BY CLARK SNITKO
WILLITS--After checking in at Clarke ranch, a Wilderness Unlimited property outside of Willits, I set up camp and set out to explore some of the property for wild turkeys, since I had never been there before.
The ranch has a large lodge that can be rented and a couple of ponds that can be fished for the large rainbows that are stocked. I brushed up on my fly fishing for a couple of hours while the sun was still high in the sky and I didn't have much luck fishing, but the scenery was so beautiful it didn't matter too much. I knew that it was time to put the rod away and try to find some birds headed to roost when I looked over my shoulder and saw a nice young deer headed to water at the other pond.
Most of the ranch roads were closed due the recent rains, so scouting would be somewhat limited. I got lucky and spotted some movement from two toms and watched them go over a ridge as the sun slowly sank over the ocean that could be seen on the horizon. I knew where I would be a sunrise.
The alarm did not go off until I was dressed and geared up for the day. I was able to drive within a couple of hundred yards of where I wanted to set up and picked a large oak to nestle under with my decoy only 20 yards in front of me. Before I was completely ready I heard a gobble from just over the ridge I had seen the turkeys disappear over the night before. They eagerly responded to my yelps.
Within five minutes two nice toms appeared at the edge of the trees. I watched them gobble in response to my calls though my binoculars and to my surprise heard more gobbles answer them. I looked back at the tree line and saw five more large toms come out from the crest of the ridge.
It was extremely hard to remain still as the seven toms ran towards my decoy. They stopped at a fence just out of shotgun range and gobbled in unison to all my clucks and putts. The sound of all those toms gobbling at the same time was something that I will never forget, it really took my by surprise how you could feel the vibration of seven birds gobbling all at once.
The wait for one of the birds to come just a little bit closer was hard to bear. I was sure that I would make one little movement and off they would go, but this was one of those special hunts that just seems to go right no matter what. A 27-pound tom with a 9 1/2-inch beard was headed to the smoker for some great eats and I am going to get back here next year, because I know that there are more where he came from.
Clark Snitko
Rocklin