Among all the big bass tournaments in our state this spring, it seems like there's some other big event coming up that I've overlooked.
Oh yeah, the start of spring turkey season starts tomorrow!
Spring turkey season is the first major hunting season of the year and it's my favorite. I can't get enough of it and neither can many other Arkansas turkey hunters that were so impatient that they got a head start in other states. Grant Westmoreland of Sheridan and Mike Knoedl, former director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, have relieved the State of Texas of a few Rio Grande gobblers. Jackie Rauls and Wayne Richardson of Rison have successfully begun their annual quest for a Grand Slam by killing Osceola gobblers in Florida.
Bill Rhodes of Sheridan, one of my favorite turkey-call makers, was in Mississippi for the Magnolia State's opener, but we haven't heard from him. We have heard from Eddie Horton of Camden, another of my favorite turkey-call makers, who bagged a big gobbler last week in Mississippi.
After a couple of days of poor hunting, Horton and his party went to a new piece of property. When Horton exited his truck, a turkey gobbled at a crow about 100 yards away over a rise.
Horton approached the bird. The young man that was supposed to accompany him stayed at the truck, but Horton was so focused on the bird that he didn't notice the kid was missing until he heard him start scratching on a pot call at the truck.
"Man, he caught me 'buck nekkid' in the wide open," Horton said. "That bird was double gobbling, and I didn't have anywhere to go, so I pulled my mask over my face and sat down right there in the road."
Horton persuaded his companion to lay off the pot call, and Horton did the rest. Two minutes later, he bagged a mature, 20-pound gobbler with a 101/2-inch beard and 11/8-inch spurs.
Patrick Frachiseur of Dierks is another one of my favorite turkey-call makers. He hasn't hunted out of state this year, but he said he's patiently awaiting his turn Monday in the Natural State.
Frachiseur is a little worried because turkeys haven't been gobbling in his part of southwest Arkansas. Last year, he said, they gobbled hard around April 10, which was a week before the 2016 season opened. Even so, it took him until the second week to kill a bird, but he made the most of the delay by filling both of his tags.
"They changed [the] season up this year, and I think that's something they should have done a couple years ago," Frachiseur said. "Based on what I heard last year, they should be gobbling like crazy right now, but they're just not doing it."
Frachiseur said his most important piece of equipment is his Knight & Hale Gobbler Guide. It details all of the wild turkeys transition zones across North America and lists what calls are most effective on gobblers at what time.
"I call it my turkey hunting bible," Frachiseur said. "I keep it in my turkey hunting vest, and I refer to it to this day, and it's still pretty darned accurate. It really helped my turkey killing go way up once I understood what they're doing. If a person is serious about killing turkeys, he needs to get one of these."
Unfortunately, the Gobbler Guide is out of print. None is available on eBay or Amazon, but you can see video versions online. When he bought his Gobbler Guide, Frachiseur said it came with a video cassette. He doesn't know where it is and doesn't remember ever watching it. For him, that booklet is the deal.
Like Frachiseur, I am waiting for Monday, but not patiently. I spent a lot of time in February patterning shotgun turkey loads. My gun is ready. I have spots in Grant County where I have killed gobblers in the past, but intensive logging has changed the way turkeys use it. I did a lot of walking and listening in the late winter, but I was not been able to find them consistently.
So, I'll do what I always do. I'll find a place where turkeys ought to be, and I'll call one up with a symphony of Rhodes, Horton and Frachiseur calls.
That's because our motto here at the Pine Thicket Bureau is, "Arkansas calls for Arkansas turkeys."
Sports on 04/09/2017