A few slow days

The internet has been down over the weekend. Time for some catch up.
Tried out two new places. A 98 acre farm just up the road and a 124 acre property owned by some friends.

Up at 4am, get to the barn and park around 4:40. I hike up to the top of the field in the rain. I saw two birds feeding in the other day. I set my decoy out on the edge of the field and sit just in the woods.




About an hour goes by and there is a deer standing 15 yards away. I have no idea where it came from. It is just staring at my decoy. I reach for my camera and it sees me. The deer makes a quick run up the hill and stops. It turns around and starts walking back to the decoy. It stops at about 30 yards and just looks at the decoy for another 5 min and walks away.









 I wait one more hour and move to the other end of the field. Sit there for one hour and then move into the woods. I want to check this place out. I make my way up a steep hill side and find a nice deer trail. that leads me to a V.A.S.T. trail. This looks like a good spot. Big maple trees for birds to roost in. The turkeys seam to like the path of least resistance. I find a nice spot to hide on a small hill looking down on the road and put Wilma in the road. I call on and off for a little bit. Still more to see so I move on up the hill to the power line. Just about at the top of the hill two quick shots come from the field followed by the sound of a car speeding away.  Fucking road hunters. I hat lazy good for nothing road hunters. I get over that and walk out on the power line and have a look around. the fog is thick so not much to see. Make a few calls and nothing answers. I start heading to the west side of the property and find a network of trails. I set up on a five way intersection. I only last twenty min or so. the black flies are bad.

I follow a road back up to the power line and sit just inside the woods. It smells like onions? Wild Leeks! I dig out a bag and look at the time on my cell phone. Shit it is 11:50. I need to be out of the woods at 12:00. I throw a few in a ziploc and beat feet to the car. Made it back at 12:05.

I made two new calls

Copper over glass and birds eye pot and Aluminum over glass and birds eye maple pot and copper in white oak pot. 

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Next day.

Up at four and head to the Cochran's. I park at Shaun's shop. I head to the field first and make a few owl hoots. Nothing. I try again. I have a owl respond then another one starts going crazy. That was fun but no turkeys. I jump on a trail and head to the back side of the property where I have see birds in the past. I get set up on the edge of a hemlock stand where it meets a mix of hardwood trees. I put Wilma at about twenty yards. I sit quiet for about twenty min before I start to call. I am using aluminum and copper calls I made the night before. It is very quiet in the woods today. I start to call soft. With a few yelps and clucks. Nothing. I try again in fifteen min. This time some one talks back. Sounds like a hen about seventy five yards out.

I cluck and yelp. She kee kees and purrs back. She is closing in. I catch a glimpse of her and she is headed straight for me. Then she notices Wilma. She heads straight to her clucking and purring all the way. As she is checking out the decoy. I grab my camera. I really need to do something with my camera it is chrome and the small tripod is florescent orange. She sees my camera but not to startled. She stops clucking and purring.

Wilma does not have much to say so she starts to feed in my direction. The hen comes with in ten yards and walks right past me. I have been dead still for almost twenty min now and my back, but and legs are killing me.I need to readjust. She does not like this and makes a few putts and moves off.  Sitting around for another hour I hear nothing. I grab my decoy and start working my way back to the car. I find a nice spot where the turkeys have the ground all scratched up. I call for a half and hour and nothing. It is not raining but heavy fog and all the leaves are wet. I am cold and damp so I head for the car. At least I called a bird in.

Sunday

I hunt the 300 acre farm. I set up where I saw a hen last week on a trail and call. A tom gobbles back.

He is far. I close some ground and call again I hear a hen or another hunter. I work my way around them and try and get closer to the bird. The tom is answering a rooster crow and the rooster is answering the tom.

Kinda funny. He shuts up around 5:30 and that is all I hear and see for the day. I walk back to the corn field and see some turkey tracks in the corn field.   

I go and check my trail-cam. Just a few pics

of a deer and a fox. I pull it. I found a old pop up blind a few weeks back when I was scouting. 

I go and uncover it and see if I can save it. It is in bad shape. I salvage the pols and drag the skin and chair out to the logging road so someone or I can grab it the next time I'm in here.

I make it home and have Amber check me for ticks. She finds two. Both imbedded and both deer ticks.