Fouth day was not the charm

 I started my week on Monday getting up early, driving to the public ground, entering the draw and wondering how long my luck would last. Since I didn't get drawn for a hunt this year I've been putting in for a no show since the open, and so far have been really lucky to be drawn both days last week. Monday did not disappoint, I did end up getting drawn for the third day of my hunt. So as soon as I got my sign in card I sped off to get to "my" spot, which was where I left off last week. I got to within less than 100 yards of where I thought the Tom was. I put out my decoy, set up my chair and blind, and instantly heard a gobble, followed by hens.... which were only roosted 50 yards from where I was. I called softly and sparingly until the Tom flew down, then the hens flew down. I picked up the calling a little more, and tried to get the gang to come over to see me..... They did not. They moved off to the North through the woods. After a couple hours and calling to make sure they were gone, I got up and changed locations to get ready for his return... which is what he did Thurs. I set in that spot the rest of the day and called every half hour or so... and finally had movement in front of me. 2 Jakes came out of the swamp, up over a log, and headed over to check out my decoy. There was one Jake that almost died right there, his beard was about an inch longer than his brother. But then again I knew I had alot of season left and knew I could've filled my tag again, so I let them walk. The tom did not come back.

 Tuesday I got up early and headed out to sign up for the draw... I just kept wondering how long my luck would last. When I got to the sign in I didn't see many other cars, so I felt pretty good. That was until I got in, signed up and realized I had the same number as Monday and I noticed how early it was. Well, by the time it was said and done there were 18 guys for 7 spots... and I wasn't one of them. 

So, plan B was to stop at another public spot with no draw, owl hoot and see if I could hear a gobble. 

I did not...

Plan C spot is anther public spot that I've shot a bird on a couple years ago. So, I got there set up in the same spot and heard... crickets, ok actually it was frogs, but no turkey's.

Since it was kinda late 9am I decided to drive around and see if I could put my eyes on a bird, again I could not.

So as a last ditch effort I stopped at a parking spot with some thick ground in back, grabbed my gear and headed back to a spot I had marked on OnX as "check here". So off I went to "check here", fortunately it had rained and all the leaves were quiet as I walked through the woods on my way to the highest point. When I got there I pulled out my slate, clucked 4 times and yelped twice, and was met with an immediate response.

I looked around and found a spot to put my chair, sat down, shut up and waited for him to stick his head over the hill so I could shoot him in the face. After 35 minutes I realized he wasn't coming so I got up, still being quiet, and clucked a couple more times.... He answered again except further away. So I knew I didn't spook him and he was doing the same thing I was... he was trolling. 

So I pinned his last gobble on OnX and set out to loop in close to where I thought he was. He started gobbling on his own so I could keep tabs on him. That helped alot as I looked for a spot close to where I thought he had gobbled from the first time. When I found a spot, I set up again, this time setting out my decoy. When I was ready I clucked and yelped again, he gobbled, I clucked and yelped, he gobbled, I clucked and purred and he gobbled twords me and headed in. 

I shut up and waited. It was only 5 or 10 minutes before I saw his white head through the underbrush, and within a couple seconds I could see him clearly head and shoulders down like a bull, charging in to find the hen that he was talking to. Unfortunately for him he only found the load of #9's that exploded out of my 410 and met him only 20 yards from where I was sitting.

 When he went down I breathed a sigh of relief and felt a surge of exhilaration. That was one of my favorite hunts, he did it right, I played it right and got to walk out with a nice bird. I took time and got pics, gathered my gear and my bird and walked out. Awesome day.

 

So, the first part of this VIDEO is the Monday hunt with the Jakes and then.... well you'll figure it out. 

 

 

I did try to get video of the tom coming in however I didn't elevate the camera to be able to see over my netting so all you saw was the netting.  

 

I'll do better. 

TURKEY SEASON....

 Well, as we know I didn't get drawn for the turkey hunt, so I went yesterday and today for the no show. Would you believe I made it both days? I know...

Yesterday I really didn't have any interactions until the last couple hours where I got to mess with a gobbling turkey, he didn't budge. 

I did see all this though....

This was my last set up

With the info I had from yesterday I went to the same area in the morning, and worked a gobbler that I was hoping would pitch across the river and right into my lap..... He did not!

So after a couple hours of trying to get him to cross the river, I left that bird and went to find the bird from yesterday afternoon. I slipped a couple hundred yards into the woods to a spot I thought looked good, set up my decoy and chair and started calling.... He absolutely opened up and let me know where he was... so I shut up and let him come to me.... After a half hour or so I called a
gain and again he gobbled, only this time I also heard a hen and a Jake.... Well that's no good.... 

I kept letting him know I was still there but he wasn't budging. I can only hunt until 1 so I just sat tight and waited. Eventually he shut up, I'm pretty sure the hen drug him away. So I called every 15 mins or so, and on one of the breaks I heard a twig snap. I got the gun up and ready to shoot, within 4 minutes I had 4 Jake's walking by me at 10 yards. They never saw me and I almost dropped the hammer on one, but just knowing I could've filled my tag was good enough. I let the hammer down slowly and just watched them until they moved out of sight.

 I know it's a crappy pic but between the two trees are 2 of the Jake's.

After they walked off I started my calling again and wouldn't you know it the Tom started gobbling again. I was like.. well alright lets finish this... 

I called, he gobbled, I called, he gobbled a little further, and eventually I ran out of time. I had to let him be, so I slipped back out of the woods, with the hopes I can hunt him again on Mon. 

 

 

Real quick....

 I got quite a bit done this week and I'm happy to say that the boat is water worthy. The first thing I did was install the buzzer that I got on Fri.

The next thing I did was install a battery monitor.

I also have 2 more for my trolling motor batteries. The next thing I did was work on installing my bilge pump.... that sucked.

I had to slide into the 1x2 foot rectangle to drill out the rivets, pull the plate, install the new bilge, hook up the power, hook up the drain hose, and rivet it back in. I know it sounds easy but it was horrible and my shoulders still haven't forgiven me.

I know it doesn't look like the hose is connected but there's another attachment that could've affixed to it if needed.

 

Next week I'm going to install a new switch for my nav lights. I messed with it and it seems the switch is not working so.... there's that. Oh, and turkey season starts next week, which I just found out my draw didn't go through. So I'll be going to the no shows and trying the very small amount of private that I have to try and get one.... 

 

As much as I hate to say it, there will be no fishing until I get a turkey.😁/😢

 

On pause

 Well, I capped off another week spending more than I make. I'm sure it will all be worth it, hopefully after this round I'll be able to get out in the next week or 2. That is unless gas prices me out of the market..🤷‍♂️

Then all this is for not👎..... 

who am I kidding?

 I'll still go....... into more debt.🤑

For the love of the game.

Be safe, 🙏 that I can get this boat wrapped up next week. Or at the very least that it blows all next week, so even if I was done I still couldn't get out.

🤷‍♂️

Really close....

 Well from the looks of it right now I am going to miss my start date for fishing... I'm hoping it's only going to be a week unless I get what I need fixed, fixed. 

I had a pretty good week got quite a bit done, at least done enough to fish... until.... my bilge pump stopped working, and the alarm on the motor stopped alarming. So those are the 2 things I will have to address before I go out. 

The stuff I did get done....

Yep I got all my fishfinders mounted and even switched out my fuse panel. The bilge should be a pretty easy plug and play. The alarm I'm hoping just had a fuse go out on the motor. Not sure bout anything else just going to not think about anything else til Monday.

Hope everything is going well for you. Stay safe 

talk to ya next week.