Today on the show I’m joined by archery coach and founder of SHOT IQ, Joel Turner, to talk about my experiences battling target panic over the years and what I’ve learned and changed about my archery process. shot after my in-person training experience with him this spring.
Today begins the last week of Kentucky’s spring squirrel hunting season, the last of the spring-specific hunting periods.
Spring squirrel season is a non-traditional four-week stretch of hunting opportunities that began May 21. It concludes on Friday, appropriately just three days after the last day of spring.
Conducted under the same regulations as the traditional “fall” squirrel season, a hunter may take up to six squirrels per day during the spring season.
Biologists with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources suggested creating a spring squirrel hunting period as an opportunity bonus that would not have a significant impact on the squirrel population.
Spring hunting, first introduced as short trial seasons in wildlife management areas, is based on an increase in the squirrel population with the birth of new litters in early spring. One of two reproductive outpourings during the year, the spring surge creates a sudden surplus in bushytail numbers.
Regulated hunting during the period has essentially no effect on the total number of squirrels, biologists say. Rather than the hunter harvest, squirrel populations are influenced by the richness or scarcity of the annual mast (nut) harvest, especially the extent of annual acorn production.
The harvest of spring squirrels by hunters is of even less importance because relatively few small game hunters participate in the spring squirrel season. Fishing attracts the attention of the more outdoorsy in the spring, and even many hardened hunters may reject spring squirrel season due to its lack of tradition.
The hunt that has its identity rooted in the spring, of course, is the spring turkey season. On the weekend, the youth-only turkey season was April 2-3, and the traditional spring gobbler hunting season was April 16-May 8.
As spring and spring hunting options run out, sportsmen who are so inclined to hunt for furry or feathered animals can look forward to the so-called fall seasons that are not as far away as it might seem.
The next hunting season on the horizon will put squirrels back in the spotlight with the so-called fall hunting season. As has been customary for many years, on the third Saturday of August, August 20 this year, the traditional squirrel hunting period begins. Usually referred to as the fall hunting season, it spans the entire fall, but starts in the sweltering summer and runs through February, well into winter.
That late-summer squirrel hunt kick-off is the harbinger of other hunting opportunities to come. One of the biggest openings of the year is the first day of a generous pigeon hunting season, that of September 1st.
Two days later, on the first Saturday in September, comes the opening of the archery deer and turkey hunt and the junior and senior deer crossbow hunting season.
And the parade of different hunting seasons in Kentucky follows shortly after that.
The spring hunt for now is short-lived throughout the state. But the “autumn” hunt resumes nine weeks from today.
Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area nods to National Get Outdoors Day today with a few admission giveaways.
Two of LBL’s popular attractions, Woodlands Nature Station and Homeplace 1850s Working Farm, are waiving admission fees for visitors of all ages from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.
Naturalists at the LBL Woodlands Nature Station say pups from the surprise litter of rare red wolves that the wildlife center has given birth to are growing and harnessed to be seen more today.
Two resident red wolves in the captive breeding program at WNS surprised staff last month with a litter of five pups. One male baby did not survive, but two male and two female pups are reportedly healthy and growing.
Hopes of the adults reproducing and producing pups were slim because, while the mother wolf is four years old, the father is 13 and was suspected to be too old for this to happen.
The pups are reportedly becoming more active, and although they are spending more time in their den at the wildlife center’s red wolf enclosure, they have been straying outside and becoming more visible to visitors in recent days.
The Nature Station has daily red wolf shows at 1 pm (noon June 18), but WNS visitors have the opportunity to see the newest additions whenever the wolf pups feel like it. The WNS is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Although admission is free today, admission is typically $7 for ages 18 and older, $5 for children ages 5-17, and free for children under 5.
Casey Creek in Trigg County, the westernmost stream in the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ trout stocking program, received a load of rainbow trout earlier this week.
The spring-fed creek released 1,000 catchable-size rainbow trout on Tuesday for its June stock.
To fish for and hold trout, you must have a Kentucky Trout Permit ($10) if a fishing license is also required. Trout permit sales go toward KDFWR’s transportation costs to store the trout, which are sourced from the Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery in the Wolf Creek Dam wastewater area of Lake Cumberland.
The daily catch limit for rainbow trout is eight fish with no effective size limit. Brown trout have previously been released into Casey Creek. There is a 16-inch minimum size on any brown trout caught there, and only one brown can be caught per day.
