Update from Turkey Camp.

Well, it was a good fresh start. It wasn’t going to last.

I bagged that gob on Friday. Friday evening, my wife and sons showed up. We were treated to a bunch of hens and a mature gobbler out in the pasture just before sundown. The didn’t much mind us; their closest approach was 150 yards. The gobbler did not seem to have his heart in it– he strutted once, and then spent the rest of his time feeding.

That was sort of how Saturday was. I took Angus back to the same spot as the day before. The same cast of characters was there (less the one in the freezer.) Chief among them was the hot hen, but she was not nearly as hot, and she faded quickly without any suitors. We had 4 different flocks of hens come by, but no gobblers.

Meanwhile, #2 son, Moose, was off on his own. He was out on his little finger ridge, blinded in. He was having similar results as us: no gobbling, a bunch of hens feeding, nothing coming by. Eventually, he fell asleep. He awoke some time later with the crunch of leaves close by his head. It was so close, he figured he dare not move. Whatever it was, it kept moving slowly around his head, crunching leaves as it went. It took agonizing minutes for him to ease his gun barrel around and poke it through a hole in the burlap blind. At a distance of less than a foot, he came face to face with. . .

. . . a box turtle, looking questioningly at the end of the gun barrel.

This morning, I had Angus back out at another of our favorte haunts. This time we stayed silent and just let things develop. We overlooked two food plots and a pasture. Not a gobble for a quarter mile all morning. We did get two single hens by, and a gobbler showed up around 0900. However, the gobbler was just out of range as he grazed the field. He turned when he got down to our end and slowly made his way back. After his back was turned, I called, but nothing got him to so much as turn his head.

On our way out, we ran into one of those stupid oblivious hens I have been spotting. She walked out 20 yards from us as we were walking out. Just for grins, I stood there and brought my shotgun up and got the crosshairs on her. Angus came up and tried the same, but he was a litle late and she had already wandered off. She didn’t go far. We set up in a copse of trees nearby. She stayed around and fed, but neither our calls, nor her feeding in the pasture beyond enticed anything.

Okay, this is where I get out of my depth. We are now halfway through the season. We still have three tags to fill. We’ve been regularly taking 20-30 mph sustained winds, and today and tomorrow are both promising to be dominated by unseasonable heat and wind. The birds seem insensate to calling. What do you do in a situation like that? The closest we came to success was at 0900 this morning when the gobbler walked by, but even he seemed unconcerned with breeding, or even companionship.

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