Video: Gobbler Gang Attacks Decoy
Dave Maas 05.04.16
Spring turkey hunters fantasize about those foggy mornings when a thunderous gobble roars from the roost. Recently, Thomas Allen, who works as Senior Editor for Bassmaster, had his dream come true on a memorable turkey hunt in Arkansas.
Thomas lives in Alabama, but you won’t detect a southern drawl when you listen to him speak. That’s because he spent most of his life in the Midwest, namely Iowa and Minnesota, and he moved his family to Alabama less than a year ago to join the team at Bassmaster.
As a lifelong turkey hunter, Thomas has seen it all, but it never gets old in the turkey woods because no two hunts ever unfold exactly the same. And as he makes crystal clear in the video below, he’s in the field this fine morning because of the generous offer from a friend.
“I did have two tags,” Thomas said, “but you can kill only one bird per day in Arkansas. I am not proud of the shot I took. In fact, I almost blew it completely. This is bird No. 74 for me, and I’d never shot the wrong bird, but I did this time.
“I waited for the birds behind the two closest toms to clear, and when they did, the two gobbler heads came together, then apart again. I decided to shoot when they separated, but the heads suddenly came back together and I hesitated mid trigger pull. Obviously, I ended up shooting. The heads swapped spots and I killed the wrong bird. I got very lucky, but it turned out alright and it won’t be a hunt that I’ll soon forget.”
Several years ago, Thomas set out to kill a turkey on film in every state where wild turkeys roam. He was able to cross Arkansas off that list just a few short weeks ago with this exciting hunt.
Thomas, congrats on your first Arkansas gobbler, and great job on the self-filmed hunt!
