| Talondale |
04-29-2013 06:18 AM |
Saturday I went out to were I figured the boys would be coming. I have been patterning them and they seem to come up a draw along a creek around mid-morning. I got in position before light and set up my three hen decoys. The National Forest boys had gone through this area last year dropping trees and letting them just lay, I guess in an effort to thin the forest but it makes walking difficult and, in my opinion, creates a lot of fuel for ground fires. I had my hens set in some laps and I was against a big oak where the bottom started to narrow. I heard nothing. Not a single gobble or yelp all morning. I called lightly thinking that the birds had a lot of pressure the last two weeks and wouldn't respond to aggressive calling. At 9 AM I heard a bird scratching it's way towards me from below. It was a decent tom with a bird about 8-9". I didn't know that though because I couldn't see him through the trees on the ground. He got to about 60 yards and didn't like my setup or something. He started heading up a side hill at a hurried walk putting all the way. I tried a purr and scratching leaves but he kept going. That ended Saturday.
Sunday evening my wife was cleaning out our van and heard gobbling behind our house. He was sounding off frequently and sounded like he was just over the fence on our neighbors property near a field with a spring house. He roosted up there and I thought I'd give it a try in the morning. I was in the woods edge at dark thirty, next to the fence where I could see into the neighbor's field but not be seen. The idea was to pull him across the fence. As I arrived a fox barked and the tom gobbled back a couple times. At first light I simulated a fly down slapping my pants leg. Gobbles, then hen clucks. Drats. I started trying to call the hen, mimicking her calls. Both were very vocal. In fact, I heard some calls I'd never heard before. One was like how you'd imagine a morning dove doing a yelp. Wierd. I heard them fly down and they just kept calling. He was pacing back and forth at about 150 yards away, possibly on my neighbor's driveway, but I couldn't get them to commit across the field. After an hour I had to leave to get ready for work. They were still calling when I left.
|
