Wooddust

After all the planning, effort, and time, the birds are way ahead this season.
I have had birds north, south, east and west gobble till they fly down...the silent. Ive had birds as close as 45 yards....only to have one run off when the dominant bird showed up...then he took off after a hen came in between me and him. Ive had a bird work to the call for 2 1/2 hours....only to have a Turkey Vulture swoop over, circle right over head at tree top height...Gobbler clucked an ranted a few times and was never seen again.

But in light of my buddy getting bitten by a Copperhead on the second night of the season, I guess my issues are minor. The snake was in the woodpile we used for cooking and camp fire. He nailed my hunting partner about 9 pm on Tuesday...he got to spend two nights in the local hospital. No permanant damage so we are thankful.

I do love this sport!

huntnma

think positive.......you'll get him and your buddy will be in my thoughts and prayers........maybe a lil late, but the thought is there....glad he's doing better.......

FroMan

HAHA....that's beautiful. Sounds just like how my season has been going. Birds gobble til the hit the ground then nothing. This might be the hardest season I've had of hunting. The weather is downright crappy, birds are cooperating, but I can say that I haven't been bitten by any snakes. Thanks goodness.

Good luck, hope your season gets better, your buddy also.

As for me...I'm about to hang em up til next year...

PacNWhunter

Hang in there Wooddust, those birds will make a mistake sooner or later. Sorry to hear about your friend but glad he's on the mend. Came close a few times myself on stepping on a rattler. Think the cougar that sneeked in on me a couple of yrs ago gave me more a start then the snakes have

jepcho

You get to be in the woods hunting turkeys!! I know the season might not be going great but to answer your original question...Yes it could get worse, you could be at work

Wooddust

You did put it in perspective...thanks

DaveH

I've had quite a few years which closely mirrored what you said--minus the copperhead bite. However, the fact that you have a dominant gobbler and some others in your area can eventually work for you. Things can quickly take a turn for the better in a hurry.

Hunter06FlKy

jeese talk about great luck. hopefully your season will get better. turkey season here in florida has already ended. and left me without a bird. so maybe you'll have more luck with turkeys than me. i saw some hens but no gobblers.

kerr73

wow thanks that made me missing 2 bird's this year feel better atlest i didn't get a snake bit

max the dog

Change your tactics. The birds might be wise to what you've used in the past.
The past couple of years were going the same for me until I changed how I called and used the decoys.
Now I use only one hen and one jake. I place the jake behind the hen almost on top of her. They're located in knee high grass next to a strutting field but can easily be seen from the field.
Now I call as little as possible. Just enough to let the gobblers know a hen is there but not enough for them to figure out I'm not a real hen. It's much different from what everyone else is doing and really sets me apart from the rest of the hunting crowd who act like they're hunting ducks with all the decoys around. I won't even get into the calling. Ever notice how quiet a real hen is compared to the racket a typical hunter makes? Just because you have a call doesn't mean you have to use it every 20 seconds.