| TURKEY SEASON 2003 pg. 2 |
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WEEK 4 2003 Craig and I went down to Hocking Co. Wed. and Thurs. for our final attempt to bag a Tom turkey this spring season. The day before it had rained about 2.5-3 inches. Wednesday morning I hunted the ridge north of the dead end road where we were staying while Craig hunted the ridge to the south. About 6:30 I thought that I heard a gobble over on Craig's ridge. The wind picked up shortly after that for a while so I couldn't hear anything that far away anymore. Around 8 o'clock I moved east along the ridge and eased down the south bank a bit and made a series of hen yelps with my box call. A Tom answered from Craig's ridge straight across from me. I yelped every now and then for the next half-hour to try to coax him to fly over to my ridge. He would answer every time I called. I then moved down the hill until I hit a gaswell road and followed it down until I came upon a clearing near the bottom. I yelped again and he answered. I then set up my hen and jake decoys in the clearing and positioned myself on the ground next to a tree. My hope was for the gobbler to fly down from his hill to the bottom where it would be easier for him to land and spot my decoys. I called off and on for awhile but I could not hear if he answered me because of all the noise from the roaring creek below and from the runoff on the hill that I was on. I then gathered up my decoys figuring that the Tom went on about his business and that was the end of that. I walked back up the hill on the gaswell road about 200 yards or so and stopped at a spot where the noise of the running water was a lot less and made another call. He answered again. This time he was way east toward the end of his ridge. I decided to go to him. I climbed back down the hill and walked west on the road until I found a spot to cross the creek. Once I crossed I found an old drag road and hiked it up the steep hill until I was about 3/4 the way up. I then headed east toward the spot that I thought the Tom was hanging out. When I got to an area where I could see the point on the end of the ridge I stopped and made a call. He answered with a loud gobble! I then snuggled up to a big tree and position myself facing the sound of the gobbling Tom. I yelped with the call again and he answered again. I thought that any moment that I would see him strutting toward me weaving his way through the wooded hillside. I would cluck and purr with the call to try to coax him in. But I never heard another gobble. I thought that he was coming in silent as sometimes they do. I waited motionless for about a half an hour then yelped again with the box call. This time I didn't get an answer. I couldn't believe it. I had been calling to him for well over an hour and had closed the gap and he still would not come in. I then hiked up to the top of the ridge and went down the other hillside for a little ways and made a call hoping that maybe he would walk around the end of the ridge. After about another hour of calling I gave up. That was it for the morning On Thursday both Crag and I walked different ridges, calling off and on. We didn't hear a gobble or a cluck anywhere. That's it for the spring season. Maybe next fall we will have some luck. Steve |
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