No, not another post about TSS shot, this is about my personal TSS -
The Snakebit Season.
- First off, I didn't get drawn for a hunt in my home state for the 3rd time in 4 seasons.
- Then I didn't get many chances to hunt due to having to hang around and home, and do physical therapy for my shoulder surgery. It's a Workers Comp injury, so I had to be there or they'd cut off my benefits. I only got 2 trips to my club in SC, one weekend trip to a friend's club in FLA, and then the trip with Hayudog to Idaho. For some, that's a lot, but for me, that was much less than the normal number of days I spend afield each spring. I guess my 24/48 FD
schedule has me spoiled.
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SC #1 My first trip to SC I found hog hunters had corn feeders up on my turkey lease, making the property unhuntable.
So I had to spend the trip on my deer lease, which had been logged the year before. I heard lots of birds........next door on the properties that still had trees.
There was no calling any over onto my place though.
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SC #2 After a few more weeks of physical therapy, it was back to SC. By now the corn situation had been cleared up. The weather was good, and the gobblers ripped it up most mornings on the roost. Shortly after flydown, the gobblers would shut up once they had hens. Even the gobblers that didn't roost with hens gobbled them up in short notice. My best opportunity was nearly textbook........
nearly.
I had 9 gobblers hammering on the roost on different parts of the property. I went to the closest, which were 2 of them. I set up near the property line as they were roosted in a swamp on the next property over. I had them coming in on a string, but they were gobbling up a storm, too many gobbles.
The last time they gobbled they were inside of 150 yards and headed my way. Then they went silent, and never showed up. Hens again!!
Even the residents up there said how odd it was for the birds to be henned up that late in the season, especially after a mild winter. That was as close as I came in SC. I never even saw a gobbler, only hens and jakes.
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Florida - finally!! Finally I got a call from a friend who knew I was having a bad season. He was going up to his club in N. FLA to do some work and asked if I'd like to tag along and turkey hunt. I jumped at the opportunity. He has a weird club though. It has over 6,000 acres and way too many members. Fortunately most don't turkey hunt, but the club is broken into individual lots for the members. So if I heard birds on the lot next door, I couldn't chase them, and that's exactly what happened. Heard birds gobbling both mornings. Got as close to them as I could without trespassing. The gobblers wouldn't cooperate. Even on the last weekend of the season, the birds were still henned up. I saw groups of 2, 3 and 4 hens still running around, not on the nest.
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Hayudog to the rescue!! My season was about to be done, until I got a call from Hayudog.
He invited me to Idaho. I jumped at the chance to see a new state. We were in NW Idaho, about a mile from Washington state, and about an hour south of Canada. As my luck would have it
the forecast took a turn for the worst, and called for snow and rain for much of the trip. Amazingly, the weather bumblers guessed wrong, and we had a couple of days of rain, then pretty decent weather. We were hunting a mix of public and private land. It was small mountains but they were relatively steep. It wasn't particularly what you'd picture when you thought of "turkey country". It was steep, thick and other than a few flat or semi flat areas, not where you'd expect to find turkeys. But they were there, and in fairly decent numbers too. We were basically hunting two mountainsides with a valley in between. Seemed like every morning the birds on the opposite mountain would be ripping it up gobbling, with much fewer gobbles on our chosen side. Plus, every morning, gobblers would immediately get hens off of the roost. There were so many hens that the gobblers stayed put strutting and gobbling, and let the hens come to them. They refused to come to our calls. Hayudog experienced the same thing the year before. It took some sharp thinking, and quick action to get in position to kill one. I guess Hayudog is a better hunter than I am at that game, because he's tagged out two years in a row now.
I finally had one chance. It was late morning and I had 5 gobblers around me answering my calls. All of them were following their standard pattern of gobbling at your calls but not coming. Finally, one started coming. It took him a half an hour to work his way in, gobbling all the while. It was hard to pinpoint his angle of approach. I don't know if it was all the hills and hollars echoing his gobbles, but I could not figure out exactly his approach. He eventually appeared to my right in a wide open lane, around 75 yards out. I was pinned down. If I moved he would see me. He walked in strutting, spitting and drumming. He had a jake in tow. He continued strutting towards me in the lane. Closer, closer, closer. I sat statue still, aiming in the wrong direction.
I had my decoy out on the road, since the gobblers had a pattern of road traveling. The gobbler only had to make it 5 more yards, then he would see my deke, and hopefully go to it, which would bring him in to my shooting lane. He strutted in to 20 yards. All of the sudden, he threw his head up and dropped to the ground behind a small hill, and started putting. I aimed in that direction, waiting for him to stick his head up for another look. Unknown to me, the gobbler belly crawled 5 feet to the right, jumped up behind some bushes and took off running.
Then the jake walked to where the gobbler dropped down, and stood there putting and looking around. I had the dot on his neck, but didn't shoot.
I hunted hard the next two days, but had no more opportunities. The weather was wonderful, and Idaho is a gorgeous state. It was like spring down south. But after several mornings in the 30's, and for mountain Merriams, I guess that was too hot. It shut them down. Oh well, looks like Hayudog and I will have to return to Idaho and do it again.
So that's my season. It was my worst season, with the fewest opportunities, and I ate tag soup for the first time in 20 years.
Oh well, what can you do?
At least next spring I'll be retired and chasing turkeys full time!!!
I'll get some revenge!!!
If you guys want, I'll resign from the team for not contributing, and you can choose a new Captain.
Good luck to those of you who still have hunting to do.
