Post by reowen51 on May 14, 2008 16:46:37 GMT -5
In my last post on the expeditions of Raymond and me, I asked who it was that was in charge of the "Turkey on/off switch”? Nobody responded. This morning though when we checked, someone had left the switch on.
The plan had been to set up where Ray and his Dad, Mark, had witnessed a strutting bird Monday morning and again yesterday, Tuesday. The best turkey hunter I know has told me before never pass up a chance to go after a gobbling bird and this morning on the drive over to the new hot spot I stopped the car and owl hooted at our old spot and got a real close answer so we aborted our trip to the ambush spot and went after the talking birds. They were closer than we thought and we bumped them. They never made another peep. The birds on the other side of the field were hammering away still on their roost so we quickly crossed the field.
We set out our decoys and slipped into the fence line at the thickest part of the woods. I figured that the gobbling Toms about 70 yards back in the woods if they decided to play the game, would come around the thicket and either enter the field North or South of our position. If they gobbled along the way they would tip us off as to which way to turn.
They hit the ground and headed North, Ray turned slightly at my request to be in a better position if they entered the field and approached our decoys. They shut up for about five minutes. Ray whispers, "Mr. Owen, there is a turkey in the field over here to the south." I didn't move but asked, "How far out is he?" Ray said, "He's about ten feet out into the field and about twenty yards away, but I don't see a beard. It's not light enough yet. It's coming right to us. The bird stopped. Ray said, "I think I see a beard." "You have to be sure Ray."
We sat for a couple of minutes more. I was sitting around the base of the tree from Ray and never even attempted to turn and look let alone video. Then Raymond announced, "He's gone. He just stood tall, looked at the decoys and turned into the woods and left. "
Then we heard more gobbling in the distance. I stood up and looked back across the field and saw three different Toms following two hens across the field They were headed toward the spot in the fencerow where Ray missed a couple of days ago. We can beat them there if we move quickly and use the low spot in the field. We got to the other side undetected. Moved South along a creek and got to within 100 yards before two of them circled back and went into the woods we had just crossed over from. One remained in the field with one of the hens and departed a short time latter.
We crossed the field again. Trying to hustle to get in front of them, we bumped them into flight. Ten minutes into our next set it started to rain and rain hard. Video camera in hand we hustled back to the car parked half a mile away. We encountered birds two other times on the drive around our section. We saw one group of six hens and a Jake. Ray said drive around the corner and I'll show you where I was going to take you this morning if we hadn't gotten on to those other birds and low and behold there they were two strutters in the field.
We parked the car and snuck up the thick row of pines and got to a distance of about 80 yards when the rains opened up again. It poured and the Toms left the field for the cover of the woodlot with me calling after them in the sexiest tones I can create. All of it to no avail. Ray said I sounded good and that those turkeys must be gay! Not wanting to criticize the caller I agreed.
We got pretty wet and my camera's dew light came on indicating it got pretty wet too. If the rain blows out of here by six we'll try them again tonight. If not we will be back on them in the morning. I really want to get this event on video when it happens. I'm hoping that the number of hens with Toms continue to dwindle as they leave the flock for nests. I also hope that I start sounding better to them. Come to think about it we may need to get our decoys looking a little sexier too! How much is it for a cheap bottle of Turkish perfume and a tube of red lipstick?
The plan had been to set up where Ray and his Dad, Mark, had witnessed a strutting bird Monday morning and again yesterday, Tuesday. The best turkey hunter I know has told me before never pass up a chance to go after a gobbling bird and this morning on the drive over to the new hot spot I stopped the car and owl hooted at our old spot and got a real close answer so we aborted our trip to the ambush spot and went after the talking birds. They were closer than we thought and we bumped them. They never made another peep. The birds on the other side of the field were hammering away still on their roost so we quickly crossed the field.
We set out our decoys and slipped into the fence line at the thickest part of the woods. I figured that the gobbling Toms about 70 yards back in the woods if they decided to play the game, would come around the thicket and either enter the field North or South of our position. If they gobbled along the way they would tip us off as to which way to turn.
They hit the ground and headed North, Ray turned slightly at my request to be in a better position if they entered the field and approached our decoys. They shut up for about five minutes. Ray whispers, "Mr. Owen, there is a turkey in the field over here to the south." I didn't move but asked, "How far out is he?" Ray said, "He's about ten feet out into the field and about twenty yards away, but I don't see a beard. It's not light enough yet. It's coming right to us. The bird stopped. Ray said, "I think I see a beard." "You have to be sure Ray."
We sat for a couple of minutes more. I was sitting around the base of the tree from Ray and never even attempted to turn and look let alone video. Then Raymond announced, "He's gone. He just stood tall, looked at the decoys and turned into the woods and left. "
Then we heard more gobbling in the distance. I stood up and looked back across the field and saw three different Toms following two hens across the field They were headed toward the spot in the fencerow where Ray missed a couple of days ago. We can beat them there if we move quickly and use the low spot in the field. We got to the other side undetected. Moved South along a creek and got to within 100 yards before two of them circled back and went into the woods we had just crossed over from. One remained in the field with one of the hens and departed a short time latter.
We crossed the field again. Trying to hustle to get in front of them, we bumped them into flight. Ten minutes into our next set it started to rain and rain hard. Video camera in hand we hustled back to the car parked half a mile away. We encountered birds two other times on the drive around our section. We saw one group of six hens and a Jake. Ray said drive around the corner and I'll show you where I was going to take you this morning if we hadn't gotten on to those other birds and low and behold there they were two strutters in the field.
We parked the car and snuck up the thick row of pines and got to a distance of about 80 yards when the rains opened up again. It poured and the Toms left the field for the cover of the woodlot with me calling after them in the sexiest tones I can create. All of it to no avail. Ray said I sounded good and that those turkeys must be gay! Not wanting to criticize the caller I agreed.
We got pretty wet and my camera's dew light came on indicating it got pretty wet too. If the rain blows out of here by six we'll try them again tonight. If not we will be back on them in the morning. I really want to get this event on video when it happens. I'm hoping that the number of hens with Toms continue to dwindle as they leave the flock for nests. I also hope that I start sounding better to them. Come to think about it we may need to get our decoys looking a little sexier too! How much is it for a cheap bottle of Turkish perfume and a tube of red lipstick?
