2017 spring turkey season finds me again hunting my go to property in Leavenworth County, KS. Prior to the season I took steps to clear brush and shooting lanes at a few good spots. This year I decided to give fanning a try. I purchased a TurkeyFan from killergear.com.
Arrived at 5:40 a.m. and set up in a thin finger of trees projecting into the field. A bird gobbled at 5:50 north of the field and a few minutes later another fired up southwest of my position in a block of woodland on another property. I started calling about 6 a.m. By 6:30 the southwest bird was on the ground. I could barely see him through the field weeds. I decided to deploy the TurkeyFan. Making a quick end around the tip of the finger of trees, I deployed the fan at 300 yards, stooping over watching a gobbler with two hens at the edge of the woodland in the field. Approaching the trio at about 90 yards, they moved a little west, acting spooked, but not enough to run or fly off. I stop and sit behind the fan. They didn’t walk off, but moved about 15 yards. Finally the gobbler and one hen went to the woods, leaving a lone hen. Deciding fanning wasn’t working, I busted the hen and went back to my original set up. I tried working the north gobbler and his small harem, also along the edge to no avail. I decided to leave, but would deploy the TurkeyFan to the north group on the way out. They watched the approaching gobbler fan until about 100 yards, then slowly dispersed back into the woods. This was to be the only day I tried fanning the entire 2017 season. I have formed very little opinion. It is known to work well. I like the size of the TurkeyFan that allows a grown man to sit hidden behind, but I wonder if the gobbler image on the fan is so large that it intimidates other turkeys…who knows. I didn’t have any birds approach or at the fan that morning like the fancy marketing video’s show….I will give it a try a few more years before rendering an opinion.
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