Well the Gobblers got us again today!  But we did manage to see a couple of hens….let me tell you about our day!

Started off early again, left town at 4 a.m. straight up!  No go backs, no problems.  We arrived at our destination with plenty of time to make our mile long journey in the dark.  We got to Weasels stand and made him a new blind in a slightly different spot.  We figured he might have a better chance hiding in this new spot and have two shooting avenues, one on either side of his blind.  When that was done, I went to my blind and modified it just a tad.  I put a big piece of dead wood over top of my shooting window, which covered me completely and so the only thing the turkeys can see will be the muzzle of the shotgun just before the smoke fills the air.

The air was crisp and it was going to be a wonderful day, a slight breeze and a high expected in the low 60’s.  Much better then Monday.  As the morning got brighter and brighter my hopes began to get higher and higher as well.  I had deer walk very close to the blind and two of them laid down about a hundred yards away.  My concealment is perfect.

My ears were very focused on hearing the gobbling that almost always takes place just as it gets light enough to clearly identify the surroundings and the far off hills.  The sun came up and still not a sound of a gobbler could be heard.  All the other birds were doing their usual, just no turkeys.  Weasel called the morning hunt over about 8 a.m. and we headed for the truck to decide what was the next plan on the schedule.

It was way too early in the day to go home so we decided to go to another spot some distance from where we were and so we headed there.  We had just arrived at that destination when Weasel spotted two turkeys not even 50 yards away, maybe closer.  A quick examination with binocs proved they were both hens….dang!  Well we took ourselves a little hike and didn’t see nor hear anything in the way of turkeys.

Back at the truck again we decided it was time for a snack….Kippers and Viennas with crackers…yummy!  I even topped it off with a Hostess apple pie!  And then down the road we went to destination number 3.

This destination was a blind one for us as we have never done this one.  But I had heard through good sources there were turkeys in the area…so off we went.  It was a long hike but a pleasant one.  The trail was in the bottom of a very narrow canyon and didn’t look “turkey-ish” too much, but we plodded on as quiet as we could.

I spotted a very faint turkey track in the dried mud in the trail and called Weasel back to see it.  He nodded it was a turkey track, but I’m not sure he was convinced.  A few steps later I called him back to another and for sure it was a turkey track!  And then just a few short steps later a turkey up the trail launched itself up and flew away, up the trail it went, flapping and getting out of town.  Dang it again!  We do that alot!

I ask you professional turkey hunters out there:  In a case like this, is it wise to set up and try to call the bird back?  Or just keep plodding up the trail and hope to see it again?

We kept on going, but slower and much more quiet, even though we were being very quiet in the first place, that bird just happened to see us before we saw it.  As we went up the trail the turkey tracks became much clearer and it was obvious turkeys were there.  At a point up the trail several hundred yards from where the turkey took flight, we could hear distinct turkey sounds ahead of us and so we quietly and quickly set ourselves up in a rock slide area, I hid behind a tree and called, while Weasel set up with his shotgun pointing at the trail.  If I could get the bird to come back down the trail to us he would fill his tag easily.  No bird.

We followed the trail again for a hundred more yards or so, hoping to hear the turkey sounds again, but he must have just kept on going up the trail.  We decided not to bust him again today, so we turned around and headed for the truck.

Whenever we are out in the woods we keep a close eye out for garbage and if at all possible we haul it back and toss it in the trash.  We have done this for many years, today was no exception.  As we proceeded down the trail, I just happened to look to my left and saw something red….TRASH!  It was about 20 yards off the trail and nobody else would ever go over and pick it up, so over I went.  BUT WHOA!  This doesn’t look like trash at all:

Butt has found a Geo Cache!  Let’s look inside!

Well, everything else except Bears Butt Dot Com’s card was in there.  A cool stash of goodies and a neat sign in sheet, but no pencil or pen.  So, all I could do was drop in my card.  The canister went back to the spot it was found and I placed a nice big rock on top of it to disguise it better.  Had the rock been on it I would have never seen it.

So, it was a very nice day weather wise, and a very nice day hunting wise.

Turkeys 2, Butt and Weasel ZERO!

Bears Butt

April 30, 2014