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After a late night, getting up for turkey hunting isn't easy. But we did it. And when I told Mason it was time to get up, he said, "Yes, yes, yes"! He likes turkey hunting!
I haven't made it out to listen at all this spring. We decided to go to a farm where we've shot turkeys on each of the last three or four years. I figured chances were good there would be birds roosted in one little hollow as there almost always is. We slid into a ridge top hiding spot to await daylight. As the sun rose, we were disappointed to find there were no turkeys on our side of the valley. There were however a couple gobbling the next ridge over, we must have walked right under them as we walked in!
After fly down, I could tell the gobblers went off in the other direction. I hadn't made a call. We had a button buck walk up within 5 yards or so of us, so that provided a bit of entertainment before Mason spotted 3 birds going through a patch of green briar on the opposite ridge. We waited, made a few calls and watched as we were sitting within shotgun range of an historic strut zone.
An hour or so, sore butts, and the desire to see what was on the other side made us get up and go after the gobblers we'd heard earlier. I'd never been in that particular piece of woods, so we moved cautiously as I had no idea where the birds had gone. It was an extremely open piece of old hardwoods that had cattle in it until a few years ago. We eased along, heard a gobble, and scrambled to find a suitable set up. We dropped down in a dip where the bird would have to crest one of the surrounding high spots to see the hen. It was one of the few brushy spots in the entire woods, green briars, etc.
After setting up, I made a few calls, he answered but hadn't moved. I called sparingly, mixed in some leaf scratching, and here he came. He moved up the hill directly in front of us. I'd guess he was within 50 yards, but Mason had no shot due to the screening green briars. After a time, he moved back down the hill, crossed a ravine and started gobbling to our right. He moved on up the hill to a point he was actually behind us yet still within 50 yards or so, covered still by brush. Mason had to turn 180 degrees, with the bird right in our lap, but he got away with it. Finally, he said, "There he is". So for the 100th time this morning, I flipped on the vid cam just before he walked into range. He gobbled one more time. Mason let him get within 30 yards or so and laid him flat! It was a fun morning!!!!
ickle:
Here is the vid clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR4OrILHDjM&feature=youtu.be
I haven't made it out to listen at all this spring. We decided to go to a farm where we've shot turkeys on each of the last three or four years. I figured chances were good there would be birds roosted in one little hollow as there almost always is. We slid into a ridge top hiding spot to await daylight. As the sun rose, we were disappointed to find there were no turkeys on our side of the valley. There were however a couple gobbling the next ridge over, we must have walked right under them as we walked in!
After fly down, I could tell the gobblers went off in the other direction. I hadn't made a call. We had a button buck walk up within 5 yards or so of us, so that provided a bit of entertainment before Mason spotted 3 birds going through a patch of green briar on the opposite ridge. We waited, made a few calls and watched as we were sitting within shotgun range of an historic strut zone.
An hour or so, sore butts, and the desire to see what was on the other side made us get up and go after the gobblers we'd heard earlier. I'd never been in that particular piece of woods, so we moved cautiously as I had no idea where the birds had gone. It was an extremely open piece of old hardwoods that had cattle in it until a few years ago. We eased along, heard a gobble, and scrambled to find a suitable set up. We dropped down in a dip where the bird would have to crest one of the surrounding high spots to see the hen. It was one of the few brushy spots in the entire woods, green briars, etc.
After setting up, I made a few calls, he answered but hadn't moved. I called sparingly, mixed in some leaf scratching, and here he came. He moved up the hill directly in front of us. I'd guess he was within 50 yards, but Mason had no shot due to the screening green briars. After a time, he moved back down the hill, crossed a ravine and started gobbling to our right. He moved on up the hill to a point he was actually behind us yet still within 50 yards or so, covered still by brush. Mason had to turn 180 degrees, with the bird right in our lap, but he got away with it. Finally, he said, "There he is". So for the 100th time this morning, I flipped on the vid cam just before he walked into range. He gobbled one more time. Mason let him get within 30 yards or so and laid him flat! It was a fun morning!!!!
ickle:Here is the vid clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR4OrILHDjM&feature=youtu.be