Casey Creek is reached from Cadiz by taking Ky. 139 south to Ky. 525, and then watch for KDFWR signage marking the public fishing access area.
Steve Vantreese is a freelance outdoor writer. Email outdoor news to outdoors@paducahsun.com or call 270-575-8650.
Most turkey hunters love the start of the season. Getting the first shot at birds when they should be highly callable is a doddle, and there are plenty of April Toms in the freezers to prove that’s the case. But there is also plenty of time left in many states where the possibility of filling out a label is real.
It will not be the same as those earlier birds. That turkey hunting, with nesting chickens, abundant food sources, and weeks of pressure, just changes the game. Understand how to compensate for this change and you’ll be on your way to killing longbeards while your competition is busy targeting walleyes or maybe playing a few rounds of golf.
Cruisers and Strutters
During the early season, males chase flocks of hens all day. In May, many of these ladies will feed for a few hours at first light and then wander off to lie down in their nest. This leaves Toms on the hunt for new girlfriends, which makes them vulnerable.
Some birds seem to want to cover ground, which could put them on their spread at any time. Others take a more traditional route and head to their favorite strutting grounds to see if they can flex hard enough to attract a hen or three. Hunters like outdoor writer Darron McDougal love these birds because they are highly visible and usually predictable.
“I want eyes on a strut,” McDougal said. “If he’s alone in the middle of the day strutting around, I mark exactly where I see him. The next day I’ll go back there with a blind setup on top of your spot if I’m bowhunting, or as close as possible to stay hidden if I’m shotgun hunting.”
End of season lures
When McDougal slips into a swagger zone, he’s already where the bird is likely to go, so he reduces his lure spread.
“At the end of the season, I often leave my decoy jake at home. Usually a couple of chicken decoys are enough for him to commit because he already hopes to attract chickens to that spot.”
This is an important lesson at the end of the season, so pay attention. While full strut dekes or quarter strut jakes are all the rage early in the season, the days of turkey-on-turkey violence are long gone. Now, they are silly, angry birds who will fight all year long, but the pecking orders were established long ago. Most May birds seem to be more lovers than fighters as the season winds down.
Like McDougal, I usually start the season with a jake decoy and four or five hens, but by mid-May I might be down to a decoy hen or two. It often seems that the choice of lure is important, but not as important as the way of calling. This really is the secret sauce for consistently killing late season toms.
Call like you mean it
When I was 15, I put my back on a tree at the edge of a plowed cornfield during Minnesota’s last season. The plan was to call softly and infrequently as it was almost summer and the birds were already experiencing five weeks of hunting pressure.
When a lone strut hit the edge of the far field, that’s exactly what I did. He could see my lures, hear my soft howls, and he didn’t care at all. He almost strutted out of sight before he had a turkey related panic attack and I gave him all I could with my simple button call. Even from 300 yards away, I saw him lift his head and then start running. By the time he crossed the neighbors fence and walked over to my decoys, I was battling a really bad case of turkey fever, which led me to shoot him square in the chest.
Not only did I turn a 10-inch beard into a 2-inch beard, I stunned him enough to put another one on. I learned many lessons that morning, but the most important was to sing like a bird that wants company. McDougal does this too, as he relies heavily on diaphragm calls to say what he needs to say.
“Late-season toms are really susceptible to calls, especially if you’re close to them. I do not follow the strategy of less is more, but I call loud and often. This works on private land, but it also works on birds on public land, probably because I sound different than most other hunters.”
You’re still in time to fill out your label. In fact, during a year in which spring has inched into a frigid spot in many states, the best is probably yet to come. Just remember to keep your eyes open for strutting, reduce your lure spread, and call like you mean it.
Featured image via Matt Hansen.
This past Saturday, June 5, was a great day to be at the Onota Lake Frank Controy Pavilion. That was where the Jimmy Fund Derby was held. According to organizer Steve Bateman, it was the biggest Jimmy Fund Derby they’ve ever organized.
Here, let Steve tell you:
“The derby was a complete success, with more than 355 people in attendance, 300 of them registered fishermen.
I have been lucky over the years to have had a handful of turkeys. One problem I ran into was how to properly display a trophy turkey.
