Florida Spring Gobbler Season Report - #7 -Fifth Week!

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Monday, Apr. 11, 2011-day #17

I took off for Monday and did not hunt today.

Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2011-day #18

Since I did not scout Monday I was forced to prospect this morning. I covered a number of roads without getting any response from a gobbler. I did call up a hen on the road near a spot we call the persimmon tree. It was a pretty slow morning.

Wednesday, Apr. 13, 2011-day #19

I started out on the North end of the creek road this morning and ended up going in to my stand at the west fence. When I got to within calling distance of the hammock I stopped and made an excited cut call. I was immediately answered by a hen cutting back at me. Since that was all I had to go on I thought I'd play it out and how there was a gobbler with them.

I needed to close the distance a little so I moved their direction. It was so think you couldn't see 10'. I never came into any place that was open enough to set up and call. Finally I was actually within gun range of them and there was just no place to call from. The hens were still aggressively calling to me but there was nothing I could do. I had just decided to go back when I heard one fly, then another. Amazingly, they flew almost vertically up into a big yellow pine. They had flown up for a vantage where they could look for me. One of the hens walked up and down the limb she was on calling and looking. She would hop up to another limb and do the same thing. It was a pretty interesting to see.

It was getting up in the morning so I decided to slip out of there and head for work. On the way out I cut some track sign in the road. It was a gobbler and a hen that had come from a big head where they had roosted and crossed the road headed to a pasture just up the hill. The gobbler strutted his way up a dim road and I believe this is the remaining bird from the duo I have been hunting.

This was an interesting discovery and I started making plans for an afternoon hunt.


Late that afternoon I got there in time to get set up between the pasture and the roost where the turkeys had roosted. The sign on the sandy knob indicated that a number of turkeys had been using this spot and there were plenty of big gobbler tracks. I was a little disappointed that I had not put 2 and 2 together and already figured this out.

Unfortunately, even though the plan was sound, the birds roosted elsewhere that night and I did not hear nor see any turkeys.

I decided to spend the night at camp and do some tracking with the head lights.

At the persimmon tree, I found where a gobbler had been in my wheel sign from that morning. His track entered the woods at the fork in the road but I found it again just down the road. I tracked down the road to a 4way intersection where he had gone left. I ended up following him a half a mile until he finally left the road at an old sink hole.

I did not know how late in the day he turkey had been there but I hoped he would be roosted on the hill not to far away.


Thursday, Apr. 14, 2011-day #20

I waited at the sink hole and did some calling but never heard a gobble. I did get a response from a hen roosted on the other side of the road but I pulled of and headed off to do some prospecting. That turned out uneventful as well and the turkey sign on the roads was weak.

Friday,  Apr. 15, 2011 - day #21

This turned out to be one of the best hunts in quite some time, a real classic! It's a pretty long story so I'll put it on it's own post to follow.

These turkeys were still finding low bush acorns!

The hen in this photo took advantage of an aggressive atv tire that had

broke up the clay in the road to get a dust bath! pretty smart!

Good luck,
Larry S.

Florida Spring Gobbler Season Report - #6 -Fourth Weekend!

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 Friday, Apr. 9, 2011-day #14

I locked the doors at the office about 5 and headed for the huntin' club. I made my usual stops for provisions....drinks, ice, food and about a hundred dollars worth of fuel for the truck and generator. Man, this fuel thing is getting out of hand.

I got to the club with about 30 minutes to scout before dark. As usual I planned to track the roads well after dark and did not end up getting back to camp until after 9pm. I did however, find some interesting sign that looked real promising. It was the pair of pasture gobblers I have been hunting from the start of the season. I cut their tracks near the south end of the creek road just after fly up and followed them down to a sandy curve where a dim woods road extends off to the south and dead ends into a bay head. From the amount of tracks in the road I figured the turkeys had sent some time there milling around, waiting for roost time. There were tracks from two gobblers and several hens.

I was standing there studying the tracks, trying to unravel what had went on when I heard a turkey flush off the limb headed west to the creek strand. I had figured they were roosted there pretty close and it looked like I was right. I could not raise a gobble out of anything with my owling but I was confident they were within hearing. Most likely they had flown up from the road out into the sparse bays and pines between the creek and the road. However, having flushed one off the limb I was not surprised about the tight lips.

Later that night as I was tracking the South Low road I came across a pretty interesting sight. It took me a minute to realize what I was actually looking at. It was a gobbler with a deformed foot. One of his feet is Normal sized and the other looks more like a big fat crow track. It's less than 2" long with almost no "V" to the side toes. Pretty wild looking! The deformed track is the weird looking track between the two normal tracks below, near the center of the picture.

