Here i hunt mostly around cuttings.. So was the case today.. The big down fall is if a turkey is able to run into them as the slash left in the trails is hard going and it gives lots of cover for the birds to escape in.. The big field as i call it is actually a pipeline and powerline that runs for roughly 86 to 90 miles one way.. The birds travel it but so do others going fishing, hunting, or just nature peeking.. So it is hard to hunt them out in the open areas but can be done..
The cutting area I have been hunting I went in this morning and tried to call them off the roost.. We had a steady but light wind and the birds were not talking.. I was guessing maybe I had scared them off or they were just traveling threw a different area.. So I went to another cutting and as I got there a huge tom was strutting to 2 hens. I tried to sneak up to get a shot at the tom but the hens saw me and was off flying in no time.. The tom started to strut again and the saw me and started to head off.. I looked at the distance and thought yes I can do this one.. Well the tom gave me 3 damn shots at him which 2 were standing shots.. I have little doubt that I had hit him at least 2 times and the third I only believe I did.. Right after the first shot he walked across the dirt road to stand in a clearing on the other side. I tried again to sneak up some more and close the distance by around 6 yards and he started to move so i tried another shot.. Then he made a fairly quick walk back across the road and tried to head out of there.. I tried another shot and then he flew around ten yards and hit the ground running.. I am very disappointed with myself on this one.. I test fired another shot later on with a 3 foot chunk of cedar set up exactly where he was standing and nailed it pretty darn good.. I decided to blame it on the shells and gave half a box of them away.. Not getting 2 birds is to much for me.. the good news is the first bird was spotted today running across the road around 1/4 mile from where I had fired.. So i am thinking a miss on that one.. The second bird guys would of been turkzilla at least to me if nothing else.. He was huge!! I searched roughly 400 yards around where he went in and found no sign of him.. It was real rough going but I owed the respect to try locate it. Yes, the captain has messed up again.. I am now going back to my old shells which has not failed me yet anyways.. Last 2 years i got 4 birds using them and no misses or losses..
After this I went back to where I was first started calling and fresh hen droppings were there along with a fussy butt feather of a tom.. Go figure I set in there almost the entire day yesterday and nothing.. Now this greets me today.. Yes, I will be back at it again in the am.. Hopefully I will have something to post..