Started the season in my new hometown with a bang!!
I've been stuck at playing catch-up with work and missed a week of Turkey hunting. Hey, business before pleasure they say. I haven't even stepped foot on any of the local state lands just virtual scouting and reading into previous years of turkey hunting information.
Well, yesterday I had a midday window and went for a little walk with my gun and turkey calls. The area I was hunting was very similar to what I've been hunting in WV/MD just more rocks in the landscape. I wasn't finding much sign or habitat that turkeys like. Until I hit a creek bottom 2 miles in. Finally, something Turkey!!!
It was windy, so I was blind calling anytime I could get a break in the wind. About three blind calls in on the area that looked promising, I heard what sounded like the tone of a gobble. Stopped for a minute and waited for the wind to stop and called again and yep!! I got cut off by a gobble. He was 150-200 yards away and I was caught in the wide open. He had a real low gobble and I didn’t want to mess this one up. I looked around to see where I could set but, Unfortunately being that it was midday, there was no shade and no cover in the area where I was at… About 50 yards in front of me there was a small bluff and that was the only thing around to work with, so I used it for cover. Sat down gave a couple of cuts And the bird cut me off again but this time it sounded even closer. I was Broadcasting my calls to the creek bottom but my gut knew that he was going to go high looking for me. I waited for about five minutes with no response so I started calling again and he cut me off but it sounded like he went high on me. So I decided to go where I heard him last gobble and hope that he'd come back.
He ended up calling right above where I called first about 150 yards up so I started getting aggressive with the Calling and he couldn’t take it. I ran up a bluff About 50 yards and I just realized how out of shape I was and was gasping for breath, at this time I was hoping that he wouldn't show up quickly because I didn’t want to get caught moving while I was panting for breath. He gobbled again and I cut him off and he double gobbled and he started cutting the distance. I called one more time and shut up. Finally my breathing was settled down and I was ready to see his bobbing head looking for me. About a minute later I caught movement and he was already in shooting distance. He was moving from my right to left until he stopped about 30 yards in front of me and I put the bead where the feathers and skin meet and pull the trigger. On the angle that I was at he disappeared and I was hoping that I dropped him in his tracks. Ran up the hill and there he laid big bird down!
The bird ended up weighing over 22 pounds and had a 10 inch bird with worn-down inch spurs and the longest snood that I've seen.
Just 2 hours and 30 minutes into my first hunt and I shot a bird!! Looking forward to figuring out some more state land spots. The walk back was no fun though...