My plan was to beat it back there in the morning before light and pick out a spot I could set up on the road and call from. If the birds gobbled, I'd go to them if possible.

Saturday, Apr 10, 2011-day #15

In the moon light the next morning I picked out a big sand pine at the curve on the main road that gave me just enough room to shoot and put me between them and the pasture. I was standing there waiting for a gobble when an owl sounded off in the creek. His call was immediately challenged by a thundering gobble! "There he is!" He was where I thought he'd be but just a little down the dead end extension road. I owl'd and it was met with a double gobble! Two birds!

This duo of strutters has been uncallable and with hens every time I was able to locate them. Given my past experience with these two finicky toms I wanted to be as close to them as I could possibly get. I wasn't taking any chances, It was time to kill a bird and quit fooling around. I even decided to ditch the video camera. I regret that decision as this was a text book hunt and perfect example of how to employ the "whammy tactic";......sneak in to where you think he's going to fly down and wait quietly without calling, for him to flutter down within gun range. It's a little tricky to do and takes some time and experience to develop this technique but I have killed a pile of birds like this, many that you could not kill with conventional techniques. There are three critical points to get a successful out come with this method. First, you have to have scouted and located him on the roost. Second, you have to be able to get back to that spot in the hard dark if at all possible. This depends a little on where he's roosted. Third, and usually the hardest, you have to know exactly where he's gona fly down to in the morning. This one takes some experience but the longer you hunt the better you'll get at it.

The above picture is a view from the gobblers position to where I was sitting which was

on the right near the center of the picture in front of the dark green bush.

This is a picture from my position to where I shot the Gobbler.

I slipped down the dead end road to survey the situation and make a plan as quickly as possible. The south most bird was doing the majority of the gobbling so I concentrated on him. The two toms were actually roosted in big pines about 100 yds apart and about 125 yds off the road pretty near the creek. The woods between the road and the creek are sparsely treed with a mix of pine and bay. The ground cover is ty-ty's, gallberry, young bays and is extremely thick. No way a turkey could land in this stuff. I figured they would have to fly back to the road but it was quite a stretch.

The gobbling tom was roosted behind a low flat and it was a perfect flight zone to get back to the road. I took a chance and duck walked behind the low bushes to get to the other side and make sure there was not something I needed to know about over there. "No, that's the spot, he's gona land right here in this road!" I crawled back and set up about 15 yds up the road from the low flat. It turned out that the other gobbler was straight in from me towards the creek, off my right shoulder

The bad part and I don't like to hunt like this, is I had to set up against the bushes with no back rest in a small pocket, right on the edge of the road. I set up so I could see down the road just to the end of gun range, no blind.

Since I was so far from the birds I decided to do just a little calling about fly down. I waited quietly and enjoyed the sounds of everything calling and waking up for the new day. After a bit a hen started tree yelping over by the south bird. Shortly after that another started yelping near the other gobbler. The anxiousness over my setup just doubled! I thought, if one of those hens flies down first, the jig is up! She'll pick me out for certain and go off down the road puttin, game over.

I added a little more calling and decided to do a fly down. You can't do this when your close but I had enough distance I felt I could get away with it. As a matter of fact this is the furthest away I can remember setting up on a bird for this type hunt. I did not have my wing so I used my hat for the fly down....fop, fop, fop, fop, fop, fop, fop, fop with a little rustling bushes and leaves for a landing. The bird beside me immediately gobbled at it! "Man, I'm liking this!" I did a little soft yelping and purr/clucks to sound like a hen milling around and the illusion was set. All I could do now was wait for him to make a move. Any more calling could make him suspicious and blow the setup.

Well, as luck would have it, the South gobbler behind the low flat was the first to come off the limb. Instinctively I clicked the safety off in anticipation of what was about to happen. As soon as I heard the first bird fly the other one came off also and I caught a glimpse of him flying for the sandy corner behind me. Just then the first gobbler came sailing into view over the flat and I could see he was going to land in the road! Just as he neared the road he banked hard north towards me and touched down just 15yards from me, his big wings beating full reverse. It was quit a site

By the time the gobbler got stopped he was standing a mere 12 yds!! He had just flown almost 150yds and landed right in my lap. I love it when a plan comes together!

I didn't waste any time, when he got stopped I sent a load of 1 7/8 oz. #6 shot down range. The gobbler hit the dirt and the hunt was over. It was barely 7:15.

The second gobbler was still in flight when I shot but he got gone, quick, fast and in a hurry! All turkey activities ceased at the report of the shot and I never saw any of the other birds.

