The Oil Tank Monarch...Season Finale

Rhino

By Rhino
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Rhino Monster Buck

Rhino

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The Hunt for the Oil Tank Monarch.

To me monarch turkeys are those old bad turkeys that rule an area. They are the boss gobbler of a territory and any other bird that dares to challenge them better be prepared for a whooping. With 1 bird left in my MS bag limit, I had told my turkey hunting friends I really hoped to get into a gobbling war with my last bird. As the old saying goes “be careful what you wish for, cuz you just might get it”.

1st Afternoon: I got to camp around 5:00 Monday afternoon and went to a field named Oil Tank where the Oil Tank Monarch hung around to meet up with hens in the afternoon. The field is flanked on 3 sides by deep, steep banked creeks with a narrow patch of woods on each side between the creeks and the field. The timber had been select cut around the field but the north end still had some big timber. When I arrived there were 3 hens in the field with the Oil Tank Monarch. I swung around to slip close to the edge. By the time I got in position they were all in the north end of the field with another satellite gobbler. With not much of a chance to coax them toward me from where they were I chose to relax and enjoy the strutting and drumming show from a distance. About 6:45 they entered the woods in the back of the field heading toward the roost area near the northern creek. He gobbled twice on the ground and 8 times on the roost before dark. As the old saying goes “roosted ain’t roasted”.

1st Morning: Before daylight I moved in and set up between where he was roosted and Oil Tank field. He cranked up his gobbling early suppressing any other birds in the area. He was roosted in a tall oak tree right on the edge of the creek. Within 15 minutes of his frist gobble I could hear 2 hens. One is directly behind me while the other is behind me off my left shoulder. Seems like I’m in the driver’s seat eh. I thought so too but that sucker flew down to the ridge across the creek. He responded well to my calling with loud drumming and gobbling but my hopes of him coming back to my side of the creek were dashed away when I heard him gobble his way to my left and then go silent. Probably more dang hens over there than my side of the creek. About 10 minutes of silence goes by when the satellite bird gobbles in the field behind me so its back to the field edge. As I crawl up to the edge behind brush there stands the satellite bird in full strut about 150 yards away in the middle of the field. Glassing him from there he appears to be a 2 year old with about a 9” thin beard. What the heck, lets see what he’ll do. He’d gobble at my calls and on his own but wouldn’t budge from a 10 yard area. Some 30 minutes goes by enjoyed the strutting and gobbling show before I decided to move around the east side of the field to close the distance on the gobbler. A briar thicket halted my move but crawling up to the edge I found myself about 60 yards from the bird. I managed to coax him a little closer but too questionable of a distance to take the shot. At that point the bird with periscope up couldn’t fin that hen that was calling in the bush so he silently headed southwest in search of hens.

2nd Afternoon: Two days later following a rainy evening and morning I arrive at Oil Tank field to attempt to roost the Oil Tank Monarch. The field is empty. I sit down to listen. A few minutes later I hear a faint gobble to the northeast. About 7:00 I hear him gobble on the roost on top of the ridge he’d flown down to on my previous morning hunt. The obvious plan now is to get on that ridge with him before daylight.

