Post by zeeriverrat on Apr 24, 2015 18:40:39 GMT -5
For the last 3 years my old friend Jim and I have met up and camped in the Ozark mountains on National forest lands in northern Arkansas. It is rugged land covered with mostly hardwoods and some scattered pine.... To hunt that unit it is required that you enter a drawing for a permit to kill a turkey... This year Jim was successful and drew a tag, but I didn't. So, not to miss out on the camping I offered to do the calling for him. We agreed to meet at a campsite we both knew..... It didn't take long to get our camp set up and functional... The weather forecast was for mostly stormy weather during our stay...so we made sure we had the tent securely guyed down all the way around....
We got there the day before the season opened and spent the first day scouting, listening for gobbling toms and looking for tracks...but not a bird was heard...and then the rain started. It poured just about the time we were ready to eat supper...ended up cooking our meal in the vestibule of the tent! We slept that nite with the rain on the roof, but by morning the storm was gone and we were up at 5am listening for the birds.... Shortly after daylight we heard one across the valley from our camp. The plan was formed...we would take the ridge down the side of the mountain and contour around to try and locate the gobbler and get in position to call him in.... We spent most of the morning getting to his location...and when we got to where he should be...he was not going to make a sound. Typical turkey hunting......we worked our way around the mountain and eventually got into a pine stand...
The birds had quit gobbling for the morning and we made our way up another ridge trying to work our way up to the top and back to camp...Jim was in the lead and we topped the ridge, and came out right on the main road...When Jim stepped out onto the main road a group of turkeys took off running, they had been standing in the road about 100yds away...they disappeared in a heart beat!
We both had to laugh about that, climbing for hours and the birds are standing in the road!
Over the next 2 days we chased birds around the mountain....we heard 4 or 5 gobblers in different areas..but they were not in the cooperating mood.... The second morning we heard one way off in an area I was familiar with...we hurried to get close..when be began to get close we ended up being 'Bluffed'. We came to a steep cliff and had to go way around.
Jim was using his GPS, but I knew where we were and we hurried to get around the bluffs at the head of the draw...when we closed in on the turkey, he had disappeared... It was frustrating, but it was still a lot of fun to chase those birds and try make it work.
The scenery was beautiful....looking north into the Leatherwood Wilderness area.
We had the woods to ourselves....springtime in the mountains...how could we not enjoy that?
The second day of hunting ended with a severe storm....two separate lines of severe thunderstorms rolled thru with rain and hail, and 40-50mph winds..... Wouldn't you know, it hit just as we had started grilling some pork ribs for supper. Not wanting our supper ruined, we got innovative and moved a table that some other campers had built and left on the site, and set it on top of the fire to protect our grill and supper from the storm...
It worked perfectly....but we had to cook everything else in the tent vestibule as the rain and hailed hammered us...at one point the ground was white with hail! The ribs were ready just as the first storm finished...round 2 of the storms rolled in as we crawled into our sleeping bags at 8pm and it roared about until after midnite... We stayed dry in my tent....and before day light the 3rd morning we were headed to a place we had heard a turkey earlier....
We got to our spot and set out a decoy....no birds gobbled...but I began calling. Call a little and wait, and call again.... After about 45 minutes of my on and off calling I heard a turkey cluck....I called a little more then quit....soon I saw the turkey slipping in behind the decoy. It was a hen..I called to her and she answered and tried to see where the call was coming from... Jim was set up about 10 yards in front of me with the shotgun. But...unfortunately hens were not legal...so we had to watch the show she put on for us, and eventually she saw something she didn't like, gave out a loud PUTT! and took off running....
That was the 3rd day of hunting and Jim's permit was expired..we didn't kill a gobbler, but we heard them, had them answer the call a few times and actually had called in a hen...so we declared it a successful hunt! After all no one has ever starved to death because they didn't kill a turkey.... I only see Jim when we get together for a hunt or some other adventure....so it was great to share a camp, break bread together and tell old stories that we have both heard before... After all that is what old geezers are supposed to do!
We parted ways later that morning...making a pact to return to that same campsite this fall to hunt whitetail deer when the season opens....
Zee
We got there the day before the season opened and spent the first day scouting, listening for gobbling toms and looking for tracks...but not a bird was heard...and then the rain started. It poured just about the time we were ready to eat supper...ended up cooking our meal in the vestibule of the tent! We slept that nite with the rain on the roof, but by morning the storm was gone and we were up at 5am listening for the birds.... Shortly after daylight we heard one across the valley from our camp. The plan was formed...we would take the ridge down the side of the mountain and contour around to try and locate the gobbler and get in position to call him in.... We spent most of the morning getting to his location...and when we got to where he should be...he was not going to make a sound. Typical turkey hunting......we worked our way around the mountain and eventually got into a pine stand...
The birds had quit gobbling for the morning and we made our way up another ridge trying to work our way up to the top and back to camp...Jim was in the lead and we topped the ridge, and came out right on the main road...When Jim stepped out onto the main road a group of turkeys took off running, they had been standing in the road about 100yds away...they disappeared in a heart beat!
We both had to laugh about that, climbing for hours and the birds are standing in the road!
Over the next 2 days we chased birds around the mountain....we heard 4 or 5 gobblers in different areas..but they were not in the cooperating mood.... The second morning we heard one way off in an area I was familiar with...we hurried to get close..when be began to get close we ended up being 'Bluffed'. We came to a steep cliff and had to go way around.
Jim was using his GPS, but I knew where we were and we hurried to get around the bluffs at the head of the draw...when we closed in on the turkey, he had disappeared... It was frustrating, but it was still a lot of fun to chase those birds and try make it work.
The scenery was beautiful....looking north into the Leatherwood Wilderness area.
We had the woods to ourselves....springtime in the mountains...how could we not enjoy that?
The second day of hunting ended with a severe storm....two separate lines of severe thunderstorms rolled thru with rain and hail, and 40-50mph winds..... Wouldn't you know, it hit just as we had started grilling some pork ribs for supper. Not wanting our supper ruined, we got innovative and moved a table that some other campers had built and left on the site, and set it on top of the fire to protect our grill and supper from the storm...
It worked perfectly....but we had to cook everything else in the tent vestibule as the rain and hailed hammered us...at one point the ground was white with hail! The ribs were ready just as the first storm finished...round 2 of the storms rolled in as we crawled into our sleeping bags at 8pm and it roared about until after midnite... We stayed dry in my tent....and before day light the 3rd morning we were headed to a place we had heard a turkey earlier....
We got to our spot and set out a decoy....no birds gobbled...but I began calling. Call a little and wait, and call again.... After about 45 minutes of my on and off calling I heard a turkey cluck....I called a little more then quit....soon I saw the turkey slipping in behind the decoy. It was a hen..I called to her and she answered and tried to see where the call was coming from... Jim was set up about 10 yards in front of me with the shotgun. But...unfortunately hens were not legal...so we had to watch the show she put on for us, and eventually she saw something she didn't like, gave out a loud PUTT! and took off running....
That was the 3rd day of hunting and Jim's permit was expired..we didn't kill a gobbler, but we heard them, had them answer the call a few times and actually had called in a hen...so we declared it a successful hunt! After all no one has ever starved to death because they didn't kill a turkey.... I only see Jim when we get together for a hunt or some other adventure....so it was great to share a camp, break bread together and tell old stories that we have both heard before... After all that is what old geezers are supposed to do!
We parted ways later that morning...making a pact to return to that same campsite this fall to hunt whitetail deer when the season opens....
Zee