Considering I had surgery in February and was worried i wouldn’t be able to hunt much and certainly was going to struggle to cover ground the way i normally do. It all worked out pretty well. Tagged out for the spring. Going to revel in this for awhile but already looking forward to deer season in the fall.
Posted recently about some turkeys giving me fits running around an active timber project. I decided id had enough of those birds and went to other side of the property to get back to doing what i know works. Finding fresh sign, setting up, and cold calling. Never gobbled but about climbed into my lap.
Not looking for advice just figured id give some due admiration to these wonderful birds. Im having a great season, tagged one opening day, have found some great pockets of (mostly) unpressured birds and am getting action more often than not. But one group of birds in particular has me absolutely chasing my tail. I like to hunt thicker cover and hill country due to the added ability to move and set up in ways that force them into range. But i found a bunch of birds using an active logging operation and the country is wide open. The loggers come and the birds filter out into fields, then the loggers leave and they filter back into the fresh cut, which you can easily see 200-300 yards in most places while simultaneously being full of slash and things that generally hang toms up. Ill have one blow through all of it and come straight to me then another wont leave the logging road. Meanwhile others roost in tiny trees out in the middle of the fields where its about impossible to get set up. Ive never met such a challenging batch of birds before. I always say i love dumb deer and prefer smart turkeys…but this flock seems to be outsmarting me.
Opening day longbeard picture for self soothing purposes.
From what I’ve heard it was a pretty quiet morning for a lotta folks. Which it definitely was for me too however, got one to come in quiet and punched a tag 30 minutes before noon.