DON SHIPP: FIVE TURKEYS I DIDN'T IMPRESS WITH MY THREE WORLD TURKEY CALLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Burnt-Up Gobbler

EDITOR'S NOTE: Don Shipp of Clinton, Arkansas, an avid turkey hunter and caller and member of Mossy Oak's Pro Hunt Team and MAD Calls, has won the World Turkey Calling Championship, sponsored by Mossy Oak for many years, in 1997, 1998 and 1999. He also has won the Arkansas State Championship six times and the Southwest Open Championship four times. This week, Shipp will tell us about five tough toms and how he or his clients outsmarted them.

At home in Arkansas, where I often hunt the clearcut areas in the mountains, I encountered a difficult turkey. This bird liked to fly out in the clearcuts, and because there was plenty of food for him there, he'd stay out there for most of the day. When his hens would leave, he'd gobble, but he'd stay on the ridges on the clearcut, so maneuvering on him was hard. I hunted him for five or six days and tried to call him. He'd call and gobble back, but he wouldn't do anything. I tried to move on him once or twice, but I just bumped him. I'd just about given up on this bird when a friend said, "I'll keep the tom gobbling for you and let you move around and get on a ridge off to the side of him. You can get in as close as you can to him, and we'll see what we can do with him."

We decided to go in the next day and try my friend's plan. The day before our hunt, I cut the wings off a turkey I'd bagged. (This was before I started using decoys much, and there weren't many decoys available.) I had the wings with me when I got on this tough turkey. I couldn't get any closer than about 100 yards from him, and I didn't want to call to the gobbler because I didn't think he'd come in to me. So, I decided to use the other turkey's wings to make the bird think he was seeing another turkey. I crawled up by an old, burnt log and called just enough to get the tom's attention. Then, I took the wings and fanned them like a gobbler stretching and fanning itself. I used hen calls a little bit, then more jake calls. The tom stood up and looked at the wings and started off two or three times. I tried to gobble at him one time, and he walked a little closer. Suddenly, I saw the color on his head change. I fanned the wings a couple more times, and he turned on a dime. I guess the turkey had taken all he could take of another gobbler invading his little clearcut. I don't think the calling alone would have convinced this bird to come to me, but he could see the wings moving and hear the jake calling. I think the gobbler was worried about the jake taking his hens away from him, so he came in and gave me the opportunity to shoot him.