No one ever said this was going to be easy.
I love this time of the year, the sounds, the smells, a sense of renewal. There’s nothing more relaxing for me than sitting on the edge of an open field watching the sunrise while Turkeys sitting on their roost get ready to drop down and begin their day. It seems like years ago that I begged my Dad to put in for Turkey permit with me. I love the sport, all of it. The highs, the lows, the rain(not so much)…. 
I’ve described Turkey hunting to my friends who haven’t tried it as the most addicting hunt there is. Having a mature Turkey all puffed out doing his courtship dance and gobbling his head off really gets the heart pumping. Drawing a bead on that Gobbler and squeezing the trigger is bittersweet when the time comes. It just never seems like it’s enough, as the season is only 5 days long, and I know I could hunt for many more weeks. 
That’s where I’ve been the last 2 days. Yesterday, the 18th of April, my Turkey season started. Section 346.
To be honest, my season started the Tuesday before. We(my Dad & I) took the drive out to the farm Tuesday after work, to see how things are and what my options were. This year, my Dad didn’t draw a permit, but he wanted to ride along to see if I could drop the hammer on a big gobbler this year. After a brief visit with the owner, we headed to the back of the valley.
Basically there’s only about 4 places to set up. All of them revolve around the pond at the bottom of the hill, just below the trees. Knowing where the Turkeys roost really helps us determine how we set up for opening morning. We decided to set up on the pastured hillside keeping my decoys out in the open for the roosting Turkeys to key in on. The thinking was, a couple low key yelps, clucks and purrs would get them to glide across the valley and into our setup. Nothing to tricky, just simple plan. After a quick brush clearing for shooting lanes on the edge of the woods, we were on our way out with high hopes for the opening morning.
I gotta tell ya, it’s amazing how soon 4am comes. 
We were out the door and down the road in no time with visions of Gobblers weaving through my decoys. 25 minutes later we pulled into the farm and made our way to our blind and set up my decoys.
What a beautiful morning it was to be out. The light breeze kept me cool and the song birds kept the tempo by singing louder as the sun chased away the dark and drowned out the stars.
I sat down behind my makeshift blind and set out my various calls I had chosen for this year’s hunt. I’m not typically one to call directy after seating myself. I usually left things calm down for about 15-20 minutes. I want to draw attention to myself, but not in matter that will cause the Turkeys to be cautious of the location.
About 15 minutes into my sit, I ring out a soft series of yelps from my new Purdy Mountain box call. Without delay I hear a responding set of gobbles from 3 different Turkeys. “Well that worked!” I thought to myself. This may be done quicker than I had hoped. Now, I’m not one to over-call and force the issue, so I wait probably a solid 5 minutes before I set out another series of calls. Again, replies from all 3 birds. This time they are hot. One of them double-gobbles and a chorus breaks from the valley they are roosting in. With the birds hot, I switch up calls to try and mimic more than one Hen on my side of the valley. Again, they light up the valley with a round of gobbles and double-gobbles.
Now I’m beginning to think the end is near and these guys will be sailing over anytime. I couldn’t have been anymore off the target with my assumption. The Turkeys dropped out of their roost and made a bee-line for the adjacent field. It’s hard to fight a sunny field full of picked corn. The funny thing about Turkey hunting is, the Toms almost always follow the Hens. The Hens had food on the brain and the Toms had lovin’ on their mind. None of which had anything to do with me and my set up. As perfect as it may be…. 
I don’t have permission to hunt the adjacent field and I still had to get to work, so my options were pretty clear to me. Find another place to set up for the second day and be ready to make adjustments accordingly. Because anything can and will happen…..
Like I said at the beginning, “No one ever said this was going to be easy.”
The second day’s hunt is to come. 