ROLL CALL 2009

[Everyday Hunter]

Count me in.

Steve

[Turkeybuster]

Did anybody have any luck with the fall birds this year?
Jon

[wingbone]

I shot a gobbler on Nov 14 with the crossbow. It was evening and had a flock of seven long beards working along in front of me. One ventured close enough and I got a clean shot on him. He ran into some thick brush and the other birds eventually roosted with in ear shot. When I got down out of the tree stand I could not find any blood only breast feathers. Went to get better lights at home. My son was hunting nearby and when I picked him up discovered he had shot his first buck with a bow. We left everything sit and came back in two hours. His blood trail was not very strong and decided to wait till morning. He had also missed a coyote as there were three that came past his stand earlier. Brandon did not want to leave his buck for fear of the coyotes, but I felt we had no choice.

First thing in the morning we took up his trail and eventually recovered the spike buck at 1 pm. The buck was still warm but stiff so it must have died in the morning. went after my turkey and did grid searches. Never did find him. I know it was a good hit, very disappointing not recovering the bird. Would have been my first with archery equipment.

I was technically deer hunting and never called to the birds. I had seen quite a few this fall but this was the first gobbler in range, mostly hens and young birds. Should be a good spring. I also hunted Ohio and seen a lot of birds right up to the fall opener then never seen another bird.