's so it was pretty comfortable. We watched the sun rise as the morning mist was moving here and there all while being serenaded by coyotes, robins, canada geese, blue jays, and several flocks of turkeys. A magical time and I attempted to take in as much as possible since it might be the last for just the two of us together as he is starting college in the fall.

Anyway the birds didn't fly down until an hour after sunrise and that was only after a group of 3 jakes walked close to where the birds were roosted. I watched those jakes come from over a 1/2 mile away but when they started gobbling up a storm within 50 yards of where the big toms were roosted, all hell broke loose and there was one hell of a fight going on. It looked like a bar-rrom brawl with a total of 7 birds all in the mix. Eventually the fighting ceased and the birds moved off which is when we made our move. We snuck to within about 75 yards of the birds and set up in the shade of some trees with the sun at our backs. After watching the toms milling around for some time two of the larger toms ended up within 30 yards of our position but they were just over a rise and out of sight from us. I thought about trying to sneak a bit closer but my son suggested calling instead which did the trick as in they came all nice and fanned out. We did the old "I'll take the one on the left and you take the one on the right," BOOM! or maybe it was boom, boom , boom but either way we dropped both gobblers. My son's bird ended up having one of the longer sets of spurs I have seen on a bird around here at just under 1-1/2 inches and an 8.25" beard.
photo 3.JPG
Unknown-1.jpg

OK, here is one for you in-the-know turkey guys, what is up with the difference in coloration of the secondary tail feathers on these two birds?
Unknown-3.jpg

And last but not least:
Unknown.jpg

Plan for now is to head out with the younger two on Friday if the weather holds out. My fingers are crossed.