Last turkey day...

Ok, well today was the last day for turkey for me. It was an interesting one. First of all, the weather was outstanding. It was a bit chilly in the morning (perhaps upper 30's, lower 40's) but it warmed up really nicely during the day. I started the day by Bob's stand...I heard a whole lot of gobbling from the mountain and there was a strange sounding gobble that seemed to be coming from near the Cadillac stand. I assumed it was Bob or a tresspasser calling the gobblers up on the hill. After calling there a while I moved to the bottom and walked up from stand 13. I sat there for a while, enjoying the sun and not hearing anything. After a while I drove to the Cadillac side and set up. I called for a while and heard one strange gobble. I sat and called on and off for about 45 minutes and nothing. I then heard that strange gobble again...didn't sound close but didn't sound too far either. I decided to move to the field and try to swing around and get closer. I walked into the edge of the field and DANG! there was a gobbler!! He walked out from the hedgerow about 60 yards from me. He was PROBABLY heading down towards me...and he was limping...maybe that's why he had a screwey gobble. I walked REALLY slowly through the field...he stayed a step ahead of me but it took me about a half hour to cross the field. I got close enough for a shot through the brush and took it...he ran off and then flew off. I didn't find him again. FRAK! I stink at turkey hunting.

Turkey - Day two

What a difference a day makes. Today, it was 44 degrees when I was starting out. I went again to the cadillac stand and this time, in the dark, there was a gobbler gobbling from the pines right at the end of cadillac. I quietly slipped in the woods in the dark (didnt use my flashlight) and sat until it was light enough to see. The gobbler kept on going...calling again and again. I made some tree yelps. Once or twice he answered me back and then I heard him getting farther and farther away. I got up and moved to the end of the field. I called and sat there for a while but I didn't see anything and he didn't call back again. Darn!! I then made my way to 13 and called up and down the hedgrow. When I got to the top of the hill I had two deer come in and look at the decoy. The first deer was stomping and snorting...she didn't like my deek one bit! After a while, from the corner of my eye I saw a hen pop into the field, about 50 yards away from me. I never expected her to come from where she came from. After a while I went to the back cow pasture again and then along the back by the cemetary. Nothing...Bob wasn't there this time. I don't know why that Gobbler decided to walk opposite of where I was calling. Why do I like turkey hunting?

Turkey - Day one

It was coooold this morning. When I started out my truck said that it was 26...that's cold for turkey. I started out by the Cadillac stand and I did manage to hear some gobbling from across the road. I didn't get them down to me though. I next went to the field that's at the end of the Cadillac. When I got there I had to climb over a mountain of dirt and once I cleared the mound, there was a hen on the other side tucked into the hedgrow. Well, needless to say, I scared her and she scared me and both of us went our separate ways. I tucked myself into the hedgerow and called...the sun was now shining and it was warming up a bit. It was windy though. Nuthin...I moved down along the backside and worked my way around the cow pasture, still nothing... I then went to stand 13 and there was another hen tucked into the brush. I called up and down the edge and nuthing. I saw Bob there so I didn't want to get too close, he was in the big feeder field. I went down the path near 5 and worked around back there, nothing. It was now 11:30. It was a nice day even though I didn't really see anything.

One week and a strut...

Only one week left until the Turkey opener! We went to dinner last night at The Mohawk House in Sparta and on the way home, in the woods off of Rt. 15 there was a turkey strutting in the woods. I managed to catch a quick glimpse of it as we drove by...it was enough to get me all jazzed up for opening day!