Well here we are at day three of our turkey hunt and I sit at the boat launch again watching the boys fish with Uncle Jim in the boat. Let me start at last night. Needless to say we at hamburger again last night, because they only caught one fish! They let it go since there wasn’t enough for supper. After we got back to camp we built a camp fire and the 
boys thought that was pretty cool. You’ve got to remember that neither one of them has ever roughed it before, so all of this is new to them. We broke out the camp stove again and cooked up dinner. Uncle Jim had brought some sweet corn with him and warmed that up in a pot for us, so hamburgers and corn! Yummy! Uncle Jim had a new fandangled camping grilled cheese cooker he had to try out. It sort of worked! After getting into bed we heard a couple of barred owls calling to each other, Jake thought that was pretty cool also. Shortly after he fell asleep I heard a pack of coyotes call out pretty loud, there must have been 5 or 6 of them! They probably took down some game and were going at it. Michael and Jim heard them and Jim didn’t know what to think!
We woke up again at 5:30am and got ready to get into the woods. This morning was a little different, everyone was on a mission and got with it pretty quickly this morning. It was overcast and much cooler, probably around 55 degrees. We got to the parking area and just as we got out of the truck, GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE!!!!! We all looked at each other and I told the boys get your stuff together, at least that is the nice way of putting it! Let’s get into the woods, I told them.
The Tom was calling from the roost near where Jake and I last set up the day before. So Mike and Jim headed down another adjacent ridge, just incase he went the other way. Jake and I slipped into the woods with stealth and speed or at least as quick as we could. We hurried to our spot from the day before and got set up. Another series of gobbles from the roost, he bellowed out. Thunder Chicken was just about 150 – 200 yards away! So I threw a call his way, a moment or two later another gobble, only this time it sounded a little more muffled, he must have pitched down out of the tree. I fired another sweet lady call his way with my slate call, nothing, so I got the old lady box call out and rasped one his way. A moment or two later he fired off again, only he was closer! Game on now boys, I told Jake. This is where it gets good I told him. He took a deep breath and sighed, as he rose his gun up into shooting position. I told him don’t get nervous yet boy, the bird is still far away. I could tell the excitement was building up in his young mind. I wish I could have known what he was thinking at that point. This was the first time he has ever heard a wild turkey before. I kept throwing a couple of raspy lady calls to him every time he bellowed! Each time he was cutting the distance to us. After about 5 series of back and forth, I could tell he was about 75 yards away or so. We had set up on and abandoned logging trail that was now overgrown, all you could see was the indentations in the ground were the two track used to be. It made a bend around the hillside to the left and I just knew that ‘ol Tom was going to coming strutting around that corner to our decoys. We waited and waited, after about 15 – 20 minutes I threw out a call and nothing, I knew the game was over and he must have hung up on something and went the other way. We waited about an hour before we made our move, when we did I wanted to see what was around the bend that stopped him. As we approached the bend I could see that the hillside dropped off into a creek bottom about 50 feet down off the hillside! No wonder he didn’t finish making it to us. While we were there we went down a ways and cleared out a nice spot to set up in the morning. Maybe we will get another chance at him or another Tom nearby.
We made our way back to camp and took a nap, just as it began to rain lightly. That made for some good sleeping weather. After about an hour or so, the sun popped back out and it got hotter than blazes again! Time for lunch and then off to the lake. That is where I’m at right now, watching the boys try to catch dinner again. The pair of geese that were here yesterday are still milling around. I think I will just sit back in the truck with the windows down and the breeze blowing and take a nap!
boys thought that was pretty cool. You’ve got to remember that neither one of them has ever roughed it before, so all of this is new to them. We broke out the camp stove again and cooked up dinner. Uncle Jim had brought some sweet corn with him and warmed that up in a pot for us, so hamburgers and corn! Yummy! Uncle Jim had a new fandangled camping grilled cheese cooker he had to try out. It sort of worked! After getting into bed we heard a couple of barred owls calling to each other, Jake thought that was pretty cool also. Shortly after he fell asleep I heard a pack of coyotes call out pretty loud, there must have been 5 or 6 of them! They probably took down some game and were going at it. Michael and Jim heard them and Jim didn’t know what to think!We woke up again at 5:30am and got ready to get into the woods. This morning was a little different, everyone was on a mission and got with it pretty quickly this morning. It was overcast and much cooler, probably around 55 degrees. We got to the parking area and just as we got out of the truck, GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE!!!!! We all looked at each other and I told the boys get your stuff together, at least that is the nice way of putting it! Let’s get into the woods, I told them.
The Tom was calling from the roost near where Jake and I last set up the day before. So Mike and Jim headed down another adjacent ridge, just incase he went the other way. Jake and I slipped into the woods with stealth and speed or at least as quick as we could. We hurried to our spot from the day before and got set up. Another series of gobbles from the roost, he bellowed out. Thunder Chicken was just about 150 – 200 yards away! So I threw a call his way, a moment or two later another gobble, only this time it sounded a little more muffled, he must have pitched down out of the tree. I fired another sweet lady call his way with my slate call, nothing, so I got the old lady box call out and rasped one his way. A moment or two later he fired off again, only he was closer! Game on now boys, I told Jake. This is where it gets good I told him. He took a deep breath and sighed, as he rose his gun up into shooting position. I told him don’t get nervous yet boy, the bird is still far away. I could tell the excitement was building up in his young mind. I wish I could have known what he was thinking at that point. This was the first time he has ever heard a wild turkey before. I kept throwing a couple of raspy lady calls to him every time he bellowed! Each time he was cutting the distance to us. After about 5 series of back and forth, I could tell he was about 75 yards away or so. We had set up on and abandoned logging trail that was now overgrown, all you could see was the indentations in the ground were the two track used to be. It made a bend around the hillside to the left and I just knew that ‘ol Tom was going to coming strutting around that corner to our decoys. We waited and waited, after about 15 – 20 minutes I threw out a call and nothing, I knew the game was over and he must have hung up on something and went the other way. We waited about an hour before we made our move, when we did I wanted to see what was around the bend that stopped him. As we approached the bend I could see that the hillside dropped off into a creek bottom about 50 feet down off the hillside! No wonder he didn’t finish making it to us. While we were there we went down a ways and cleared out a nice spot to set up in the morning. Maybe we will get another chance at him or another Tom nearby.
We made our way back to camp and took a nap, just as it began to rain lightly. That made for some good sleeping weather. After about an hour or so, the sun popped back out and it got hotter than blazes again! Time for lunch and then off to the lake. That is where I’m at right now, watching the boys try to catch dinner again. The pair of geese that were here yesterday are still milling around. I think I will just sit back in the truck with the windows down and the breeze blowing and take a nap!
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