Initially, I had my first Jake’s and later my first Longbeard’s tail fans, wattles and spurs mounted on wall plates. These are beautiful mountains that remind me daily of those hunts; however, they take up a large amount of wall space. Today, I keep the beard and spurs for display/memory; clean, borax and epoxy tail fan for use on lures; and keep the bird’s breast, legs, and saddle meat for spectacular meals.
I came up with this way of displaying the beard and spurs so that I can proudly display each bird’s trophy individually, allowing me to be able to remember each hunt while making the most of the wall space. The tools I use for these screens are usually available in any home and include a hacksaw, utility knife, fine grit sandpaper, epoxy/glue/or silicone, cotton swabs, borax, or some type of cleaning detergent on powder, painter’s tape, 6 inches of small-diameter string, and a cap filled with rubbing alcohol.
As a waterfowl hunter, I have a call board that contains my waterfowl lanyards, backup calls, recalled calls, waterfowl bands, and other memorabilia. I screwed small brass hooks into the bottom of the tabletop and hung the finished brass products for spurs, balds, and shotgun shells on the hook for display.
So the next time you have success in the turkey forest, give this technique a try. It also looks great hanging from a rear view mirror!
This scouting item is powered by onX, makers of the ultimate digital mapping tool for hunters.
The world of whitetails is devoured by e-scouting. It’s the essential layer for all your travel hunts and something that can give you a huge advantage at home as well. When it comes to turkeys, digital research isn’t as prevalent, but it probably should be.
Turkeys’ behavior can seem so random, and no doubt more than one Jake and 2-year-old will be heading off-road this spring with no clear destination in mind. But in general, nature does not work very well with chance. There is a method to his madness, and while that may seem moderate with male turkeys, it’s a rule of thumb with ladies. And where the ladies go, so do the toms.
This movement is almost always linked to food.
Groceries Gettin’ Gobblers
Obvious food sources, such as agricultural fields, play a role with wintering turkeys. As spring progresses, those springs can stay hot for weeks if the weather stays cool. Or they may suddenly run out of turkeys, as the vegetable brings plenty of fresh greens and protein-rich insects.
I consider destination-style food sources as a starting point, but I divide them into two categories. If I’m hunting private land with limited pressure, every hidden corner of the field gets an onX waypoint. If I’m hunting on public land, I take note of the obvious food sources, but I may not even drop a pin because those are the places that are almost guaranteed to attract other hunters.
The easiest way to find out which food sources are really worth hunting is to walk over them and pay attention. Focus your efforts on areas not easily visible from nearby roadways and keep an eye out for footprints and dust bowls. If you find a lot of either, you’re right. But your work is not done.
sleepy toms
As with deer and roosting areas, it’s important to find where turkeys are likely to spend the night. Some properties have hangers from year to year that are really consistent. I have a permit to hunt on a farm in Minnesota that has one of these, and it really simplifies hunting options because you always know where some birds are going to congregate in the morning and at night.
Other properties don’t have heavy-duty perches, making the turkeys’ movements seem random. This randomness also extends to properties that have quality roosts as spring progresses and the weather becomes more pleasant. However, you know how I feel about randomness in nature.
Here’s the deal: Turkeys tend to roost in areas where they have a good spot to take off into trees with good-sized branches. This generally means large, old trees located on hillsides. Turkeys also don’t seem to like perching on the downwind side of valleys.
To locate possible shelters, go to your onX app and check the Hybrid layer which allows you to see satellite imagery overlaid with topographic maps. Look for slopes with older trees with some level ground (ridges and hill tops) above them. This is an easy task in areas with lots of high and low ground, but becomes more difficult in flatter regions. In that case, remember that a 10-foot elevation change is better than nothing.
Also, while this seems like a pre-season scouting strategy, when faced with forward (windy) conditions, you can turn on X and look for areas where birds will roost in response to the wind for tomorrow’s game. They will choose valleys that are perpendicular to the wind direction and fly up on the windward side to get under the edge of the hill where it should be calmer. This is valuable knowledge to have when you have your alarm set for a day of running and gunning.
Point A to B
Understanding where turkeys can eat or sleep is crucial to success. But if there’s one bit of knowledge that will really keep you in the game, it’s travel routes. Old logging roads, power line outages, and even tall thorns of earth between swamps can turn out to be turkey highways, and they’re all visible via satellite imagery.
