I went to our property in LAC for my first day. I was in early. Went in pretty deep and sat at 0520 and waited for the gobbling to begin to see where I would set up. It was cold. Right at shooting time some birds starting gobbling. All the birds are a ways off, but some of the birds sound like they are on our side of the pond (they are usually all on the land on the other side). So I move towards said pond and get to a spot where there has been sign and I've seen birds in years past. I hear gobbling directly from the east on our side [up] so I set up under some bushes, get the ground blind up and cut some ground cover to place in front of the blind. Set up looks good. Put the decoy 15 yds in front of the blind and get set. Its 6am.
The birds I heard go quiet almost instantly. Birds across the pond and on the high side of property are sounding off on a pretty regular basis. I tried one soft calling sequence with no results. At 655am I was about to send my dad an email update when I look up and here comes a hen bird gliding tree top level across the sky moving left to right [eek]. Never seen that b4. It lands 50 or so yds from to my right. The next 35 mins was action packed. Heard her walking around to the right. Hen clucks from down by the pond. Had a week gobble nearly scare me off my seat from directly behind me. But finally I hear a strong gobble directly infront of me where I thought the birds I set up from were at 6am. After that gobble, another 2 mins later more SE so I figure they are heading down from me. I give 2 soft calling sequences. No response, but in less than a minute, I see birds working there way up to the decoy. Two red heads working there way in. All they have to do is pass a forked tree with a bunch of brush around it and Im good. They hang up right behind it looking at the decoy and I immediately think, "They are going to spook because of the decoy, but after a minute or so, the move forward and seperate enough for a shot. The bird face plants and goes no where. The other flies away and there were at least 3 more birds behind. One was another male and the others looked like hens as they either flew or took off on foot.
When I walked out, I bumped another tom and two more hens right inside our line right up by the road. There was someone parked on our neighbors land, but hunting on the state property. He was calling away as I left.
Bird = Jake, 15 Lbs, 5 in beard, 1/4 inch spurs. 1st bird I've had a decent shot at in 5 years. I will be out in B week looking for something bigger.
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The birds I heard go quiet almost instantly. Birds across the pond and on the high side of property are sounding off on a pretty regular basis. I tried one soft calling sequence with no results. At 655am I was about to send my dad an email update when I look up and here comes a hen bird gliding tree top level across the sky moving left to right [eek]. Never seen that b4. It lands 50 or so yds from to my right. The next 35 mins was action packed. Heard her walking around to the right. Hen clucks from down by the pond. Had a week gobble nearly scare me off my seat from directly behind me. But finally I hear a strong gobble directly infront of me where I thought the birds I set up from were at 6am. After that gobble, another 2 mins later more SE so I figure they are heading down from me. I give 2 soft calling sequences. No response, but in less than a minute, I see birds working there way up to the decoy. Two red heads working there way in. All they have to do is pass a forked tree with a bunch of brush around it and Im good. They hang up right behind it looking at the decoy and I immediately think, "They are going to spook because of the decoy, but after a minute or so, the move forward and seperate enough for a shot. The bird face plants and goes no where. The other flies away and there were at least 3 more birds behind. One was another male and the others looked like hens as they either flew or took off on foot.
When I walked out, I bumped another tom and two more hens right inside our line right up by the road. There was someone parked on our neighbors land, but hunting on the state property. He was calling away as I left.
Bird = Jake, 15 Lbs, 5 in beard, 1/4 inch spurs. 1st bird I've had a decent shot at in 5 years. I will be out in B week looking for something bigger.
