Larry A. Smail's Blog

The weather has not been the best for my hunting experiences. In fact many days I haven’t been hunting.

Last week proved to be a bad week for my breathing issues. Allergies were causing discomfort, but the asthma hit hard last week. Allergies and asthma simply stated waste me. I become very tired. I rested on the couch for a couple of hours before showering in preparation for my Bible study class later.  Around 3:30 the coughing, choking, gasping began leading to , at least, four vomiting experiences expelling “stuff” from my lungs.

After these bouts one thing is for sure. I’ll be exhausted. Also, I ached bodily for several days. On the positive side the coughing subsides in intensity, but don’t completely stop.

Yesterday, the 21st, I elected to hunt again. The morning proved to be a very nice day.  Even the humidity was lessened.

I made the way to a listening point and eventually heard three gobbles, but I never decided in direction for they were barely audible. The warblers singing and crows cawing make for a lot of noise add to the road noise about a mile away. I suspect the bird may have gobbled more, but I only heard three when the road noise ceased at times.

   I took an instinctive guess and moved in the suspected direction across the hollow.  I failed to invoke any turkey talk. Was I right as to the area?  I don’t know. I did see a Woodcock while traveling about. Close to seven and I believed I needed to go south for about a mile and half to get away from the road.

I began a steep grade and was close to the top when a call was needed. A small two acre field sets between the woods and I hoped a bird would gobble before I entered the field. I called and way across this huge hollow on the top of the hill I heard a gobble. Off I went!

Eventually I entered this small woodlot where I hoped the bird might have gobbled from and all I heard was silence. I kept kicking out deer as I moved along this ridge. Did the snorting deer affect the gobbler’s mood? Had the bird seen me?  I spent several hours working the ridges trying to stimulate a gobble to no avail. I returned to the original woodlot and heard nothing.

The temperatures were climbing by this time and I knew the grass needed mowed. I came out of the small woodlot and called as I began descending the hill. I still called occasionally. Suddenly, there he was! Too late now. Why did this gobbler gobble from across a hollow approximately a half mile across and shut up once I arrived? I’ll never know.

By 11:30 I returned to the jeep. I had mild allergy itches at times and several times I would need to cough, but I made it through the day relatively well.

This morning , the 22nd, the skies were allowing some light rain to fall. I hunted closer to home , but didn’t hear anything. I was, however, soaked from the increasing rains and high grass I walked through.