DING DING...Hey Mark Hay, hear that bell; IT"S TURKEY SEASON

[eggshell]

Just ready to head out for my opening morning of fall season. Good Luck Mark and anyone else going today. May the Lord bless you and keep you safe. I'll be looking for reports. I will start by holding off for a gobbler, we'll see how long that last.

Dana

[WillowRidgeCalls]

Go get um Dana, they all taste the same after the feathers come off, so which ever you choose to take aim small and Good Luck.

[grizzly]

GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU . BE SAFE AND GOOD HUNTING....wayne

[mark hay]

Ding Ding ,,,that's about how I felt after walking a zig zag , full circle through a good chunk of public land . Found very , very little sign and it was all old stuff. Heard nothing .
Actually had a fine morning . The feller from work showed up right on time and eager to go . We hit the woods early and he practiced on his new pot call in the truck . It is really a CRASH COURSE for Chuck . We should have been working on calling and tactics long before opening day . But , time would not allow it , so we are doing the best we can .
Tomorrow I'll be alone and into a different part of the woods . Already reminds me of two years back when it was about 4 weeks into the season before I located the turkeys . I do hope it doesn't take me that long this year .

Best of hunts to you all .

[eggshell]

My day wasn't very fruitful either, Mark. I went behind my house first and saw some sign and gobbler tracks in the log rd, but no birds. I decided to go hunt on Pike Forest some, just to get on some ground I never touch in the spring. I only saw one bird there, an adult hen, and I passed on her. she was all by herself and just came strolling by about 20 yards. I'm gonna play around on some state forest ground and maybe Paint Creek area for a few days then maybe move into my honey hole. I'd like to get a bird off a new area as we have taken 11 birds off my cousin's place in the last two years. Good Luck

Dana

[mark hay]

Da'gummit ! This morning was a repeat of yesterday , with the exception being that I did hear one hen yakkin' it up on the roost , well before flydown and on private property . Yesterday was on the north end of the area ,,,today was on the south end . I have covered some very good turkey real estate without striking a bird nor seeing any sign that wasn't at least a month old .

I'd move across the woods ,,,stand there quiet a while listening , then offer up some calls . Sometimes gobbler stuff . Sometimes hen stuff , and other times keekee's and keekee run.

Before I left the truck I dropped a few dove loads into my pocket and a crow call. And , right before I climbed out of the woods here comes a whole tribe of the beedy eyed loudmouths .I quietly emptied the double and refilled it with the dove fodder . Three caws on the call and here comes one anxious to die ,,,,,which he did promptly .The rest departed of course .

Dana, on my way home I was actually thinking about Pike Forest . If I don't locate these Adams County turkeys by November I just may have to go to the BIG hills.

[eggshell]

Looks like the birds are spread out far and wide and without many poults to start the chatter it's pretty quiet. I hunted some more of Pike Forest this evening with zero responses. I decide to stop by my cousin's with about an hour left. As soon as I got into the property I spotted two birds in the neighbor's field. I'm pretty sure one was a gobbler. I circled below the field on my cousin, the neighbor has his property posted like fort Knox, and set up. Thirty minutes later I'd heard one cluck towards the bottoms and I did not want to walk down that close to quitting time. So I started to move around the hill and soon as I moved just a few yards the woods exploded with turkeys. They had come in silent. I sat down and waited and birds started to call, then birds from over the hill chimed in. In a little bit I had birds yelping and coming my way, new birds coming from the other direction and I was grinning. Well the whole troupe met about 150 yards in front of me and it turned into a WTWF (World Turkey Wrestling federation) smack down, there were more birds fighting then I thought were in the whole area, Hens and hens, jakes and whatever. I just sat back and watched. This went on for 20 minutes then they broke up and started to mill around and looking for roost trees. I figure about 20 birds went up around me and I slipped out when it got pretty gray. Then only thing I had any chance of shooting was a hen, but I decided to just watch the fracas. I'll be back in the morning and see if there are any gobblers in the bunch, but if I call any turkey in I may shoot whatever comes.

My daughter who never wanted anything to do with guns growing up has decided she wants to hunt. So we had a training session and shooting lessons today and she promptly went to town and bought camouflage. So I may just put a bird down so i can focus on taking her. I wish she'd of went this evening, she'd have flipped out watching that show. Go figure, she's 29 and now decides she wants to hunt. I'm glad Ohio started the apprentice license, now she can try it without a bunch of time invested. Wish me luck with her, We've never really connected with anything else and this is a chance to do something together. I just hope I can get her on birds quick so it doesn't get boring to her.

[dewey]

Thanks for the updates guys. Dana it sounds like you were watching the mother of all battle royals, pretty cool. Good luck on your future fall hunts.

Dewey

[eggshell]

Yackity YaCK ....Here's today's update. First of all I done walked more than any ole fart like me ought to of today. I started out parked on the birds I saw last night and they didn't disappoint. It sounded like a butter ball farm. Well when I went in I picked the wrong side of the valley as it was all hens and young birds on my side, while the other side was the gobbler party. I heard 4-5 birds gobbling and yacking it up. I finally crossed over just about the time they shut up. I did see one gobbler walk by at around 50 yards, but that was it. So I circled the farm (1,000 acres) and came home. I went back this evening and sat low in the valley by a crossing ravine. About 6:00 I heard birds coming down the hill. Two young jakes (poults) came right to me and milled around for 20 minutes. I heard some other clucks and yelps but saw nothing. I figure I'll leave those young jakes for seed. However, if they make a habit of hanging around one will probably end up in my skillet. I was pretty pessimistic about our hatch, but I have seen more poults on this farm then I expected to, so that is good news. I don't know if I'll go in on those gobblers in the morning or not. My legs may need a break, they're in the toughest walk on the farm. Good luck to everyone else hunting. I feel good I'm into birds, I'm trying hard to hold out for a Gobbler, but man those hens and young jakes are looking better every day.

[mark hay]

Boy Dana, sounds like you'll end up defending your life in that ''HoneyHole''.
I surely hope you can get a ruckus started with the turkeys when your little girl goes hunting . One of those long drawn out affairs that really gets the old fuel pump a pounding ,topped off with a longbearded strutter gobbling like it was March coming in to your call,,,and her gun .