Hunting Archery Duck Deer

One youngster, hunting with an adult friend a short distance from my house, had the good luck to have a young gobbler called into him and was able to kill the big bird with two shots from his 20 gauge. He reported that they saw some more gobblers and some hens in that flock. Quite a thrill for that young man.

Another story I heard was about a teenager and his dad who bagged a trophy bird. They did not get to go into the woods until the gobblers had already stopped their morning ritual of trying to attract some hens with their distinctive gobble. The two hunters just chose a spot and walked into the woods near a township road. After a while without getting a response to their calling, they moved into the edge of an open field and saw three gobblers in the field. They hid, and the father made a few simple hen purrs and a big gobbler came close enough for the youngster to take a shot. The bird he got had a long beard and was more than 20 pounds.

Then there are stories with disappointing endings. I walked into the woods from my house when it was still too dark to see all the brush I had to get through. I crossed the hollow and climbed the hill to the ridge top. When the light just began to make it possible to see well, I selected a big oak tree and sat down to wait for what I was sure would be the gobbler that had been on that ridge a day or so before this morning. Within the next hour, four more hunters passed by where I was sitting.

The ridge is part of Wayne National Forest and although the ridge is only a few hundred yards from my house, those hunters had as much right to hunt there as I did. I was tempted to just give up and let the others hunt that area, but I thought I would just sit there and see what happened. At about nine o’clock, one of the hunters began to yelp vigorously with his turkey call. A gobbler responded with a gobble. He was closer to me than to the caller and he was coming closer.

I was sure the bird was coming along the ridge and would come by where I was sitting. I am very familiar with the features of the land in the location and I soon realized that the gobbler was down below the ridge on a bench that runs the length of the ridge and parallel to it.

The hunter making the calling continued to call but the bird did not make the move toward him. The bird passed me, out of sight, of course, and left the area. I gave up and went home.

I have not encountered another gobbler since that opening day. I have hunted in all the places I heard gobblers beginning back in early March and continuing until the middle of April. Since that time I have noticed fewer and fewer gobbler calls and other hunters in this area have told me the same stories.

I have scared two hens off their nests. After accidentally jumping the hens from their nests, I moved just close enough to count the eggs. One nest had 14 eggs and another had 15. That means those hens had been laying eggs for two to three weeks before the opening of the hunting season.