Ended my season for real today. Last day I can hunt. Florida ended a while back but I got a couple of hunts at a GA plantation.
The first hunt we figured where they roosted. Today, we were in position well before daylight and as the day woke up, I was right in his pocket. Slightly uphill from his roost tree. There were 6 birds gobbling in all, only he was close. He was on my side of the creek so I intended to wait until he flew done until a hen started raising a ruckus just to my east. I let him know there was a hen to the west as well. I watched him fly down and he went to the east (I never saw the hen). He kept gobbling as he walked away, so I thought maybe he was not with her. I made about a 3/4 mile walk to beat him to a field he was headed to, but had to stay on the backside of a ridge he was on - the woods are quail woods and it is like turkey hunting a golf course to me. I made it to the field and say down at the far eastern edge, where I thought he was headed. Sure enough, about 20 minute later he gobbles, headed right to me (or so I thought). I waited, and waited and waited some more. Talked quiet, but no answer. After about an hour or so of no sounds, I eased up to look back to the west and there he stood, in full strut, about 150 yards away. He had to have walked back up the ridge to circle me, but that is what he did (I would have seen him if he had walked straight to where he was). I eased back down, but he just wandered off, not really interested in my calling.
So I ended my season at least hearing birds gobble and playing with one. In FL, I had 3 days where I heard a gobble and killed one bird. Odd year for sure.
Good luck to those still hunting.
