Hunting Turkeys in the Rain Sometimes Pays-Off, Plus a Turkey Hunting Video with Chris Parrish
Editor’s Note: I try never to hunt turkeys in a strong wind or a bad rain – two terrible weather conditions for hunting. But in the immortal words of one of the world’s greatest turkey hunters and callers, the late Ben Rodgers Lee, “You can’t kill a gobbler while sitting in camp.”
Because Don Taylor and I didn’t hear or see the turkey on this first day of our hunt in a pouring rain, my patience wore thin. After 45 minutes of calling, I told Taylor we apparently had missed the bird and should attempt to find another turkey. “Let’s call for 5 more minutes,” Taylor suggested. “Then we’ll leave.” When the appointed time arrived, we agreed to go hunt another tom. As soon as we stood-up, we heard the crashing of limbs and the beating of wings and saw our gobbler take to the air not 10 feet behind us. When you hunt turkeys in the rain, you may hear them gobble, if they come close to you, but you can’t hear them walking in the leaves. If you hunt in a place where you expect to see a turkey, then sit longer than you normally will. If you can’t hear a turkey, you have to depend on seeing him to bag him.
Finally, at 11:00 am, the rain stopped. Taylor suggested we hunt a field where he knew some turkeys should show-up. One-hundred yards from the field, we used our binoculars and spotted a gobbler with hens out in the field. Taking our time and moving slowly, we inched closer to the field. We set-up 50 yards from the edge of the field and 75 yards from the turkey. Surprisingly, Taylor kee-kee called like a young gobbler, instead of using the springtime hen calls of yelps, clucks, purrs and cackling. Most hunters considered the kee-kee a fall call. Taylor explained later that, “When you see a gobbler with hens in the spring, many times he’ll come to run a young gobbler away from these hens faster than he will move to add another hen to his harem.”
A gobbler with hens in the middle of the field reminds me of a bull elk with his harem. He’ll often leave his harem to run off a satellite bull waiting to pick-up his stray cows. Taylor’s strategy proved lethal. When the longbeard broke away from his hens, he came toward us. As rain dripped into my face, I felt my toes swimming in my boots. I prepared for the shot. When the drenched bird stepped from behind a tree not 30-yards away, my 3-inch magnum 12-gauge reported. The gobbler went down. My longbeard looked like someone had run him through a washing machine and put him on the spin cycle. No one would consider him a picturesque bird with his wet and muddy plumage. But persistence and some insanity convinced me I could take gobblers in the rain, even though normally-intelligent hunters wouldn’t hunt under these conditions.
Learn more about hunting legendary gobblers from John E. Phillips’ library of turkey-hunting books, including “The Turkey Hunter’s Bible,” “Turkey Tactics,” “Outdoor Life’s Complete Turkey Hunting,” “The Masters’ Secrets of Turkey Hunting” and “Hunter’s Specialties’ PhD Gobblers.” To learn more about these hunting books and others, visit www.nighthawkpublications.com/hunting/hunting.htm, or call 205-967-3830.
Watch Video: “Chris Parrish – The Difference Between Woods Calling and Competition Calling”
