Few of us would argue that coaxing gobblers to spitting distance via the call remains one of bowhunting’s biggest thrills. But unpredictable springtime weather can make this a bigger challenge than many turkey-hunting neophytes have bargained for.

Savvy turkey bowhunters know that during even the best of conditions calling-in a big tom can be a complicated chess game of strategy and extreme patience. Add some wet weather, or worse—sudden heavy snow and extreme cold courtesy of an unusually late spring—and you might just find your call selection about as useful as a 200-pound daypack. Time for Plan B—ambushing turkeys along preferred travel routes they will stick to even when the going gets rough.

Come along as Bowhunting World’s Mark Melotik and Jared Pfeifer find themselves fighting through a freak springtime snowstorm in northern Nebraska, and emerging three days later with a trio of fine spring toms—courtesy of some realistic decoys and the game-rich tracts managed by Laughing Water Ranch Outfitters (www.lwroutfitters.com).