When Steve got to camp the first thing he said was "was that you that shot so early?", "coulda been, I replied.", "you kill?" "He's piled up in the back of the tuck!"

The wary tom was not an old turkey but he had been a challenge none the less. He weighed in about 17 lbs., had a 9 3/8" beard and his spurs were 3/4" and 7/8". A two year old to be sure. His wings showed plenty of wear from strutting and were nice and black with little barring just as you would expect to see in an Osceola.

It was a long time in coming but I finally got one on the ground! I have never struggled so hard to kill a turkey before. Actually, If you can believe this....I have not heard a single tom gobble on the limb in the evening the hole season! All strut sign on the roads ended by the third weekend. I think Steve said he had only hunted 3 mornings that he actually heard a bird gobble and had not been able to roost any either.

At this point I think I have only had about 3 hunts that I did not actually hear a gobble. The difference is the time I put in scouting! It kept me on top of the turkeys. This was really key as the turkeys in this place really move around a lot. You'll find a place all tracked up and their gone the next day. You have to hunt it immediately or your wasting your time.

Later that morning I was driving down the South low road and I drove up on the crippled gobbler with two buddies in the same spot I had seen his track the night before. Their running stride was as long as my shotgun! 

Sunday, Apr. 10, 2011

I did not find anything to get excited about Sat. afternoon so I decided I would just start at the north end of the creek road and prospect my way south and see what I could find.

I caught one hen on the road at fly down and two more in the pasture but did not see any toms or hear any gobbling.

Later up in the morning I ended up over on the power line and was looking at some turkey tracks around a sandy water hole when I spotted a turkey egg that had just been laid! pretty incredible. I have never actually seen one intact that had not been eaten by a varmint. Have a look at this thing!
That pretty much wrapped up the weekend.

Here's some more pictures from this hunt.

Hen track in my wheel sign.

Hen dust hole!

Turkey feeding/scratching sign!

Large hen dust hole!

Turkey scratching sign looking for leftover low bush acorns! I can never remember

seeing acorns still on the ground this time of year that are still good!

Best of hunts,
Larry S.



Florida Spring Gobbler Season Report - #5 -Third Weekend!

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Saturday, Apr 2,2011-day #11

I had no choice but to go back and hunt the power line bird again. I had scouted Friday afternoon and found his track so I knew he was still alive. The question was how badly did the shooting effect him? Would he roost in the same place and more importantly, would he gobble?

I made my way down to the river swamp well before gobble time and waited to see what cards I would be dealt. I expected him to roost deeper in the river swamp but still gobble. Gobble time came and went with no sign of any turkeys. Finally, after it was time for a bird to be on the ground I had a turkey answer my calling with some course yelping and eventually started clucking sharply at me, over and over. The turkey was on the other side of the power line in a stand of burnt cabbage trees and it would not come any closer. All of the sudden I heard a real short gobble, maybe a quarter of a real gobble. He ended up doing this a total of three times. The bird did utter one full gobble that morning but it was muffled and quiet.

After about 30 minutes the turkeys quite calling and it was over. The shot had definitely effected him and he was not the same turkey.

Sunday hunt #12

Sunday's plan was basically the same as the previous day. I'd wait on the power line for gobble time and see if he'd gobble. Once again, gobble time came and went with no gobbling. A half an hour or so after fly down I eased down close to the river. It was really foggy. I made a loud, excited cut and I heard a bird gobble at it but he was across the river from me. I got him to answer me a couple more times and he was over it.

I prospected my way back up the power line without locating any turkeys and decided to call off the dogs.

I headed back for the camp from there to do a little scouting and see what the turkeys there were up to. It was a little slow but I did manage to find a few gobblers and one bit of strut sign. I saw one jake and two hens on the roads on up in the morning and it was time to head for home.

Good Huntin'
Larry S.

Florida Spring Gobbler Season Report - #4 Second Week & "The April Fools Bird!"

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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.

                                          A pair of big footed birds walking together, Jakes!
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.

Florida Spring Gobbler Season Report - #2 First Week

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Monday day #3.

I ended up camping Sunday night to hunt monday morning. I figured I could get on the pasture bird so that was the plan for the hunt. I waited at the 4way on the hill at the sink hole block for gobble time. gobble time cam eand went, nothing! Finally, a full 20 min. after he should have gobbled I heard him and was able to course the direction. That would be the only gobble I heard from him that morning. I moved that way a 100 plus yds and set up and did some calling but he would not respond.

