BeeMaa
AH ambassador
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2017
- Messages
- 7,266
- Reaction score
- 19,401
- Location
- Alexandria, VA USA
- Media
- 148
- Articles
- 1
- Member of
- NRA Life Member, SCI Member
- Hunted
- Eastern US & RSA
12 APR 2024 – It’s Friday morning, just after 3am and I’m wide-awake lying-in bed…thinking of what I may have forgotten to pack. Might as well get up and pass some time scrolling AH. It’s going to be several hours before IGS arrives to pick me up. We are heading to a friend’s house about 2 hours away for opening day of spring turkey season.
Of course, the prep started long before this morning. Back at the beginning of February we went out to the farm to clear some trails for our friends and do some scouting. Two days of cutting trees and brush made them very happy. It also gave us time to think about where we want to set up our blinds. In truth, I’ve never seen so much turkey sign in my life. There are two hardwood tree areas that have the forest floor tossed from turkey looking for grubs. I would be surprised if there weren’t at least 50 birds roaming the countryside. That trip was highlighted by harvesting three geese at the very end of the 2023-2024 season from his pond.
After that trip, IGS went back to his place in NY for a while and we starting planning in earnest for our spring turkey trip. Checking and cleaning our gear. Laying stuff out. Spraying permethrin on everything. Laying stuff out again for re-evaluation. Am I overpacking? Probably, but with us driving out to the farm there not a real penalty for doing so.
Coffee is made as I sit at the kitchen table to sip it, surf AH and wait for IGS. My mind starts to drift and think about the many turkey hunts I’ve been on. It must be at least five or six hunts if not more over the course of 10+ years. Ahhh…all the birds I’ve seen. Not shot, just seen them. That’s right, I’ve never shot a turkey…EVER! And it’s frustrating. I’ve had a few opportunities, but for one reason or another things didn’t work out.
Kind of ironic that I’ve done all this turkey load & choke testing over the years and never even fired a shot at a live bird. Not that we haven’t been successful, but the shooting has been done by IGS. I believe he’s taken 2 or 3 birds off this farm over the past couple of years. Hopefully I’ll be able to break my turkey curse with a monster Tom this spring. A hunter’s heart should overflow with optimism. Mine is about half full of that…the other half is coffee. I’ll be better when we get to the farm, for now I need to wake up and chill out. The voice in my head is telling me to relax and I’m trying to listen.
I assure you, there is more to come. I’m not above posting my failures, but I hope that’s not the case this season.
Of course, the prep started long before this morning. Back at the beginning of February we went out to the farm to clear some trails for our friends and do some scouting. Two days of cutting trees and brush made them very happy. It also gave us time to think about where we want to set up our blinds. In truth, I’ve never seen so much turkey sign in my life. There are two hardwood tree areas that have the forest floor tossed from turkey looking for grubs. I would be surprised if there weren’t at least 50 birds roaming the countryside. That trip was highlighted by harvesting three geese at the very end of the 2023-2024 season from his pond.
After that trip, IGS went back to his place in NY for a while and we starting planning in earnest for our spring turkey trip. Checking and cleaning our gear. Laying stuff out. Spraying permethrin on everything. Laying stuff out again for re-evaluation. Am I overpacking? Probably, but with us driving out to the farm there not a real penalty for doing so.
Coffee is made as I sit at the kitchen table to sip it, surf AH and wait for IGS. My mind starts to drift and think about the many turkey hunts I’ve been on. It must be at least five or six hunts if not more over the course of 10+ years. Ahhh…all the birds I’ve seen. Not shot, just seen them. That’s right, I’ve never shot a turkey…EVER! And it’s frustrating. I’ve had a few opportunities, but for one reason or another things didn’t work out.
Kind of ironic that I’ve done all this turkey load & choke testing over the years and never even fired a shot at a live bird. Not that we haven’t been successful, but the shooting has been done by IGS. I believe he’s taken 2 or 3 birds off this farm over the past couple of years. Hopefully I’ll be able to break my turkey curse with a monster Tom this spring. A hunter’s heart should overflow with optimism. Mine is about half full of that…the other half is coffee. I’ll be better when we get to the farm, for now I need to wake up and chill out. The voice in my head is telling me to relax and I’m trying to listen.
I assure you, there is more to come. I’m not above posting my failures, but I hope that’s not the case this season.