Over a week since it ended here. Allow me to post pictures so I can re-live it again. Posted on a couple more local sites already. Folks seem to enjoy the write ups like this and I reckon I am guilty of liking to post it.
We started off the season with a bang on youth day. Knuck took the first shot he could when two jakes showed up. We worked two long beards both morning and evening but couldn't get either away from their hens. I made the foamer hen decoy recently and it hunted well this season.
I struggled this year at the start. Worked several toms but couldn't finish them for various reasons. Had one hunter slip right in between me and a tom after I had stood and waved him off. The normal joys of public land hunting and there seemed to be hunters swarming every gobble the first two weeks. First tom came on April 13th and I was a wondering if it was ever gonna happen.
Called in this bearded hen a while later.
Found this nut rock one morning. Am told Indians used these to crack chestnuts on. Left the artifact on the National Forest land where I found it. I did remove 4 nice antler sheds though.
Then I had this nice two year old gobble and volunteer one rainy morning.
I walked a lot of creeks like normal.
This bird played right with the plan early one morning walking about 40 yards from the roost.
After I cleaned him I went over to this little creek around 11AM.
A big tom gobbled on the next ridge and after a while he worked in strutting till I shot this nice big cedar tree. I pulled the shot right some trying to shoot a gap.
The next morning I went after a tom I'd been hunting for three years. He was across the river but I coaxed him back across at 8AM and then missed him. Was still chapped about the dead cedar tree from the day before so I really took my time aiming at him and squeezed the trigger slowly instead of my normal yank. Even closed one eye, just enough so that I didn't notice him stoop and take a step just before the gun went off.
About now I was starting to feel snake bit.
So I pouted and walked some more creeks till I found some more gobbler tracks.
And I came back another morning and called in this guy and his brother. After I shot him I putt/purred his bro back. Bro stayed behind brush mostly. I was in a bad way and all just wanting to kill, kill, kill. So when bro po-goed across an opening I missed him. Surprise, surprise.
I then went and tried this bird. Last year he did the river hop routine on me too. The last Tuesday morn he came off the roost to 50 yards but just strutted and peeked over the ridge before hopping the river. I went and set up a little different a couple days later. He had a hen with him and hopped the river at 9. I went up river paralleling them and called the hen back across at 10. Then I dropped back down river to the first spot and called him back across at 11:20AM. He put on a nice slow strut from the river to the decoy. Took him to the taxidermist for that same pose.
My phone pedometer says I walked 164 miles this month and I believe it. Hunted every day but Sundays and a couple other days. All public land birds except Knuck's jake that he shot at the farm. I still can't shoot worth a crap and toms simply make me go to pieces. 10 jakes, 14 hens and 16 toms called into sight. Worked a bunch of other birds that didn't show for whatever reason. Also blasted a black coyote that about ran me over coming to a box call one morning. Didn't get a picture of him, got in a gulley with cut banks but I feel sure from the blood he's dead.
