John Hafner makes his home in Western Montana these days. And although he’s right in the middle of big game country, he still finds that turkeys fuel his passion for the hunt like no other animal can. Montana winters are long and tough. They tend to linger well beyond their time. Yet they can’t hold back the excitement of those who find themselves waiting on the sacred season we call, Spring. With a camera in his hand, and longbeards holding the attention of his lens, Hafner can be found chasing turkeys in the days leading up to the opener – impatiently waiting on spring.
Winters in Montana can be long, bitter cold and seemingly never-ending. But by early-March, regardless of the conditions, our local turkeys begin to act up … as if they’re forcing winter to surrender to their instinctive spring rituals. And finally, along with the birds, I begin to get much-needed relief from my cabin fever. I grab my Nikon and get to work as the gobblers begin to bow up, sound off and chase reluctant hens.
Last spring, our snowpack stubbornly held its ground for quite a while, but the birds didn’t seem to mind. I spent over 20 days scouting turkeys in March, and chasing birds with photo tackle. I knocked on doors, met landowners and asked for permission to set up shop. Most of them looked at me with an awkward expression, no doubt wondering why I’d want to sit in the cold and take pictures of turkeys. But after pleading my case and explaining my hopeless turkey addiction, most of them granted me access.
I scouted several properties, set up a few ground blinds, and for nearly three weeks straight, I spent my days sitting in the blinds or traversing the gobbler-rich properties. I spent lots of early-morning hours in sub-zero temps, drinking an impressive—perhaps alarming—amount of coffee, and shooting over 40,000 pics. Was it worth enduring the weather and living off of fast food? Heck yeah, it was! I enjoyed my best spring turkey photo season, and for the first time ever, I was able to shoot lots of pics of birds strutting and gobbling in the snow.
As I write this, I’m about to head out with camera-in-hand, hoping for a repeat of last season. Much to my wife’s dismay and the landowners’ amusement, I’ll soon be huddled over a crappy cup of coffee, yelping, clucking, purring and snapping pics. While I gladly trade camera for bow and shotgun in April and May, my pre-season March photo time is good medicine. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Technical info: For my fellow geeks, all the pics in this gallery were shot with a Nikon D4 and a 500mm f/4 lens. In some cases, I added a 1.4X tele-converter (700mm f/5.6 equivalent). ISO settings range from 800 – 2,500. Coffee was usually two creams, two sweeteners.
Check out more from John Hafner at www.johnhafnerphoto.com.
