JMH
05-08-2006, 03:09 PM
I was sitting on a ridge in Pike county early this past Saturday morning when a turkey started gobbling. This was my first time out this season. I started calling when day light cracked to let him know he wasn’t alone. I was guessing he was about 150 yards away down in a valley. He was not really responding to my calling, but he continued to gobble every couple of minutes. I was only calling for a few seconds every 5 or 6 minutes. Finally, about half hour after daylight I saw a turkey fly down to the ground about 80 yards away. I couldn't tell if it was a hen or the Gobbler. I kept up my calling, but sparingly. When he gobbled again, I could tell he had moved from his original location, so I knew he was on the ground now. He was still gobbling every couple of minutes. He still was not really responding to my calls, but I knew he could hear me call. About 20 minutes after the fly down, I decided to move a few yards so I could see down into the valley. I wanted to see his reactions to my calls so I could adjust what I was doing. The woods I was in had no undergrowth, because cows had been in there in prior years. I stood and started walking over to the edge of the ridge to take a look. I was walking slow and trying to be as quiet as possible in the dry leaves. After moving about 10 feet from where I was sitting I could see over the edge and saw the turkey down at the bottom of the hill strutting and gobbling. He was about 100 yards away. I needed to move another 10 feet to get to a tree to setup. When he strutted behind a tree I would take a step forward. I made it only 5 or 6 feet when he heard me, there I was standing in the open with no trees. He started zig zagging towards me at a fairly quick pace. When he went behind some trees I dropped to the ground laying flat in a prone position. I couldn't see him now, so I rustled the leaves with my hand since I knew that is what he was responding too. He soon popped into view about 55 yards away, his head looking very small because of the distance. Again, when he went behind a tree, I rustled the leaves. He jumped behind a knoll and disappeared for several seconds, coming back into view about 40 yards away! As soon as he stopped and stretched out his neck, I busted him with a load of lead #4s.