BOY…How I love getting soaked! (In case you are not aware of it, those words are sarcasm!) When I reached the car this morning at around 11:30 I was wet from head to toe. No more Gore-Tex for me. Those boots are not even a year old and my feet were soaked! I have had enough of these purchases to realize that they are a waste of good money!
The morning was interesting. I heard a couple of gobblers and, yes they were on the opposite hill side again. Later on, I eased up the hill behind me to a field. Here I saw a longbeard and two hens. (At one point, the gobbler was about 60 yards from me before he followed the hens away.) I could see another hen in the field as well. I circled the lower edge of the field and walked onto a hen preening itself. I was about 40 yards away and she was so busy I stood and watched her. I, also, saw 3 deer here and a fourth while walking out.
I drove a couple of miles away and checked another woods with no luck. The rain increased and the winds started up and hearing was non-existent. A gobbler that was 150 yards away would not be able to hear me…or me hear him! As, I loudly called a nice buck jumped up. He had a velvet rack of, approximately, six inches with a “Y” forming on each antler. This deer will be a nice buck come the end of summer.
Other sightings include 2 squirrels and an Indigo Bunting. (I failed to write that I had seen my first 
buntings last week.)
I can’t believe you went out into that mess this morning! Gore-tex is a real heart breaker at times. If your boots aren’t too badly worn you might be able to send them back for a replacement pair. Carl shot a bird yesterday morning after having passed up 9 jakes this year. He got it a quarter mile from his house and it weighed 17 lbs, had a 9 inch beard, and 2 yr. old spurs. The birds seem to be running smaller than normal this year. Last year most mature birds weighed over 20 lbs. This year the ones I am hearing about (and are weighed, not estimated) are all under 20 lbs. I wonder if all the snowfall this past winter used up some of the reserves that they might otherwise still be carrying. Tomorrow should be a nicer day to hunt. Good luck, Dana
Dana,
Good for Carl. Tell him congrats from me if you see him soon!!
I haven’t heard of many birds being taken. I haven’t heard of many weights either. The winter could have had some effects I am sure. I would imagine beards would have been dragged more over tye snow and shortened some.