It was one of those mornings. I tried a new place---despite the fact that someone else had hunted there a few days earlier and heard or saw nothing. I was not all that familiar with the lay out---but I set up in a finger of trees before daylight. I hooted a couple of times and heard nothing and never heard a gobble off the roost. I did some blind tree yelps with some clucks and purrs until a few minutes after surise. I still heard or saw nothing.
Then I made the classic mistake. I decided to cross through the finger of trees I was in to look around at another part of this pasture. I crossed the finger and went to the top of a hill. I was not up there more than a few minutes when---you guessed it---a gobbler started sounding off from where I had just come from. AARRGGHH!!.
Where I was was pretty much open area with some large scattered hardwoods. I tried to sweet talk that gobbler in coming my way. We had a great conversation. He was hot. Then I began to get confused . It began to sound like the gobbler was coming in from behind me. And he was getting even hotter!!!. He was cutting my calls off and double and triple gobbling. When I realized that he was coming from behind me, he was almost in my lap. I slowly turned around---and there he was at about 15 to 20 yards. Of course he saw me and flew off.
I was so aggrivated at myself because---even though I don' t have the best hearing in the world---I thought for sure I could tell the difference between a gobble in front of me from one behind me. I got up in frustration (well not total frustration---that was the hottest gobbler that I had ever called and I have to admit that even though I blew it---it sure was fun hearing him sound off). I started to walk off---when the first bird I heard sounded off again. Whew---my hearing wasn' t that bad after all. We continued our conversation for about 15 mins and he went silent. I waited a good while---but suspect that he found some hens that took him away.
Anyway---it was a great morning even though I came up empty handed. And the best part is---I' LL BE BACK!!
They were gobble' n all around me...
