Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
I woke up early Saturday morning in order to get setup in the field in plenty of time. Mr. J.E. Aldridge met me at the house and we headed out. We got to the field about 30 minutes before daylight. With the Thermacell, 2 decoys, some diaphragms, and a slate call, we set out to get a long-beard. Since most of the turkeys have come from the same general area, we positioned ourselves in a location that is different from where we normally sit. We hoped to be closer to turkeys as they entered the field. We set the decoys out about 15 yards in front of us and to the left.
I?m not turkey hunting expert by far, but so far, every time I?ve been we?ve at least heard some turkeys gobbling from the trees as we got there before daylight. Well, on this day we didn?t hear anything. I was hoping to get some up close and personal footage of a turkey since we were sitting a little closer, but not hearing any turkeys calling out early in the morning gave me a bad feeling about what the day would bring.
There was a front coming in and cloud cover was moving in and out throughout our hunt. The wind was blowing and we could feel the temperature dropping throughout the hunt. Since I?m clueless about turkeys, I don?t know if changes in weather messes with them or not, but I know it can affect the movement of deer some. I hoped that it would get better or that at the least we would hear a gobble somewhere.
In time the sun had completely risen and still we hadn?t heard or seen anything. I randomly called, but nothing seemed to work. Then around 7:30 a hen walked out into the field about 120 yards away to our right. She was walking to our left and this meant she was going to cross our face. I thought she would get a little clearance from the tree line and get out in the field more, but she hugged close to it the whole time. Though, she was by herself and she didn?t stay long. She walked about 20 yards and then flew back up in the trees. I had barely even called at her and she was gone. The thought of a big tom following her was just entering my mind right before she flew away. I don?t know if she was spooked or what. She didn?t respond to my call and left within about 5 minutes of entering the field.
We sat a while longer when another hen came back out in that general area. It could have been the same one, but I?m not sure. This hen did the exact same thing. She walked down the tree line about 15 yards out from it. This time she walked from our far right all the way to our far left and it took her about 20 minutes to make the journey. During these 20 minutes I called and made every sound I could without trying to ?over-call? as Mr. Puette had mentioned to me. No matter what sound I made, the turkey just kept on strutting. I don?t think she really acknowledged any of the sounds as she walked and pecked at the ground and passed by nor did she care about the decoys. We weren?t going to shoot a hen, but it would have been nice to at least get some more footage for the site. After she passed by, Mr. J.E. and I were talking and I told him that I think that turkey might be deaf, thus the title of this blog entry.
That pretty much sums up our hunt. We stayed a little bit longer and then eventually left. We did see a hawk that was chasing after something in the field and that was neat to watch. We also noticed on the way out that the farmer had seeded the field. Looks like there will be some corn around next year. I bet the deer will love that. So there is no really good footage or turkeys to brag about, but we did come across some turkeys that didn?t hear well. Though, maybe the lack of attention to us is a sign about my calling abilities! I guess I?ll keep practicing.
Regards,
Clint