For archery turkey hunters, these all-day travel routes are often the best places to open a blind and a variety of dekes. Shotgun hunters can also use them. If you are going to spend a few days as a freelancer in the turkey forest, keep these routes in mind. Birds will zero in on them throughout the day and will likely use them to get closer to your setup.
For me, travel routes are the most important findings of e-scouting. They are often more consistent than food sources and resting areas and can come into play from the beginning to the end of the season. As you navigate your hunting grounds from a bird’s eye view, take note of each of these possible routes. And remember, a logging road doesn’t look like much more than a faint line through the woods from a 5,000-foot view, but on the ground, it’s all the birds need to get from point A to B as they scratch, strut and doing his thing.
Almost all white bug, furnished photo. White-tailed Squirrel, image by Garry BRANDENBURG Fox squirrels, scientifically named sciurus niger rufinventer, are our most common medium-heavy-bodied tree squirrel with a long, bushy tail. Its coloration is normally a reddish-brown fur with a slightly lighter belly, and of course, a tail with long reddish-brown guard hairs that the animal can use to cover itself while eating. The tail can also be flashed quickly to draw attention to other squirrels in possible danger. Recent observations have found nearly all of the white squirrels in Union, so photo credit goes to Nathan Bernard. Thank you for sharing your image with readers.
The color of the coat, somewhat different from normal, is what has drawn attention to this small mammal so common. They are fox squirrels, and some of them offer us human wildlife watchers a rare treat, namely squirrels almost all white (not albino), and others with only their tails bearing white hairs while the rest of the body retains. normal fur.
The image of the squirrel with only its tail colored white is near this author’s home in Albion. I saw and photographed a similar situation several years ago, and wrote about these anomalies, including other communities with many all-white or all-black squirrels, in my November 13, 2016 column.
Some cities have incorporated depictions of wildlife as part of their public identity in police cars, fire trucks, employee work shirt patches, school mascots, and tourist shop souvenirs. White squirrels are common in Marionville, Missouri; Olney, Ill.; and Kenton, Tenn.
The flip side of the melanistic or non-genetic anomalies in Mother Nature’s code are all the black squirrels found in cities like Middletown, Conn.; Council Bluffs, Iowa; London, Ontario, Canada; Kent and Glendale, Ohio; and Charleston, WV I photographed a completely black fox squirrel near the Sand Road between Albion and Marshalltown in November 2016.
So what’s behind the unusual hair color variations in squirrels? According to various researched articles, these oddities are the result of too much or too little melanin production. Mammals have two types of melanin produced by hair follicles. Low proportions of melanin tend
towards white fur and are a genetic abnormality. Age-related coat lightening is not genetic but the result of follicles losing their ability to produce melanin. The high production of melanin can give the animal black fur.
Another trick of Mother Nature that has given squirrels a system for growing new hair is shedding. There are two moults per year, spring and fall. On the body, molting will begin with replacement hairs on the head progressing towards the tail. In the tail itself, molting begins at the tip and gradually moves towards the body over a period of three to four weeks.
Squirrels are engaged in collecting food sources. Our fox squirrel’s cousin is the gray squirrel. Mammologists have noted that grays are slightly smaller, and as for the teeth in their skulls, grays have one more set of teeth in the upper cheek than fox squirrels. Fox squirrel skulls are larger in both length and width, enough to notice. However, tooth numbers are critically important for identification.
Before the colonization of the United States, some naturalists and careful squirrel watchers proposed that it would have been entirely possible for tree squirrels to move from the East Coast to the Midwest without ever setting foot on the ground. A jump, jump and jump from tree to tree could have made it likely. Whether that ever happened is unknown, but it’s interesting to speculate.
Mother Nature provides interesting opportunities while taking care of her creations. She is a careful observer of all the wild creatures that live in and around us. Enjoy.
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DEER DATA was a part of my story last week. I discussed biologists’ ongoing work to monitor populations in general in all corners of Iowa. Biologists also know that white-tailed deer can be very prolific if left alone. There is a chance the Iowa deer herd will outgrow their habitat. It is a royal thing. Without hunting, the population could double in two years and double again in another two years.
That is not a strategy that DNR biologists want to advocate. A huge imbalance between deteriorating deer and habitat would resurface, along with complaints from motorists and homeowners.
What Iowa is doing for deer control may not be perfect, but it is working. What is being done regarding management is to selectively reduce the numbers each fall during the hunting seasons.
