Hey Fat Lady!! Shut your trap!
I went out this morning to a new spot--a friend of a friend who I just called and asked. He was excited to hunt with me and we were in place well before first light. A distant gobble was about the first sound out of the woods, long before the crows and songbirds really got going. After gobble #12 or so, we both simultaneously jumped up, gathered our gear and took off. Shortly, he quieted and I knew he had flown down. He answered locators and turkey calls, but moved steadily away. We followed and eventually ended up with a quiet setup for a half hour or so. We decided to re-trace our path and call occasionally in hopes of raising a bird on the second time around. As we stood to leave, stretching our stiff legs, I let fly a series of loud, raspy, nasty yelps from a screaming box call.
GOOOBOBOBOBOBLE!!
"Sit DOWN!!"
Wait.
Nothing.
Call.
Nothing.
Call louder.
Nothing.
Big fat screaming box yelps.
GOBOBOBOBOBLE!!
Well, it ended up that he wouldn't budge. After two more calls and an obviously hung bird, I left my partner and moved steadily away, giving the turkey what he wanted to hear every 40 yards or so until I crested a little knoll 150 yards away. He gobbled strongly. . . from the same spot.
I crept back to my buddy to discuss our next move. As we talked, another bird gobbled to our right!! He worked to my calling, but then I discovered a rather important fact: there was a fence between us and BOTH the gobbling turkeys!! My partner, the land-ownder and new to turkey hunting, just didn't think the fence was a problem. After all, they're BIRDS, they can FLY, right?!! Yeah . . . they can fly, but . . .
Hey, it was still fun!
So, eventually the witching hour arrived, we both had to go to work and leave two gobbling turkeys!!
It was fantastic to be in the game again after my last few QUIET hunts!
It was so much fun that I almost don't care that neither of us pulled the trigger!!
Hey Fat Lady! Don't even think about singing yet!!