Turkeys 1 /Hunter 0

Here is the flooded woods just South of where I was hunting. We got a lot of rain the weeks before the hunting season.

Thursday morning marked the first day of 4th turkey season. I was the one of the lucky ones to get a tag for this season and was excited about my first year of turkey hunting. The first morning when I walked in I did see one turkey out in the bean field and as I walked to where I wanted to set up my decoys, he walked into the woods and was gone. I heard a few turkeys in the distance gobbling but they seemed like miles away. I tried a few set ups but nothing seemed to work out. About 10:30am I sat down to eat a few snacks that I had packed along. Ever so often I would hit the slate call and just listen for a response. After a few minutes I hit the slate call and heard a call back. At first I actually thought it was another hunter calling back at me but in a few seconds the sight of 5 turkeys rounded the corner of the woods. I got excited as they walked by just out of range and off into the woods. If I had known this would be my only sighting of the elusive birds I might have tried to take a shot then but I waited to try to get them in closer. I did manage to get a few pictures while out in the woods. I also got some video footage of the turkeys I did see. Friday started out slow and it just went down hill from there. The wind kicked up and I couldn't hear anything in the woods. I called the hunt off early making it back to the house before 10am. Friday afternoon we ventured North to Baylee Ella's B'day party but that s another post. Saturday morning I again got up dark and early to make the half mile walk to where the turkeys live. As I walked to the woods I heard 2 bunches of turkeys and made the wrong decision on which one to go after. The ones closer to me were across the large ditch marking the Eastern property boundary. Other than being a feeding station for hundreds of mosquitoes, I heard a few gobbles but that was it. The wind was already blowing and as the sun came up it just got worse. I called my friend to get the forecast for tomorrow and was informed that the forecast gave for wind gusts of up to 21 miles an hour for Sunday so I decided to call the turkey hunting season over. We returned home and have settled in to relax the rest of the day but tomorrow holds laundry and mowing.

Here is a furry friend that helped entertain me while setting in the woods.

Hot on the trail of this critter . Unfortunately I was too far away for a shot.

One of the signs that the turkeys has been here. The trees in the area were a bare of leaves around their bases. Another sign that turkeys have been there.

This is me in hunting mode. I set this shot up with a timer and hurried into position for the shot. The ladder behind me is Needle's Uncle "B" deer stand. This is the stand I harvested both of my deer last year.

The 2009 Turkey hunting season is over and I wish I would have had a little more luck but we will see if there will be a 2010 season for me.