Rain is coming.....(NEW HUNT)

[BowBendr]

I normally don't do blinds and dekes....but....there's 2 days of hard rain coming and i've got access to the only field on 1,000 acres of land that's got birds on it, and i'm gonna' kill some time in there...and kill some birds ! They WILL hit that field when it starts pouring !! 

[MDbowman]

Hope for a drizzle! Good luck!!

[bawana]

Sounds like a plan!

[BowBendr]

Wasn't raining when I got to the property this morning, so I set up the blind and ditched the dekes and chair inside while I hit the woods. Heard 1 gobble 1 time on the roost. He was by himself as all the hens were roosted across a dirt lane on another hill. I moved in close but never heard him fly down.

I just hung out near the bottom he was roosted over and heard him open up on his own about 8:45. He gobbled about 6 times 150 yards out in the bottom. I moved up. I hit him with a crow call to check how close I had gotten. Nothing. I set up on a good tree and yelped on a box. Nothing. Waited 5 minutes and tried the glass. Nothing. Crow again. Nothing. Moved up about 50 more yards and started cutting on a mouth call. BAM !! Hit him again. BAM !! Gun up, head down, ready...2 more yelps and I saw his head. He putted 2 or 3 times and whirled around....gone.....I have no clue what he saw, unless it was the FF2 lens or my glasses....sitting like a rock...never budged, but he saw something he did not like and that was it......goin back to the blind in a few, it's raining now.........WTH ??

[DMP]

Get'em killer.   

[BowBendr]

Got my decoys set up and got in the blind this morning before daylight. It was raining pretty good at fly-down time and all the birds around me were actually very vocal. The tom from yesterday was gobbling his brains out on the limb about 100 yds behind me and across the dirt farm lane, where he was yesterday morning. I had the jake set up over one of the hens like he was going to breed her at about 25 yds from the blind.

2 jakes came off the roost and entered the field first, followed by 9 hens. The tom from yesterday was now on the ground, gobbling good on the ground, but not coming at all. A silent bird came in and started strutting and spinning around in circles amongst all the other birds. The 2 jakes were all over my jake deke and one of them walked around it in half strut forever. I thought the mature tom would break and come on in, but he just stood there, strutting, never making a peep. Every time the bird across the road would gobble, he'd drop out of strut and look that way, then puff right back up again. It is the 1st time in my life i've saw a mature tom let jakes strut all over a mess of hens and not do something about it.....

The tom across the lane never came in the field and only closed to about 75 yds, I don't think he ever got close enough to see up in the field and the other strutter with all those hens. Not sure either of them are the boss, they sure aren't acting very dominant. I had every bird in the field at 10 yds at some time or another, but the long beard never closed any distance. I shot him with the yardage pro 2 or 3 times and he never broke 53 yds. and I wasn't going to push it that far with the 20 gauge...45 yes...53 NO....

This all carried on until about 10 a.m. when I heard the land owner coming up the dirt lane on his 4 wheeler...not sure why, but he did....all the birds left the field easy like, not spooked, just went on when they heard him coming......

Going back in the a.m. to try it once more until I have to hit the road at 11 to go on my trip to eastern NC for my draw hunt I was selected for. Sorry guys, close but no cigar....although, we're only 2 days into the season and i've been on more birds than I was last year. I am on 'em and staying that way til something dies.........

[Duke0002]

Keep after him!  You're in the ball park.

[MDbowman]

Sounds like you are dialing in on him.

[BowBendr]

So, i've been down here in eastern NC for the past couple days on a draw hunt I was selected for. I haven't drawn this hunt for about 5 years, but when I did, I always killed. I scouted it last year in hopes of being drawn, but wasn't. So, I started my search in those places on Wed. at daylight and found nothing. I ended up going 10 miles on down the road to an area i'd been on 7 or 8 years ago and found some tight-lipped toms.

All the hens i could see were solo, as were the toms, but you couldn't get them fired up. They've not gobbled good on the roost, but they'll gobble good for 20 or 30 minutes as soon as they hit the ground. After that they won't hit a turkey call, but they'll hit a crow or goose call...odd...

I had a big tom gobbling his head off in a grass road bed beside a field after fly-down, about 100 yds away, but a hen came in between us and they meandered into the private field.

It is supposed to rain again all day tomorrow and I watched him fly up on one side of the road tonite at dark. The hen flew up about 100 yds down the road on the other side. The exact spot between the 2 is exactly where he walked out this morning and started hammering. My dekes are already set up and I got a spot ready to sit in at that spot...30 yd shot....God, let this plan come together.....I shoulda' been tagged out 4 days ago..................

**Edit:  This is one of the hardest tags to draw in NC. The quota is 40, but 3 people could be a party that draws as 1 against the quota of 40. So technically, there could be 120 people here on 55,000 acres...this is the 1st hunt of the year here...i've not seen a soul...why would you apply if you're not going to hunt it ?  I ain't griping...this is nice !!

[MDbowman]

Keep at it!

[BowBendr]

Dead bird.  I'll start a new thread tonite.......

[MDbowman]

Sweet!

[DMP]

Do it killer...