2nd Morning: As the first crack of dawn broke I’m sitting off the edge of a bush hogged ATV trail on the ridge where the Oil Tank Monarch is roosted. At 5:58 he issues his first gobble warning all upstarts to keep their mouths shut while he gobbles for hens. About 6:15 I hear 4 others bird’s faint gobbles in the distance outside his domain. Realizing I’m a little too far to work him I move closing the distance to about 200 yards while he’s still gobbling on the roost. I’m now set up about 30 yards short of a bend in the trail. When he issued his first gobble from the ground I start my calling with a fly down cut followed by soft yelps, clucks and purrs. He cuts me off with loud coarse gobbling and begins moving my way with the distinct sound of pfffttt dooooommm. Loud drumming continues as he moves closer but he stops short of the bend in the trail about 50 to 60 yards away starting a yo yo move back and forth up and down the trail gobbling and drumming. About 30 minutes of this action goes on before I heard him gobble in the distance past a high point on the ridge. With the terrain able to cover my move now, I quickly moved forward setting up just short of the high point inside his yo yo line. I call…no answer. About 10 minutes passes when a bird gobbles down the north side of the ridge near the creek bottom. Dang he’s moved downhill. I move again setting up right above him and my calls are immediately answered with gobbles. The bird comes about half way up the ridge but just wouldn’t show himself. He hangs up there gobbling. Dang! As some time goes by he goes down to the bottom and starts gobbling his way up the bottom. I move again back down the trail setting up above him but his mind was made up to stay down there. He moves further up the bottom so I move to get in front of him going down toward the bottom, setting up on a knoll over the bottom that puts the bank of the creek inside shotgun range. I call, he answers moving my way. Dang, he hungs up again for about an hour gobbling out of sight inside 50 to 75 yards. I finally crawl out, back up, get above him again, and crawl down the side toward him setting up about 75 yards above him with some cover between us. I call and he starts coming up but dang, about half way up he hangs up again about 50 yards away out of sight and stays there gobbling. Double Dang! Some 20 minutes or so goes by with him gobbling at me and on his own before a loud coarse gobble erupts from near the end of the ridge cutting off a gobble from the bird below me. After 2 more coarse loud gobbles from the bird down the ridge, I realized I have been hunting the satellite gobbler since the Oil Tank Monarch had shut down earlier that morning when I heard him off in the distance past the high point on top of the ridge. The Oil Tank Monarch must have gotten with a hen giving the satellite gobbler time to feel safe about cranking up in the bottom while the Monarch was occupied. The satellite gobbler never uttered another sound. Since I’m now out of position to work the Oil Tank Monarch on top of the ridge I crawl back toward the trail setting up on a big red oak tree about 10 to 15 yards off the trail at the same elevation. All the time the Monarch gobbled on his own or at the sound of me crunching leaves while I crawled and I began hearing his loud drumming again as neared the oak tree. At the set up point if he comes down the trail he would not be in view until he was inside 25 yards. Couldn’t risk getting closer for a better view now. I deliver one set of clucks and purrs with him cutting me off with a loud coarse gobble. OK he knows where I am, calls down and get ready. He slowly gets closer and closer drumming LOUD the entire time only interrupted by his loud coarse gobbles that now echo across the ground. Now the shakes start with goose bumps and hair standing on end. He gobbles for every 5 steps or so he takes as he slowly gets closer and keeps up his loud drumming. His last gobble inside the 30 yard line literally made me shiver and shake all over. I finally begin to see movement of his black body through the brush between me and the trail and he steps out into the open, head raised looking for where he knows he heard that hen. My 1187 roars with the Monarch a mere 21 steps away and the Oil Tank Monarch slams to the ground. Checking my watch it is now 9:25. In never knew 3 hours and 25 minutes had passed since hearing his first gobble from the roost. Fantastic memorable trophy hunt! All total over 150 gobbles were thrown in the air on this morning with loud drumming that gave me a serious case of the shakes. The Oil Tank Monarch filled out my 3 bird bag limit for MS and he sure was a fitting trophy to end it with together with this unbelievable trophy hunting experience. The Oil Tank Monarch sports an 11” paint brush beard along with 1 ¼” spurs. I’ll remember this hunt forever. He was one of the loudest drumming gobblers I have ever had the pleasure of hunting. Here he is on a tree stump next to where he took his last breath.

3rd2007MSGobbler.jpg

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Guest Oneida1

Guest Oneida1

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That is exectly what turkey hunting is all about! Last year was my first year and I was hooked! This year was even better. Hopefully I can work up to a hunt like that one.

Are you going to mount this one?? Any bird with a story deserves a place on the wall. And boy does this one have a story!!

Congrats on the fine bird!!

Oneida1

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Rhino Monster Buck

Rhino

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That is exectly what turkey hunting is all about! Last year was my first year and I was hooked! This year was even better. Hopefully I can work up to a hunt like that one.

Are you going to mount this one?? Any bird with a story deserves a place on the wall. And boy does this one have a story!!

Congrats on the fine bird!!

Oneida1

Thanks Martin. I'm sure you'll have a lot of those kind of turkey hunts before you hang up your turkey calls.

I'm not mounting this bird but his beard and spurs are hanging on the wall with others from past memorable hunts. To be honest if I mounted every bird that I was fortunate enough to have those kind of memorable hunts, I'd run out of wall room.

I do have 2 birds on the wall. One was a MS Eastern that fooled me for about a month before he finally was slung over my shoulder. About 7 or 8 memorable hunts going after him before I finally bagged him. 2 of those hunts were with a close friend of mine. He brought up that "remember that bad bird" story this spring and it's been about 10 years since I killed him. The other was my marathon merriam hunt where I litterally hunted the same bird for about 7 hours one day. Killed him on the 14th setup at 3:10 in the afternoon. He probably gobbled over 300 times before he died. That bird was a true testament that time sure does fly when you're having fun.

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