Day 4 finds us on a mountain top near Shinnston, WV. We got up early and started up the mountain a few minutes after 5. It's a pretty long climb and we finally make to our destination around 0530. We stop just short of a large meadow just in case there are birds roosted on the edges. We wait for day break and I do some crow calls to see if anyone is around, nothing. Once it is good and light I do some yelping and still nothing. We walk the edges of the meadow calling and still silence. I decide to go to an upper corner and set up and cold call. Around 0730 I hear a hen yelping and clucking. She gets closer and closer. I expect to see her any moment and she starts to putt/cluck. Neither my son or I see her but she starts working away. I do some purring and it seems to calm her down but we still don't see her. I think she is feeding in the middle of the field just over a rise. I tell my son that we can set until 0830 or so and he says 0830 sounds good. At 0825 nothing is happening and I decide to stand up and stretch. I've been setting for 2 hours and need some time to get feeling back in parts. After stretching for a few minutes I decide to pee. I turn away from the field and take care of business. I zip up and turn back to the field and 3 jakes are standing 30 yards away startled from my movement. I tell Dale and having no idea what to do I call a little. The jakes regroup and seem less nervous. I cut loose some yelps and one of them gobbles. I think, dang this may still happen. I yelp some more and all 3 walk right into the jake decoy and start sizing him up. Dale can now see them and I am just waiting for the shot and to see a bird flopping on the ground. Next thing I see Dale swings his barrel real fast about a foot to the right and fires. As I see this in my head I am screaming Noooooo. He misses, jacks another shell into the chamber and misses again. The birds leave faster than they came and I ask why he moved that way. He said they were looking at him and he just knew he had to move fast or they were going to leave. I start laughing and he is a little upset. I tell him that the birds were looking at me because they were trying to find the bird in the woods, me. I asked if he was a little excited and he said it was the first time he felt his heart beating in his neck. I tell him I can laugh about this because it wasn't that long ago that made all those same mistakes. That lightens the mood and we are both laughing now. Here I thought we were going to tag out in WV but alas no. Oh well. It was a fun 4 days and we were into birds all 4 days.
Might have to make this an annual event. Oh, other good news. Met my buddies friend who lives on the southern edge of Harrison County and he invited me to hunt down there. Has 400 acres, bonus!
Here's a pic of the high meadow we went to. The jakes came in from the right.
Vic
Attachment:
WV High Meadow 1.jpg [ 225.41 KiB | Viewed 1426 times ]
