Second Saturday in the PA. Turkey woods

Second Saturday in the PA. Turkey woods

So This hunt wasn't quite as exiting as the first day but it had it's moments.

  I met up with Kyle at 5am. he was going to do the calling for me in hopes to have a repeat of last weekend. We hit the woods at 5:15 expecting the birds to be roosted in the same trees again. We swung out and around the ridge we bumped them off of the first day. sat up on the top of the ridge looking back to the location of the roosted birds. 

    We sat for about 20min before we began to hear them on the roost gobbling at every crow's caw. We thought that since he was so hot on the roost it would be a easy  morning. Boy were we wrong. after 10 min. of gobbling on the roost he fell silent. with all the noise of traffic, gas well's and birds waking up we were not able to hear them fly down. So after sitting for about a hour we packed up and started working along the top calling form time to time just to locate them. We had a good idea where they had gone but knew we couldn't get in to the area with out them knowing. 

  On our way back to the truck we did spook a single hen but did not see any other birds. we suspected she was on a nest. so we moved on with no more luck. With a couple more sits with no results we headed out to get some food the same as we had done the first day. After some bacon and eggs. We set out again. hoping to repeat our first day adventures, but when we arived at the location Kyle had bagged his bird, we noticed the farmer was moving equipment and cows around so we didn't stay to hunt. 

   Now back on the same ridge we started on early that morning we began walking the trail out when we heard a yelp of a hen out in front of us. We suspected that it was the hen we had jumped earlier and figured we would use her calling to our advantage. so we sat just out of site of the calling bird. Sitting facing the direction of the calling bird we began to notice the calls were not moving about like we would suspect would happen with us calling to it. At that point i was having a feeling we were talking to another hunter. So we fell silent with out calls and waited to see what would happen. All of a sudden we hear "GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE" just out of sight.  So we let out a light call and he was even closer. then we noticed the bird about 80 yards and running. not at us or away from us but into our direction. we suspected it was spooked by the other hunter. once it was just to our right kyle called out and he gobbled right back. 

  I looked to my right and i could see him standing in a spot that i could only see a small amount of his neck and that was it about 35yards away. Not wanting to mess up the hunt again by missing i waited hoping he would take a few steps to the right which would have presented a nice clear shot, But he didn't. we didn't know where he went. After a few quick yeps he reviled to us that he had sadly moved off some. So i had Kyle slide back some and i would stay at our current location in hopes of drawing him back. Sadly this didn't work our. I sat for nearly 45 min. watching him strut and gobble just out of range. While after working our hardest we lost sight and sound of the bird along with Kyle and I both having a coughing spell felt we had scared him off. It was then we also found out that it was indeed another hunter. as kyle was walking back to me he saw him working back the trail we had walked in on. So while standing there we began to hear that same yelping we had been talking to down below us. and as soon as it started he came that gobbler running right at us again. With only a few minuets left to hunt we sat down hoping he would run right in but it didn't happen. We have no idea where that bird with but we do know as of noon Saturday he was still alive.

   sadly i wont get getting a chance to get back in the woods till the 19th. but on a positive note by the time that weekend rolls around we will no longer be restricted by a noon quitting time. hopefully he will still be alive and in the area by then.