Scouted some area's yesterday on the way back from the first day hunts, found two males making a spectacle across the road from a place I have access to. Pinged the owners last night and they said- Come on by!.
Drove out earlier this morning along the road and saw what looked like the same two feathered hooligans, now on the correct side of the street, but in a property adjacent.
No problem- have decoy's, will travel!
My friend Eric came out to shoot today, traveling over an hour for the opportunity. It's his hunt, his turn to shine.
We sneak into the property, hearing males nearby. I know a place in the sun to lure some future turkey dinners over to, and we proceed slowly towards the spot.
It's wooded, steep, bright green grass from the recent rains all around. Eric spots a hen moving along above on the hill- we silently let her pass, hope she's spreading pheromones to her species everywhere.
A little further on, Eric's sharp eyes detect a tom and hen under a tree, in the shade, dark and almost impenetrable. We wait, looking for that shot- but it just doesn't happen. We're 60 + yards, which isn't too far except the tree and bush combination makes the pellet trajectory path into a version of candy land, with no real azimuth to our target.
The birds move off and Eric sneaks forward- a little later I hear his slugs (.177 slugs from a Daystate Redwolf) pound flesh.
Just in case, I do my part and put up decoys away from where we were. I'm hearing more toms across the road and they're responding; Eric is in a corner of the property and if he hasn't killed his bird, maybe I can bring over other the far males for him to perforate. Those males across the way are responding and I'm optimistic.
Maybe I'm not optimistic enough- Eric comes walking up (panting, it's a tough hill) bringing with him a 20+ lb male, deader than a dead dog's bone buried down a blind alley off a dead-end street in a ghost town.. Dinner will be served.
I collected the decoys, we'll use them another day, but this day- we had our bird and a great memory of a successful hunt.
Drove out earlier this morning along the road and saw what looked like the same two feathered hooligans, now on the correct side of the street, but in a property adjacent.
No problem- have decoy's, will travel!
My friend Eric came out to shoot today, traveling over an hour for the opportunity. It's his hunt, his turn to shine.
We sneak into the property, hearing males nearby. I know a place in the sun to lure some future turkey dinners over to, and we proceed slowly towards the spot.
It's wooded, steep, bright green grass from the recent rains all around. Eric spots a hen moving along above on the hill- we silently let her pass, hope she's spreading pheromones to her species everywhere.
A little further on, Eric's sharp eyes detect a tom and hen under a tree, in the shade, dark and almost impenetrable. We wait, looking for that shot- but it just doesn't happen. We're 60 + yards, which isn't too far except the tree and bush combination makes the pellet trajectory path into a version of candy land, with no real azimuth to our target.
The birds move off and Eric sneaks forward- a little later I hear his slugs (.177 slugs from a Daystate Redwolf) pound flesh.
Just in case, I do my part and put up decoys away from where we were. I'm hearing more toms across the road and they're responding; Eric is in a corner of the property and if he hasn't killed his bird, maybe I can bring over other the far males for him to perforate. Those males across the way are responding and I'm optimistic.
Maybe I'm not optimistic enough- Eric comes walking up (panting, it's a tough hill) bringing with him a 20+ lb male, deader than a dead dog's bone buried down a blind alley off a dead-end street in a ghost town.. Dinner will be served.
I collected the decoys, we'll use them another day, but this day- we had our bird and a great memory of a successful hunt.
