Larry A. Smail's Blog

I anxiously walked through the pre-morning darkness to set up and listen for roosting turkeys. Yesterday, November 17th was very windy.Towards 7:00 A.M. I called and heard a distant reply. The problem was I wasn’t sure where. This area is close to SR 422 and the truck noise can be awful, especially for a couple of hours at dawn. Apparently the atmospheric conditions allow the noise to be stronger on certain days. I had been plaqued by this problem at three different sites.  The site where Bob shot his first fall bird is about 1 1/2 miles away too and the noise was bad until mid-morning.

The birds were not very vocal and quit before I wanted them too. I did realise the turkeys were low in the hollow and near a residence.  I began a stalk and call routine across the area prior to making a complete circle when I walked into a flock of birds.  I tried to get a break, but failed to do so. The time was 9:55. This one acre area  had been part of a micro-burst about 6 years ago. The uprooted trees were completely engulfed in briars, of which, I became entangled in. I looked up and witnessed a second flush about 28-30 yards from me. The turks had difficulty getting airborne in the brush and a shot would have been relatively easy. However, my tactics for fall birds are to call them in, so the thought of raising the shotgun to fire never crossed my mind at that time. Later I wished I would have.

Unfortunately, this flush occurred within eye site of  the SR 422 at the Cherry Run and Margaret intersection. t Although the hill-side was about a 1/2 of a mile the terrible noise was deafening this morning! I called loudly whenever a brief (and I mean brief) in the traffic happened. I did this for an hour. I searched about and didn’t see a feather.

A friend said he saw turkeys crossing over 422.

AT noon I left for another site and failed to locate any turkeys.

Critters I had seen this day were many. I saw deer and two bucks. I saw a lot of squirrels. I was w sneaking along when I heard a grouse scolding me. I looked and two grouse were walking about scolding me.