It's been tuff down this way....very little gobbling. A late spring, few two year olds are an over abundence of jakes whatever the cause may be. I was fortunate to be off for the first nine days of our season. In the eight mornings I hunted I only heard two birds gobble at daylight. The first bird I killed was struck at 10:10 in a hardwood flat surrounded by pine plantation. He gobbled from deep in the flat. I moved up 50yds and called to him with NO response. Ten minutes later I see him at 80yds, headed my way.... Then he disappeared behind a water oak at 60yds, for another 10 minutes.... I called to him again and he gobbled in the same place I had last saw him. A few minutes later he appeared again slightly to my right at 50yds, strutting and EVER so slowly walking straight to me. I enjoyed the show until he made it to my imaginary 30yd, mark.
I got on one at daylight the next morning and just when I thought he was on the ground an committed to comming my way....BOOOMM...one of my fellow club members took the gobble out of him...Kinda skeery, neither one of us knew each other was in there.
Last friday evening I got one to gobble to some extremely loud fly ups and finally had my first bird of the season roosted...He worked good the next morning, like they some times do.
I had a very hard time getting my son to go in the cold weather...and the fact that daddy was'nt on any birds...spoiled rotten. He did make one morning with me in the cold and fell asleep at daylight. I yelped in a hen and a jake and let them get behind us at 10yds before waking him up and motioning to him to look behind. His eyes lit up until he realized it was a jake. He whispered to me its a jake daddy...no kidding he almost stepped on your leg knothead.....
Got several friends to go with when I'm off and my son saturday morning. I guess I'll make it to Tennessee in late April...