Wanting something a little hotter I decided to leave and try to prospect another turkey to fool with. I stopped at the corner of the pasture and got a bird to gobble to the south down the fence line a couple times. I went that way and it all fell apart. I flushed a bird in the open woods. Don't know what it was but never heard the tom again. I headed to work from there.
Tuesday day #4,

I scouted Monday night and found some good strut sign left by my backup bird at the powerline. The next morning the only bird I heard gobbled across, deep in the block to the west. I have never been in that block so I decided to strike out and go to him.  Later, Steve told me "If I had been there I would have advised against trying to cross that block!" Now you tell me! It was miserable thick pine flatwoods and cypress ponds and I thought I would never get there. It turned out that the gobbler was roosted all the way across the next road in a duck pond!. I set up on him  from the road as he was only 75 yds off it and i figured he must have flown up from there and I had a good chance he would pitch back down to it. Wrong again! He gobbled a couple times after I  got set up then shutup and I never heard or saw him again. I have no idea how he got out of there. I did hear a bird on the ground about a half hour later but he never materilised and I did not know which direction the gobble came from. I suspected SSW but that was just my best guess. I moved that way but it was getting late and I headed for work.

Wednesday day #5

I scouted tues. pm in the dark and found some hot strut sign on the creek road. I cold camped that night and the next morning I went to that spot.  The bird gobbled one time on roost early. I parked the truck and tried to go to him but he did not gobble again. I had to set up off a tee in the road not knowing how far he was. After a half hour or so, I finally heard him gobble on the ground. He was at the absolute maximum end of my hearing range and I was not 100% sure it was him. I heard him quite a few times before I decided to go north and see if I could get on him. After about a hundred and a quarter he gobbled at a real crow and I had him marked. I moved ahead some more and called at him and he answered.  Just ahead was a place open enough to maybe film but I was really pushing the envelope. I moved the 30yds to that spot with my finger crossed and gritted teeth. I got set up quick and waited for a minute to call.

I never heard him again! Busted! That was my only real opportunity at a killable bird so far this season I my high pressure style cost me that one.

I did not scout this afternoon as I knew I was not going to hunt in the morning.


Thursday day #6, no hunting, windy I did scout pm for friday


Friday day #7, I decided to give the bird a try back on the creek road by the little burn. I heard a gobble way north pretty much out of hearing and to far to try to go to. Only heard it once or twice and was not 100% sure on the direction. I cranked the atv and took off prospecting.

I ended up over at the duck pond and as I got to the S.E. corner Something made me stop. I can't get it out of my head how the bird I hunted here on Tuesday here. I wanted to see what was out there in that old pond. I found an old trail to get thru the thick edge that rings the perimeter of the open pond. when I broke thru I could hardly believe my eyes and I knew instantly why the bird did not fly into the road that morning.....the pond was dry and looked like a new rye grass field with islands of high grass and tusocks dotted here and there....a turkey paradise!!! I'd guess 12-15 acres in size. As a matter of fact the next thing I saw was a long beard walking out fron behind a tusock to my left. He picked me out standing there and went back. As soon as he was out of sight I scrambled back to grab my gear and the hunt was on!

I slipped from tusock to tusock until I was as close as I was getting. There ended up being (2) jakes, the long beard and (4) hens there. They fed back and fourth against one side of the pond and only the jakes ever came into range. The jakes were the only birds to answer me except for about (3) gobbles I was able to drag out of the old gobbler. He strutted and chased jakes and put on a show for a full hour and then the flock lined out and headed S.W. to get up on the hill and out of the sun. It was fustrating not being able to pull them over to me but it was a great show and I was amazed that I was able to make about 5 moves on them without getting caught!

I found a gator still living in the dry pond in a cave he had excavated. I was able to track his sign from one cave to another and took a few pictures for everyone to see. I doubt to many people get to see a gator cave, slide, etc.

I expect to have some good turkey hunts on this dry pond! Here's some pictures, What a turkey magnet!

Friday afternoon I tried to roost here on the pond and actually got there in time to hunt but I did not here a gobble.

Gobbler's turd!

It's not over by a long shot!

Good Luck,
Larry S.

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Florida Spring Gobbler Season Report - #1 Opening Weekend

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If you are reading a blog about turkey hunting I probably don't need to tell you that the season just opened here in Florida on Saturday, March 19.

Man, it's been a tough start for me! I've just been dealt some tough hands.

For starters, I opted to hunt the pole bridge bird. Actually, there were three of them and I roosted them Thursday afternoon in a creek bottom where they had flown up from a road that crosses the strand. I was standing at a tee in the road deciphering a tangle of turkey track sign and strut sign when when one of them fired off a gobble. Holly cow! what a stroke of luck I thought. Little did I know the whipping I was about to receive over the next three days.

