Season has been rough for me thus far. The properties I've hunted are devoid of birds. My leaseholder has been nice enough to let me try a few of his properties. I haven't been able to hunt much, a lot of my time has been spent searching for a house in Tennessee.
Thankfully I found a house and property, and I closed on it a week ago. Then yesterday I checked out a new property with good turkey sign, so I was there at o'dark-thirty this morning.
It was a good gobbling morning in SC. I heard 6 gobblers at daybreak, but all were in areas that are difficult to access. I walked around owling and crowing until I got some fired up. I set up in a beautiful patch of hardwoods next to a swamp. I called but only got the occasional courtesy gobble. Finally I got one fired up at 0900! He was hammering at every call, plus hawks, crows and songbirds. Once he got fired up, 2 of the courtesy gobbling birds got fired up as well. I had 3 gobblers hammering, all within 400 yards of me.
Over the next 45 minutes they continued hammering while sloooooooooooowly closing the distance. Finally all 3 were hammering within 150 yards. My senses were on high alert! I watched and listened intently, waiting to see movement or hear drumming.
Here comes the close but no cigar part.
Right when my trigger finger was getting itchy, some guy fired up his dirt bike and proceeded to rip up the trails on the property next door. Two of the gobblers shut up immediately, and the 3rd walked away gobbling.
The biker must have been having fun, because he didn't stop riding. I finally gave up, listening to him tearing up the woods while walking back to my truck. As I drove away, he was still ripping it up.
Oh well. It was a good gobbling morning, and I had a lot of excitement for a while. I'll be back at it in the AM. Hopefully I can get a SC gobbler before leaving for Texas and Mexico next week.
Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.
