Any luck in Pa?

[swpatrkyhunter]

Hello to all my fellow turkey hunters. Today I went out, got set up, waited, and ended up in just about the same situation I had for the past week. LOL. I waited this morning without calling and heard three birds gobble. I did not call back because every other time they had hens not far off that seemed to relish in makeing me a fool for trying to call the toms away from them. So I sat quietly waiting for the birds to come to me. After about seven gobbles with no peep from any hens I figured it was safe to answer back since they seemed to be moving away. It worked! They changed direction and started to head my way. Great!, I thought. So after I answered back to them a couple times having them walk all over my calls I just sat back and got ready. Thats when things went wrong. The same boss hen started yelping. Then almost as soon as she started she cackled. ( almost sounded like she was laughing at me.) So. As before she lead the toms away and up the hill. As I sat there pondering what had just happened and wondering why I put myself through this kind of torture I hear a series of shotgun blasts from the power line in the direction they were heading. WELL. That was that!. Now I'm muttering to myself with some choice language. Then it hit me. If there were multiple shots chances are they missed. The birds were scattered! Woo Hoo! So I went back down the hill to my truck. Had a sandwich and waited to drive around to the hill top. After a little time had passed for the birds to go from run mode to find the flock mode I went up the hill.  I parked and walked down an old logging road to a clearing and figured I would call from there. When I did I heard a thunderous gobble not 40 yards in front of me just over a lip. I stopped but it was too late. A jake had spotted me and they ran around the hillside. I went to cut them off and stopped at another clearing where I had a good veiw for them to cross. Just as I let out a yelp a gobbler was just entering the clearing and spotted me. He turned to run and I pulled up and took a shot. He must have been a ghost cause he disappeared. I know I made some fatal errors but I did learn something today. All and All it was a great day for turkey hunting.

[swpatrkyhunter]

Hello to all again. I would very much like to hear about other hunters stories about how there hunts have been going so far. Each day I get a little closer to my goal and learn something new. This year has been very eye opening to me about the birds in my area and how they behave.No matter if I bag a tom this year or not the experiance I gained thus far this season is well worth it. I hope everyone out there has had some good experiances and would like to hear about them. If anyone has any advice for me I would be more than happy to hear it. Good luck everyone and hunt safely!

[Pa.longbeard]

Hi sw, keep plugging away with them birds, what your going through sounds much like the season I had last year. I was able to hunt the entire month for turkeys, took me 17 days of hard hunting to fill my tag. I learned more in one season than I did in years of hunting just by being around turkeys every day. You'll figure them out soon enough and when you do it with be one of the most gradifing feeling you'll ever have.
Well last weekend was pretty much a bust we went to Centre Co., in the woods Sat. morning at 5am and never heard a gobble,cluck or hell for that matter a putt! We hunted hard til 11:30 and gave up. Then to make matters worse the trout fishing was'nt that good either. Managed 2 trout On Sat and 1 Sun. morning. A tough weekend all the way around, we did have a great time as always and saw some beautiful country what more could one ask for. I'll try again at my usuall spot closer to home this weekend and I'll let you know how things went. Good luck and stay safe.
JD

[swpatrkyhunter]

Thanks Longbeard! Your right. I am learning alot this year. For instance. Groups of birds in different areas have kinda there own way of reacting to the weather. While one group will go to feilds and other open areas on rainy days one group in another area will go low and into the vallys. I hope your luck changes with both the turkey and the trout. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

[Fullfan]

We have done well here in Mercer Co. Me and Jr have knocked 3 longbeards down.
 #1 
 
#2
 
#3

[swpatrkyhunter]

CONGRATS! Nice looking birds. No luck for me yet. I'm getting closer though. As I was driving out of the woods today I had two longbeards walk right out in front of me. LOL. Guess they can tell time. Tomorrow is another day.

[MAK]

I'm still chasing, starting to doubt my abilities!!! - but it ain't over 'till this fat man sings..........

[swpatrkyhunter]

LOL. Well MAK. I know how you feel. But don't doubt your abilities. From what I have been hearing from alot of guys it's rough going this year. For me I would have to say the most frustrating thing is that I see turkey everyday. And most of those are gobblers! Problem being that they are eaither on privite property, to far to get a shot, or I see them after 12 P.M. When hunting hours are over. LOL Oh well! What can you do. But I must say that this year has been a real eye opener for me. No matter how the rest of my season goes I will at least brought something out of it through experiance. Good luck! And keep chasing them.

[dpittman]

I think as long as our turkey numbers stay this high we will have this problem. Maybe shooting more hens in the fall will help a little. It's hard though with all the other seasons in at that time when you have limited time to begin with. Anybody know when the bulk of the turkeys will be sitting on nests all day? Maybe then the toms will fire up again. I am in south central PA (bedford co). Lots of hens with high hunting pressure makes it kind of tough.

[swpatrkyhunter]

Well dpittman. I have had the fortune to hunt alot this spring season. And I found myself asking that same question. But in the last few days I have noticed the presence of hens has seemed to dwindle some. The toms are becoming more vocal then they had been for the last week or so. However. Hunter pressure and the weather have been a factor in there day to day habits. Keep plugging away at them. Now is a good time to get back after them. Good luck and keep us posted on your hunt.