Post by jakebird on Feb 12, 2008 22:50:29 GMT -4
This may seem l;ike it bel;ongs on the turkey thread, but bear with me. Last year on the northern trout opener, I had a PHENOMENAL time listening and watching turkeys. I had dropped my disabled father in a good spot along Standing Stone Creek i Huntingdon, where the creek meanders along a ridge and adjoins some open farm fields. I went below him and waded across and back up to fish the same hole from the other side. While we waited in the predawn darkness a few more fellas arrived and joined us. As it got light the birds satrted sounding off all around us. I'm an avid turkey hunter...actually a bit OCD about it, so I always have a mouth call or two stuck in my pocket. I decided to impress my new friends so I popped it in a let out a few yelps. Three birds hammered back from about two hundred yards across the field. They were stunned! None of them were turkey hunters, so I was quietly ansering their questions. This was a farm that I didn't have any permission to hunt, and knew i couldn't get it, so I wasn't worried about educating the birds. We decided to have some fun. We all hunkered down in the bushes along the stream as it got lighter, i cranked it up and did a fly down. Within minutes, we had turkeys flying down all around us. Two came strutting the whole way across the field to within shotgun range. Another gobbler and some jakes flew down on the other side of the creek right beside my dad...then some hens joined them....it was really something. Of course, one of the fellas had to ask, "Is it always this easy?" I laughed....not exactly. I should have known at that point the birds would embarass me all season with the exception of the world's smallest jake who decided to be the only one to join me for dinner last year. Well, I think it made a lasting impression on those guys...I know I'll never forget that day. BTW...the fishing wasn't bad either!!!!LOL Do you fellas see and hear the birds much on trout opener? Seems they're always gobbling good when I'm fishing!