Gobblers looking for love find way to Landers’ dinner table

HUNTING — The best part about striking out on the opening day of the spring gobbler season is having the chance to get out in following weeks to spend more time turkey hunting.

You have to get up a little earlier as the the days lengthen, but you’ll hear different sounds each week as new birds move into the area.  I heard snipe at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday that weren’t in the area on opening day.  And wrens were busy flying into a nest box to feed their new arrivals.

It’s also interesting to see how the wild turkeys change their habits as their breeding season progresses.

As bred hens head out to nest, more toms are walking around alone or in pairs and looking for action.

I happened to be the action for the two toms pictured above on Saturday.  While other toms were gobbling but still henned up, this pair of gobblers came in fast and furious before 7 a.m.

And since I didn’t score on opening day, I still had two turkey tags in my pocket for the spring season.

They took to one of my decoys and then seemed to have a little spat over it. I patiently watched for the rare moment when two heads came together and paused at 20 yards.

Boom.  A two-fer.

Washington’s spring gobbler season runs through May 31.