I had to drop my daughter off to school before going hunting, so that the wife could cover me at the office today... Could not complain, but missed the early morning...
I hunted two different properties, and at both places, the hens would immediately respond to my calling... Called in my second bobcat in two days of hunting (two separate areas)...
I raised one gobble right off, and I could hear the hen take him away... Moved on down the road, and raised up some really aggressive hen calling, and a single hen came in to my call...
Went to a different property, and once again, the hens were vocal, but did not hear a single gobble... I bumped one hen, and she appeared to be on a nest... Almost unconcerned that I was near her... Tried to get the camera out, as she cut and yelped at me (I was within 10 yards of her) but she got into some thick brush, and with all the noise she was making I figured a tom would come in... Couple dogs (domestic) ran in and scared the hen off, so I moved again...
I moved to a different area, and immediately heard a lot of hen activity again... Bumped another hen, that I got really close to as I parked my vehicle. After setting up and doing some calling, I watched one hen come in from some distance away, and she gave me all of the vocabulary of the hens... Cuttin', puttin', yelping, purrin'... Soon another hen came in, yelping really aggressively from the opposite direction, and although I could not see what was going on, it sounded like there was a dispute... A third hen was above me yelping as well... Only heard one gobble, and it was a single bird a long ways off, and across a major road. Shoot time ends at 4:00 pm, and I waited it out at that spot having so many active hens around me... At one point, I had a hen to my right, a hen to my left and below me, and a hen above me all making noise, and one tentative gobble some distance off...
Temperature wise, things cooled off today, so I expected to hear less gobbling, but as inexperienced as I am, I have never heard so much hen activity, and so little gobbling... In fact, I don't believe I have ever heard so much hen activity period...
Gotta admit, I left the field frustrated and scratching my head this afternoon.
I would love to hear some thought processes about what is going on with the breeding cycle... This is really early for hens to be sitting on the nest, but the two birds I bumped sure did not want to leave the area they were in.
