Well I don't generally hunt after working . But, I sometimes can't help it . I raced home and rid myself of the dirt and oil ,,,,put on my hunting garb and lit out for the public land where I do most of my turkey hunting . At the parking lot I had a brief conversation with a bow totin deer hunter who had been up on the near break ridge all afternoon . He was leaving due to a little dark cloud that was spitting out a small amount of rain but a lot of lightning . He did however tell me he had seen a bunch of turkeys today .
I made my way slowly into the cedars and followed my favorite deer trail to the base of the break . My legs and feet were already aching from pounding the concrete today , so I pulled the moss covered ground up to my hindquarters for a comfortable sit . After about 10 minutes I pulled out the brass call and made a three note gobbler yelp . 15-20 minutes later I hit it again followed by a gobble . A while later I yelped again and clucked twice . Then I pulled out the old walnut box and did some lost cals ,,,gobbler style . A hen began yelping down the slope . I scooted around my tree and put the XT havoc in place . Before I could get a call made the whole flock went into the most amazing arguement I ever heard . I could hear jakes , gobblers and hens , young and old . They were all trying to be louder than the rest . One particular bird was making sounds the closely resembled that of baby throwing one of those crying fits when they turn all red in the face and one would think they are gonna swell up and bust . While I could clearly hear this it sounded like the rest were floggin' the poor critter . This went on for about 5 minutes then they all just shut up . So I went back at them with the trumpet . Then the box , and the mouthcall . Mixing it up like there was a flock up on the hill . Then I went silent . I could hear them running around down the slope and out of sight . I soon realized they were going to just go away so I began making lost calls like a jake on the mouthcall . Soon I hear turkeys coming uphill clucking low and making a lot of racket in the small amount of leaf litter in the cedars . They passed by me out of gun range . I believe that the rest of the flock , being the majority just went on toward the roost site and these juveniles came over for a look see. They didn't say anything but just trotted by then went into a run ,,,,evidently to catch up
with the rest of the flock .
It was a short hunt , but well worth the effort . It's always good to engage turkeys whether or not one rides in the truck .
