Monday March 28, 2011
The weather forecast was not looking good, overcast, breezy and a good chance of rain.
I got up at 5 AM and stepped outside to see what it looked, miserable! but....I thought, with the rain, turkeys are going to want to be in the open, either on a graded road pasture or.....an dried up duck pond! It was a long shot but I loaded up and headed for the duck pond I have been hunting.I was actually a little late getting there and I had to set up with daylight breaking on me. I set up a couple hen decoys in front a a small grass island with one lone, young cypress growing on the edge. It had some low limbs I could crawl up under and use the trunk for a back rest. I pulled some moss over the limbs and settled in for the wait.
Big Gobbler track!
Of course with the overcast, I heard no gobbling but I felt good about the chances of a long beard being close.
After about a half hour I looked over to see two hens easing out from behind a grass island. I got to see one more hen before I called the hunt and that was it. No gobblers.
Tuesday: called for bad weather
Wednesday: called for bad weather
Thursday: I have a 4 day permit for Ocala, Lake Delancy that started today but when I woke up this morning it was flashing lightening, thundering and had been raining all night. I decided to bide my time an waite and see what the weather would do. We had been under tornado watches over night and there was more severe weather forcasted for the day. By 2 PM though it was starting to clear. Since it had rained most of the day I did not figure much sign could be seen so I decided not to try to scout the spot I planned to hunt. I have killed a turkey here just about every year for as long as I have been hunting Delancy. I'll just go there cold in the morning and see what develops.
Not more than 45 minutes old, you can still see their toe texture, I bumped into the birds just down the road.
Friday day #10, "The April fools Bird!"
Man, I just can get out from under this black cloud that is following me around! From the title you can probably guess the ending of this hunt but here's what went down.
It's over an hours drive for me to get to this little honey hole I like to hunt in the Ocala national forest.
I was a little nervous about what I would find when I got there as I have not been there in a year. I am always worried someone is going to be sitting there when I arrive.
Well, once again I lucked out and had the spot all to myself. The forest service had just recently burned the area and had blocked the road to I had to hump all my gear in an extra 1/4 mile or so. Since it was going to be so far I decided to leave the decoys. That turned out to be a mistake that could have made a decidedly different out come to the hunt.
I waited down at the swamp and the second time I owled a bird responded right beside me! I mean 50-60 yds! I probably looked like the cat who just ate the canary. I have been here before and It has always gone bad for the gobbler. I just knew I had this one in the bag.
As as the day creatures started to wake up and call, the gobbler really got going. He was gobbling at anything that made a sound. I put a palmetto fan blind together on the opposite side of the road and set back for the show.
When the gobbling started to tail off I knew he was getting ready to fly down. I had no more whispered that to the camera; he's getting ready to fly down, when I heard him take wing and saw him come sailing into the road. The only problem was the canopy was such that it caused him to fly diagonally away from me and land some 50 yds distant. He was out of view of the camera so I decided to be patient and wait on him.
He went into full strut as soon as his toes hit the dirt and only got out of shotgun range one time over the next hour. Strutting and drumming non stop and I only got two glimpses of him.
From his gobbling I could tell he was getting close to the edge of the hammock. About then I heard a couple hen flutter down back in the hammock. You know what he did! He headed that way strutting and gobbling.
I called up a hen that got to about 10yds. and then faded back into the hammock.
The tom gobbled off in the back in the hammock and I thought he was leaving me but I made the right call there and stayed put. In a few minutes he was coming back and I thought once again I was just about to kill him. He hung up just on the edge of the right of way and moved back and fourth drumming the hole time.
I had seen him pass through a small hole behind a fallen cabbage log when he came up there but he did not stop for a shot and I thought he was coming to the road anyway. Well, after a short time I saw him step back into the opening but all I could see was his white head and the top of his fan. I swung the gun over the camera and fired!
It was a swing and a miss! I still can't believe I blew such a sweet setup. That was one lucky bird is all that I can say.
I would add this; after I watched the footage I saw some stuff that I missed due to the camera and having to worry with that thing. I don't think it really had much to due with the failure but it can and will. There was a hen that I called up in the thick bushes that I did not know was there until I watched the video and I had the camera pointed in the wrong shooting hole when I pulled the trigger. With over and hour of footage I never saw the gobbler for more then about 3 seconds and he was basically in gun range the hole time! Amazing.
I have to say, despite the disappointment of the miss, it was one exciting hunt! To have a bird that close for so long with him drumming and gobbling like that.....it's pure excitement. It was still an outstanding hunt.
I will try to roost him tonight but I expect he is going to be as wild as a run over dog. He won't leave but whether he can be called in is a different story.
I have two days to make it happen. We'll see.
Best of hunts,
Larry S.
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