I was recently asked if deer hunting is culling out too many trophy bucks. The basis of the question was the idea that only smaller horned males would be a long-term trend line, and that true trophy males would become less and less available. The question was not based on biological facts, only on emotion, and emotion is not how to respond to political decisions for good long-term results.
My answer was easy to answer. No, taking trophy deer does not harm the deer herd. It is one thing to wish and succeed in hunting a large antlered deer. Really achieving that deer is much more difficult to do. The odds are against the hunter to fulfill that dream, but it happens every year somewhere for someone.
Hunters are contributing significantly to the health of deer herds, even as some of the offspring on land turn out to be bucks with very impressive antlers. The smaller bucks live to see another year and typically grow larger antlers each year. Males become wiser and learn to evade and stay well hidden at all times as they mature.
Nationally, deer hunters increased during the COVID years of 2020 and 2021. With more free time to do things and the desire to participate in purchasing healthy meats for the family, there was an average increase of five percent percent in deer license sales from pre-COVID years. With more hunters in every state, they brought home more than 500,000 more deer than in previous years.
According to data from the National Deer Association (NDA), 6.3 million deer were killed by legal and regulated hunting during the 2020-21 season. This broke a record that had stood since 2011. Nationally taken buck deer reached 3,041,544, and that was the most bucks taken in 21 years of record keeping.
The NDA data shows that 41 percent of the males were at least 3.5 years old. So the effect is that in the 2020-21 deer seasons in the US the more mature male deer were removed. Of those deer, a small proportion were animals with exceptional antlers, while the majority were respectable representatives of the species.
Year after year, careful handling allows young males to develop into animals with larger antlers. There is no decrease in “trophy class” dollars just because a hunter, a youngster going out hunting for the first time, an archer, or a gun hunter is in the right place at the right time to collect
a lifetime example of a deer with very large antlers.
The Iowa Deer Classic Show held each year in early March tests the ability of Iowa land to raise some fantastic buck deer. Hunters are reaping the benefits of balancing deer age classes and the general population in line with the carrying capacity of the land and the social carrying capacity of public perceptions.
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The pheasants are bringing new young. Reports are coming in that female pheasants and their newly hatched little chicks are being spotted. It’s good to know that this hardy game bird is doing its best to bring in a new generation.
Pheasant numbers will be counted during August when biologists and rangers drive designated trails in Iowa’s 99 counties. From that data, trend lines can be plotted to compare pheasant numbers from previous years and decades.
Time plays an important role. Habitat plays a very important role as survival cover and food sources are found within good habitat. Stay tuned as summer progresses.
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Wild turkey sightings are also encouraged. If and when you see guans and their poults, make a note of the date and location, the size of the birds, and the total number of poults. Let me know what you see. Call me at 641-750-4914. I will send the information to the correct people. Thanks.
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Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the
Marshall County Board of Conservation. he is a graduate of
Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in Fish and Wildlife Biology.
Contact him at:
post office box 96
Albion, IA 50005
Almost all white bug, furnished photo. White-tailed Squirrel, image by Garry BRANDENBURG Fox squirrels, scientifically named sciurus niger rufinventer, are our most common medium-heavy-bodied tree squirrel with a long, bushy tail. Its coloration is normally a reddish-brown fur with a slightly lighter belly, and of course, a tail with long reddish-brown guard hairs that the animal can use to cover itself while eating. The tail can also be flashed quickly to draw attention to other squirrels in possible danger. Recent observations have found nearly all of the white squirrels in Union, so photo credit goes to Nathan Bernard. Thank you for sharing your image with readers.
The Witness and I pounded powder with our teeth for days.
Longtime readers of this column may remember The Witness from a 2007 series of articles about a seemingly endless quest to catch an elusive black squirrel in Phillips County. It shouldn’t have been a difficult task in a place infested with black squirrels, but they always disappeared when The Witness and I got close.
After many attempts, we finally got one. His mount takes pride of place in my office.
The identity of the Witness was a closely guarded secret until March, when my book, St. Tom’s Cathedral, A Turkey Hunter’s Quest for His Best, revealed it to be Sheffield Nelson.
Our hunting ground for the trophy squirrel was Island 64, also known as Jackson Point. It is one of many oxbow islands between the levees of the Mississippi River.
