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bamaranger · April 7, 2024, 10:45 PM

Day#5, 5April
With the Polaris down, I'm a wee bit more limited in locations, as the walk would take too much time in the predawn than is reasonable. But there are options, that's why you scout preseason and this morning I head for Irish Hollow. I can only hunt the south side of the hollow, a mature hardwood slope with a few benches on the way down. The bottom is pasture and the opposite side is a terribly steep hardwood slope up, both private and off limits. The east end is public land, currently closed to hunting, the west end more private property. I can get the Toyota to within a 1/4 mile or so of the south lip of the hollow, fairly easy access.

Or so I thought. I get only a couple of hundred yards down the access road before dawn and find a blown down pine across the road which must have fallen after I scouted. I grab my gear and a walking stick and head on, arriving at the lip of the hollow about 15 minutes later than planned. Birds begin gobbling almost immediately, no sitting and waiting, and I pitch down the side towards them. They sound low, likely near the private pasture, but I will get as low as I legally can and set up and call..

I end up on the last bench near the bottom, the property line about shotgun
range ahead of me. The birds are already on the ground and out in the pasture it would seem, about 300 yds off, 2-3 to the left and a lone bird to the right. Too far really, but I have no options. As I kick the leaves out from the base of the tree at which I've chosen to sit, I hear soft tree calls nearby and then wings.....heck there's turkeys right here! I plunk down and tree call myself, and am greeted with a barrage of harsh clucks to my left front. The gobblers in the bottom hear this and really crank it up. In a few minutes a lone hen stalks into about 35 yds and clucks repeatedly, with a second hen just out of sight doing the same. No point in me calling, I've got live decoys!

The hens eventually stalk off, and I cannot entice them to stay with any calling on the slate. There's a flurry of gobbling as it would seem they arrive over to the left with the gobblers there, then things settle down. Occasionally a gobble raises from that direction, but further west in each instance, their drifting away. I cannot follow or turn them and all goes quiet. I have not heard the gobbler on the right since the initial flurry when the hens were cutting. It's 8:00, there's a lot of turkeys down here, and I just sit tight, calling every 15-20 minutes on the slat or another vintage box I have along. At 9:45 a cow moos in the pasture and a gobble explodes hard off my right shoulder, close, inside 100 yds.

I feel I must get on the right side of the tree to get the tree behind me and breakup my outline. I believe turkeys are suspicious if they catch your outline alongside a tree. Further, I would rather not have to try and shoot off my left shoulder and if that bird gets any further uphill, I will not be able to pivot cleanly and track him from where I sit now. Simple to slide around.....you'd think. But piled right where I want to be is the slate, the box call and my walking staff. Frantic moments while I move them over and scramble to get reset. I shoulder the gun and look towards where the gobbler sounded........and there he is, 75 yds or so out and he's clearly seen me. He turns away and disappears, putting repeatedly as he strolls off away from that stupid hunter. Arrgh! Rookie mistake. I stay another hour and a half, hear gobbles repeatedly far to the west, but nothing else close.

The walk up out of the hollow seems extra steep and it seems to take forever to get to the truck, I'm bummed again. I break a timber cruiser axe out of the 4WD and take my frustrations out on the down tree, cutting it into three rollable sections which I move over. Tomorrow I'll be back and can drive further and descend earlier.

April 7, 2024, 10:45 PM	#7
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,372	more messin' up Day#5, 5April With the Polaris down, I'm a wee bit more limited in locations, as the walk would take too much time in the predawn than is reasonable. But there are options, that's why you scout preseason and this morning I head for Irish Hollow. I can only hunt the south side of the hollow, a mature hardwood slope with a few benches on the way down. The bottom is pasture and the opposite side is a terribly steep hardwood slope up, both private and off limits. The east end is public land, currently closed to hunting, the west end more private property. I can get the Toyota to within a 1/4 mile or so of the south lip of the hollow, fairly easy access. Or so I thought. I get only a couple of hundred yards down the access road before dawn and find a blown down pine across the road which must have fallen after I scouted. I grab my gear and a walking stick and head on, arriving at the lip of the hollow about 15 minutes later than planned. Birds begin gobbling almost immediately, no sitting and waiting, and I pitch down the side towards them. They sound low, likely near the private pasture, but I will get as low as I legally can and set up and call.. I end up on the last bench near the bottom, the property line about shotgun range ahead of me. The birds are already on the ground and out in the pasture it would seem, about 300 yds off, 2-3 to the left and a lone bird to the right. Too far really, but I have no options. As I kick the leaves out from the base of the tree at which I've chosen to sit, I hear soft tree calls nearby and then wings.....heck there's turkeys right here! I plunk down and tree call myself, and am greeted with a barrage of harsh clucks to my left front. The gobblers in the bottom hear this and really crank it up. In a few minutes a lone hen stalks into about 35 yds and clucks repeatedly, with a second hen just out of sight doing the same. No point in me calling, I've got live decoys! The hens eventually stalk off, and I cannot entice them to stay with any calling on the slate. There's a flurry of gobbling as it would seem they arrive over to the left with the gobblers there, then things settle down. Occasionally a gobble raises from that direction, but further west in each instance, their drifting away. I cannot follow or turn them and all goes quiet. I have not heard the gobbler on the right since the initial flurry when the hens were cutting. It's 8:00, there's a lot of turkeys down here, and I just sit tight, calling every 15-20 minutes on the slat or another vintage box I have along. At 9:45 a cow moos in the pasture and a gobble explodes hard off my right shoulder, close, inside 100 yds. I feel I must get on the right side of the tree to get the tree behind me and breakup my outline. I believe turkeys are suspicious if they catch your outline alongside a tree. Further, I would rather not have to try and shoot off my left shoulder and if that bird gets any further uphill, I will not be able to pivot cleanly and track him from where I sit now. Simple to slide around.....you'd think. But piled right where I want to be is the slate, the box call and my walking staff. Frantic moments while I move them over and scramble to get reset. I shoulder the gun and look towards where the gobbler sounded........and there he is, 75 yds or so out and he's clearly seen me. He turns away and disappears, putting repeatedly as he strolls off away from that stupid hunter. Arrgh! Rookie mistake. I stay another hour and a half, hear gobbles repeatedly far to the west, but nothing else close. The walk up out of the hollow seems extra steep and it seems to take forever to get to the truck, I'm bummed again. I break a timber cruiser axe out of the 4WD and take my frustrations out on the down tree, cutting it into three rollable sections which I move over. Tomorrow I'll be back and can drive further and descend earlier.