This is a story about someone who might've gotten a useful tip, or not.
I had just come off a hill on a local mountain range and was relaxing in a park in the foothills when a guy who's young kid is playing in the playground right next to me makes a call.
It's early in the turkey season, and I'm wearing a camo shell (hey it's waterproof, and I was just hiking)...the guy starts talking turkey, looks at me, and then walks out of earshot, around a corner of the park, out far enough that I can't see him anymore (I think it's about 40 minutes after sunset).
Meanwhile his kid is still playing on the lit playground.
I'm not sure but I think he went somewhere yesterday, around 2 hours away, and didn't hear anything.
Meanwhile, a 20 minute drive and a 40 minute hike from where I was sitting I had called a turkey in...kinda.
I think it was around 5p (?) the previous day and I was relaxing below a ridge, in the shade of the scrub and I heard a male calling (it was quiet except for the sound of a creek, a ways down and to my left).
I was out hiking and didn't have anything with me...so I try to sound like a hen, but I hadn't talked to anyone for a bit and my voice was froggy, so I croaked out what I could...it must've made the tom go "what??" because I heard it coming closer, slowly from my right...I'd swear it got within 30 yards...and I'd like to say I kept croaking at it for 20 minutes so it was probably more like 10 minutes but it went on long enough for me to think, several times, "shotgun case is in the Jeep" but I didn't have my Upland tag so it didn't matter.
The only thing was that the scrub was so tight that (if I had a shotgun and tag) I'd have to figure a way to get it to come parallel to me so I could get off a shot greater than 5 yards.
I was going to say something to that guy but the fact that he left his daughter alone just so he could keep a location secret pissed me off so no.
I figure the tom was just trying to figure out what that strange noise I was making, was because it sounded more like a honking than anything else.
If I was still talking to my old girlfriend, I know her brother - in - law would get a kick out of that story...he guides in an area that when a shot is taken, by the time we're getting breakfast in town, people are calling to see if congratulations are in order.
Oh well, you should've seen my face when I realized what I was hearing because I'm usually the last person to hear a tom.
I had just come off a hill on a local mountain range and was relaxing in a park in the foothills when a guy who's young kid is playing in the playground right next to me makes a call.
It's early in the turkey season, and I'm wearing a camo shell (hey it's waterproof, and I was just hiking)...the guy starts talking turkey, looks at me, and then walks out of earshot, around a corner of the park, out far enough that I can't see him anymore (I think it's about 40 minutes after sunset).
Meanwhile his kid is still playing on the lit playground.
I'm not sure but I think he went somewhere yesterday, around 2 hours away, and didn't hear anything.
Meanwhile, a 20 minute drive and a 40 minute hike from where I was sitting I had called a turkey in...kinda.
I think it was around 5p (?) the previous day and I was relaxing below a ridge, in the shade of the scrub and I heard a male calling (it was quiet except for the sound of a creek, a ways down and to my left).
I was out hiking and didn't have anything with me...so I try to sound like a hen, but I hadn't talked to anyone for a bit and my voice was froggy, so I croaked out what I could...it must've made the tom go "what??" because I heard it coming closer, slowly from my right...I'd swear it got within 30 yards...and I'd like to say I kept croaking at it for 20 minutes so it was probably more like 10 minutes but it went on long enough for me to think, several times, "shotgun case is in the Jeep" but I didn't have my Upland tag so it didn't matter.
The only thing was that the scrub was so tight that (if I had a shotgun and tag) I'd have to figure a way to get it to come parallel to me so I could get off a shot greater than 5 yards.
I was going to say something to that guy but the fact that he left his daughter alone just so he could keep a location secret pissed me off so no.
I figure the tom was just trying to figure out what that strange noise I was making, was because it sounded more like a honking than anything else.
If I was still talking to my old girlfriend, I know her brother - in - law would get a kick out of that story...he guides in an area that when a shot is taken, by the time we're getting breakfast in town, people are calling to see if congratulations are in order.
Oh well, you should've seen my face when I realized what I was hearing because I'm usually the last person to hear a tom.