In 2009, as I was undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatment for colorectal cancer, Nelson insisted that turkey hunting in Jackson Point was also vital to my recovery. I took out some great gobblers while hunting with Nelson, including the biggest one.
It’s been about 10 years since Nelson and I last hunted together at Jackson Point. Nelson remedied that deficiency on Saturday.
We arrived on Friday afternoon. After storing our gear in Nelson’s cabin, we visited some of our old familiar haunts. With vivid memories we remember the places where we worked or slaughtered turkeys. We had to stop at the spot where a black squirrel finally made an unfortunate mistake.
“We climbed it up a big tree that used to be right here. Do you remember that?” Nelson said. “We finally cornered him in a tree that didn’t have a hole to climb, and it was too far away from all the other trees. It was blown down in a storm a few years ago, but it was right here.”
In a remote corner of the property we saw four Jakes and a mature wolverine eating contentedly in a field.
Nelson opted to hunt in a different location, so I came back in a UTV. It was hot and windy, and the dirt road was very dry and dusty. Dust swirled into the cabin through the floor and my attempts to filter it out were futile. I coughed and coughed up dust the rest of the night.
The turkeys were gone, but I walked almost to the end of the field and placed two AvianX decoys at the convergence of three food strips. Unlike all my other lures, the AvianX are incredibly realistic. All details are sharp. The eyes are bright and the colors are vibrant. They rest on a stake that allows the lures to sway and sway in the wind. The motion makes them more dynamic than normal stationary lures, and their weight prevents them from spinning like helicopter blades in strong winds like light lures do.
I hunted until 6 pm, but no turkeys responded to my pleas for company.
In the morning I convinced Nelson to look for that place with me. Turkeys are never guaranteed to be where they were yesterday today, but when scouting reports are scant, it’s not unwise to hunt where he saw turkeys the day before.
In addition to my AvianX lures, Nelson brought out one of his mounts made from a stuffed peacock. We settle behind a leafy tree on the edge of the field and wait.
Behind us was a thicket that was surprisingly open. The turkeys had scratched many bare spots from the leaf cover. Bordering the thicket was Lake Mellwood.
“They perch in those trees over there and move back and forth along the water,” Nelson said. “They have everything they need right here. Food, water, shelter and trees to sleep in. We just need Mr. Gobbler to come knock.”
It didn’t take long for us to strike up a conversation with a chicken behind us, but she didn’t reveal herself. Shortly after, I saw a hunched shape slithering through the grass about 200 meters away. With his Steiner binoculars, Nelson identified him as a chicken.
“Wherever there are chickens, there will be gobblers nearby,” Nelson said.
I got some howls out of my phone booth from Eddie Horton. It is made from Hempstead County bois d’arc and an African ebony top. The full tone of it projects well in open field with the wind.
The hen seemed not to hear the call and disappeared into the tall grass. About 10 minutes later, she came out of the grass and walked over to the decoys.
The hen zeroed in on the middle decoy, an AvianX hen with its head held high in an alert stance. The king hen stalked around the lure, purring aggressively. With each circle it made around the lure, it became more and more agitated. Finally, he couldn’t bear the decoy’s insolence any longer. She looked the lure in the eye for a moment and then pierced the lure’s head with her beak.
With a loud, hollow thud, the lure spun on its stake. Her head snapped back and she slapped the royal hen.
Each feather seemed upright. The hen pierced the lure again, but this time it was ready. She jumped back when the head turned this time, and pecked at her again. This made the lure spin faster, forcing the hen to be agile. He jumped from side to side and from side to side.
Eventually, the hen seemed satisfied that she had made her point. She walked over to inspect Nelson’s lure and then went back to abusing the insolent AvianX lure a second time.
Nelson’s shoulders shook in silent laughter.
After winning her fight with the decoy, the hen happily fed among the decoys. I purred lightly and she came within 12 feet to inspect the source of that sound. Not finding it, she resumed feeding.
Nelson and I were sure a gobbler would come to the chicken, but we were wrong. When the chicken finally left, the songbirds were the only sign of life.
We both had commitments at home, so Nelson and I finished the hunt around 1 pm On the way back to the lodge, we passed six male turkeys about to cross to the other side of the field we were hunting. It looked like the same group that was in the field the day before. As Maxwell Smart would say, we missed it by “so much!”
Nicholas HuffmanKankakee Diary
