Post by huntergks on Apr 20, 2016 11:20:29 GMT -6
I got to the woods about 5:50 again with a temp of 43, no wind, partial cloudy skies, & a bright full moon. Geese started honking to my SE a few minutes after I sat down & the trains started. I never realized how many trains went through early in the morning. They were almost continuous until about 9. Makes it hard to hear. Shortly after 6, I thought I heard a gobble way to the SE part of the woods but I wasn’t sure. The, about 6:10, I definitely heard a gobble, the 1st 1 of the season! I sent out some soft tree yelps & he responded. That was the only gobble he gave back to me but did gobble several more times on his own. Once it sounded like he was out in the corn stubble on the south side of the woods. The next time, he was back in the woods. He gobbled a few more time moving north. The last I heard from him was 6:40.
About 6, I saw a bird for just a second in the wheat field moving west. Again, I couldn’t tell what it was except that it was a turkey. A little later, my buddy started tractoring on the north side of the woods. I think he was spraying his wheat field. He was done in less than an hour. At 10, I picked up movement to my right behind some brush. It was something turkey sized but, due to shadows & brush, I couldn’t tell what it was. Finally a head showed followed by a second. Both were black & white. STUPID GEESE!!!! They wondered south through the woods & into the wheat field. A few minutes later, something spooked them; they started squawking, & took off flying. Never did see what scared them. This is the 1st time I have seen them this deep into the woods. They must have nested near the swamp.
Speaking of the swamp. It was really strange in the woods this morning. The swamp was totally silent, no frogs, no herons, nothing. The tweety birds & woodpeckers were, for the most part, gone. I heard 2 woodpeckers, saw 1 black capped chickadee, & just a couple of other birds. The squirrels didn’t show up at all. Mid-morning, an owl hooted to my west & another responded further west. A few minutes later, a 3rd responded from the east. The owls really set off the crows which, I hoped, would fire up a gobbler. Not a sound.
That was it for the day. I started back to the 4-wheeler about 11:30 getting back to the truck about 11:45. The temp was up to 74. I’m hoping the gobbler continued north & crossed over into 1 of the patch woods I’ll be hunting in the morning.