I slipped down the road and proceeded to fire them up. I even went back to the truck, grabbed my phone and called my buddy Capt Rick......"listen to this Ricky!"  I owled and one bird gobbled but it was late and I had worn them out it was over for the night.

I had located 6 or 7 gobblers that night including another strutter near a power line that had really cut the road up. This and the pole bridge bird would be my main focus and everything was falling into place like I planned it that way.

 

 

 

Friday afternoon, the day before the opener; I knocked off work early to load all my gear and atv. Next was stops for fuel and provisions for a weekend in turkey camp.

After unloading at camp it was off to put the pole bridge bird to bed. I tracked the road and moved down the road towards the expected roost after fly up. I owled, nothing, owled again, nothing. nada.

Desperate, I pulled out my "Double D" call and cackled, my secrete weapon.....nothing. They weren't there! I can't remember an open eve that I did not have a gobbler put to bed for the mornings hunt.

I have to admit I had an unease feeling about the prospects for the morning. Something just did not seem right about those birds not being there.

The next morning dawned perfect, clear, cool and low humidity. I was hoping the birds were there but just did not gobble. I set up on the side of the road and waited for gobble time.

Well before gobble time I heard a bird gobble to the NW.  almost out of hearing. Just them I realized I had left my bino's at the atv. I had just enough time to get there and back. When I got to the atv I decided to owl. A bird responded straight down the road to the south! I owled again and he gobbled again. Well, I guess I'll run back to my setup and grab all the gear I had left there. Little did I know the birds were nearly a half a mile down the road the other direction. When I finally got down there I realized there were two gobblers roosted together and one to the south. There was a hen or two clucking on the limp, roosted to the west out over a jungle in some sparse bays. A jake was involved also and would squawk out a yelp right behind the gobbles.

By the time I developed a plan the gobblers were on the ground. The bad thing was they either flew to or ran as fast as they could to get into a pasture adjoining the woods. The pasture is out of bounds for me so all I could do was watch while the two gobblers strutted around and bred a few hens.

That night I came back hoping to catch them roosting in the creek again. I set up along the road and waited. About fly up I heard a bird take wing and beat its way thru the tree tops but I could not course it. A minute later I heard another but this time I saw this one. they were about 100 yds down the road and right over the creek.

About this time I start hearing an atv approaching. It rolls right by and down the road towards the roosted birds and kills the engine when he gets to the creek. Damn the luck! I couldn't believe it. I got up and started walking out and here comes the atv with his two dogs in tow. He apologizes for messing me up and we parted ways but before he leaves he related that he saw several jakes and hens here in the road the afternoon before but the big gobbler was not with them. Now I know why they were not there.

Scouting on the atv by the full moons light!

Actually, after talking to my hunting buddy Steve, I think this was done intentionally.

Saturday, day #2; after all the commotion down at the bridge spot I decided to go to my fall back bird near the power line. I got there and hour before daylight to assure my spot. Scouting the day before revealed someone had walked down the road and had been in the area. Also, the gobbler had left his sign there also. No strut sign just jumbo gobbler tracks.

Big Gobbler track!

I was sitting there in the dark thinking about getting out of the truck to owl when I see a form walk down the side of the truck! Great! Apparent this guy had built a blind down the road and to make  a long story short I gave him the spot and headed back to the bridge.

It was gobble time when I got around there and I planned to try to strike a bird from the truck, stopping every couple hundred yards down the road. The second time I stopped a bird gobbled on the hill beside the truck and a hen started clucking in a bay off in the creek bottom.

I nosed the truck off the road, grabbed my gear and headed off towards the gobbling tom. I ended up in a real open section of high hill with a mix of sand pines, yellow pine and various oaks with little understory. I moved as close as I could and set up but the bird was already on the ground. H was responding pretty good but moving away. I had no choice but to try to move on him.

I moved a hundred and a quarter or so and set up again. I called and he gobbled but I not gained a foot. I made a little cut at him and he gobbled again. Just then a hen that was with him started cutting back at me and he gobbled again. I decided I had to try to gain some ground. He had hens and was getting no closer. I made my move......he never gobbled again. I expect I was seen. If your going to practice an aggressive hunting style you have to be prepared for this kind of thing. We'll meet again another day!

This is the first time I have not taken a gobbler on the opening weekend that I can remember. Unbelievable! I hope this is not the start of a trend.

More gobbler strut sign!

                                                   Hen dusting in a sandy road bed!

                                              More hen dusting in a clay spot in the road!

                                           Turkey feeding scratch sign in a dried up mud hole!

Gobbler tracks in the mud!

Best of hunt!
Larry S.