Got into one of the new spots. Narrowed it down to about 20 acres. Marked some trees for different winds and got out. Mountain biked in as there are no parking spots.
First lottery application period ended 4/30(Wed.). Permit went active 5/2(Fri.) Pretty much par for the course for IL, though I believe they opened it up a bit earlier this year. Now I have to wait until July to apply for the Lake area special archery hunts.
Yah, another no go , the dogs are killing me. Barking on and off all night and every two hour wakeup ,potty breaks! I got up late and went to get my coffee. Go to computer room and decide to glass out back.200 yrds out I catch a fan. I open both the window and the screen and let out a call. Two big long beards and they gobble. I call again, the fan drops and they are headed my way. No way I may get one from the window! They are walking the trail plot with the second tom gobbling as they approach. As they get to the trail to come into the behind house plot I call again. I should call that the end of house plot. For the main trail actually goes behind the house. Thats what they stayed on. They got behind the house and disappeared over the hill staying quiet. Hey that was fun would I have shot one? You bet I had got the gun loaded it and called them to within 75 yrds. Had they turned to the plot and in range my season would be over, Id finish my now cold coffee and gone out to get my bird from my giant blind...lol it was a fun hunt in my P. J.'s.
So if you look in the middle of both pics. The one with the dark spot(log), that's where they started the other pic is where they passed the plot. I made the plot trail they walked to get critters to travel the middle of the house property from back to front and to cross over to the land on the other side of the road.
OND - congrats on a old tom! How many birds can you shoot? VS - looks like some good ground. Keep up the scouting! I sat out in a gun blind yesterday in the rain. Saturday was my opening day of turkey. I've done quiet a bit of walleye fishing - 19 days of it since March 28th. I've shot a turkey 27 straight years...can't let it end this year.
I'm out at the gypsy blind checking sounds and movement. Nothing in farmers plowed and planted nor hay field. A few squirrel . Lots of crow. Good thing blind is cedar and floor is rubber roofing with 1,2 inch lip around it. I tore off windows and the mesh camo screen is the only covering The floor is a slimy wet mess and inside walls are soaked. My next millionth project. Thanks ! We are aloud( lol) allowed 2 spring toms and then one of either in fall. Best of luck this year. My spring as I recall was a bust but I took a fall bird with the cross bow last year.
Alls quiet no gobbling anywhere. No hens returning chatter either. They've had a very rough few days. Those morning Toms were just wring wet.
Mostly all the green you see, besides the trillium are wild leeks . They grow thick and everywhere here. One gobble WAY FAR down hill. 1/2 hour left thinking a bust. Crows gone not even a chipper heard. Though, song birds are happy.
Well not a loss. Practiced every call in my nature voice bag of tricks. Then saw a bunch of deer woods trimming that needs to be done. Let me know it's a bit too soon for late morning hunts here. Ten more minutes and I'm off to dig leaks and work on chain link fencing going around the field fence on garden area. I have 1500 ft of it and can manage 15-20 ft at a time by myself. The green house coop is in the garden area. Besides, rabbits are now bold as brass and even let me walk past them. The entire fence line is also lined by a two ft wide stone burm made by derocking the garden for 20 yrs. Digging under gives them an issue.
Well light rains turned torrential rain.just before fly down. As expected they were roosted pretty much above me. One hen came down way out infront, the and other next to me. The toms landed pretty much on top of my ground blind 58 yrds away. I called and they fanned gobbled ,but wouldn't come closer nor separate. Leaving no shot had they gotten into range. Then the boss hen let loose and took them straight up the hill. A moment later a ticked off hen came in looking for me, so we yelled at each other for about 5mins. Before she went quiet. It all happened so fast no pics other than ones I took a few minutes before. Fun hunt and now know roost and fly down pattern. In last pic far upper rt corner you can barely make out brush blind against a tree
