Two birds gobbled at a real owl hoot at 5:05 a.m. this morning. Because of the thick under growth, I couldn't get close to them, so set up in a picked corn field on the edge of the thick woods. I called to them and they answered, but after fly down they went the other way, gobbling until just barely audible. I thought they might return after the hens left them for the morning, so I decided to stay put. In the intervening hours, I napped, saw deer, coyotes, geese, crows, etc. I'd determined that I'd leave for the house at 11:00 a.m. I started getting my stuff together at 10:45 including putting my calls up when the two of them gobbled some 100 yards directly in front of me in the thick underbrush. I answered with my slate and they gobbled, then went silent. I've had this happen before and, in the past, it meant that they were on their way and would be popping out of the brush at any time, see my Funky Chicken hovering over a hen in the breeding position, and come dashing in. I put the slate down and got ready for the shot. Five minutes passed...then 10 minutes...then they gobbled directly BEHIND me and about 60 yards away. They had circled and come in from my rear position. From how I was set up, there was no way that I could pick up my slate without being seen. I thought they would come on in to my Funky Chicken which they could see, but after a couple of more gobbles, they turned and went the other way. Obviously, I should have hung on to my slate instead of putting it down and getting ready for the shot that never materialized, but other than that what would you have done?
