and a strong cup of coffee

For three days leading up to my turkey hunt, I woke up and looked at the clock to figure out how much earlier I would need to wake up to be at Staci's house on time.  Aside from ticks, the worst part of turkey hunting is the early start time.  The day of my hunt arrived and armed with my coffee, I drove to Staci's house to find some turkeys.  Her husband, John, agreed to be our designated turkey caller. Deer ran through the woods off to our right and a partridge drummed continuously as we walked to our first spot.  The world was waking up all around us but there were no turkeys to answer our calls, so we moved. I spotted the first birds of the morning, a tom fanned out with three hens (or two hens and a jake) so we parked the truck in the next field over and started making our way towards the birds.  Staci and I crawled on our stomachs to the edge of the hill and watched as the tom answered every time John called but it would not cross the field to come tow...

I think overall, I was excited for turkey season.  I really was.  Then May came and we went fishing, celebrated Mother's Day and found ourselves busy.  Dad and I had one morning to head into the woods to hunt. We had moved the blind closer into the woods and the path that   I had seen the turkeys  on when I was deer hunting. We set up the decoys and waited for it to get lighter before I started calling.  I had a box call, slate call, electronic call and a couple of apps on my phone. We called and listened. Called and listened. Called and listened. After a few hours, we made our way to the fields to see if there were birds around. It was quiet as we walked but that didn't stop us from jumping at least three deer and a pair of Mallards who were swimming in a large puddle.   We snuck into the field as best we could and crept along the ridge to see if there were any turkeys eating in the corn fields. Nothing. We called and listened. ...

As I was frantically trying to get myself and O ready for the day and out the door, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of these birds at my feeder, just 10 yards away (I know this because of my set up shooting my bow.)  There was 12 of them, just picking at the bird seed that was on the ground. A few times, my movement would spook one of them and they could take a step or two back and then go back to pecking. I didn't see any beards and I have not seen this flock since, but I spent an extra 15 minutes taking photos and watching them.  In my dream world, I could get up, make coffee, grab my bow and go sit on the porch waiting for them to come back.  But, if my pattern holds, my turkey tag will remain unfilled and I will continue with my hatred for these birds.  What about all of you?  Seeing turkey around? Any toms strutting?

These birds were making their way to the little water hole as we pulled into the driveway.  There were six total that walked through, each stopping to get some water before continuing on. Just a few more months until the spring season starts!

I was ready! Everything was packed and the sun was out.  I drove down to meet up with Steve and we were going turkey hunting.  Well, I was.  He had already tagged out and was sharing his blind with me. We made our way through the trees and towards the blind on the edge of the field.  The turkeys were already there picking at the food in the field.  It was the first time I had ever hunting agricultural land and the first time hunting turkey in the fall. We wanted to make sure that we were not seen, so we crawled our way into the blind and set up the chairs, my steady stick and gear.  We watched the birds eating, unaware that we were there.  For the next hour, we watched and hoped that they would get close enough to shoot.  They didn't but instead went into the woods just out of range from us.  We could hear the leaves crunch under them. Having worked the night shift, Steve left me in the blind and headed back to the truck to take a n...

Ever since the season ended on June 6, we have had turkeys on every pull from the trail camera.  Every time! Clearly these guys are just mocking me.

Dad was able to mow the field around the Sky Condo the other day and when we pulled the memory card from the camera, I instantly put it into my digital camera and started turning the wheel to see if we had any bucks.  The first picture that I came to that had hunt-able animals were these: The bird that we swore had disappeared into the ether when we were hunting suddenly came back in full force.  There were all kinds of pictures of turkeys.  Like this one.  I especially like that the jake made sure to show me his beard.  I was more excited about this photo.  Not because it's a button but because that means that the bucks will hopefully start moving around.  We got the first photo of the 10 pointer last year, in August.  Although I can not remember if it was because that is when he started coming around or if that is when we started putting the cameras out. He looks scrawny and not nearly as healthy as some of the does that we have a...

We had just gotten back from snowmobiling when Dad said that there was a turkey outside.  We watched as more and more birds flew down and started pecking at the dirt spots on the ground.  At their closest, they were about 10 feet from the back steps.  I kept waiting for one to land on the snowmobile, but none did. We counted 14 in all.  The spent about an hour pecking at the dirt and roaming around the yard.  From there, they headed onto the mountain.  A few of them stayed near a water spot for the rest of the afternoon.  I am not sure if they were enjoying the block from the wind or if they were actually spending that much time pecking and drinking.  Either way, they were around and in no hurry. I am hoping that this flock hangs around until the spring season.  I want to get a turkey this year!

In search of our turkeys, we walked down this camp road.  It was around noon and there were some great spots to sit and call from along the way.  Right from the start we knew this was an animal haven!  The tracks and scat were all over the place.  Some of the tracks actually surprised us.  A fresh bear track. Check out those claws. Two bear tracks.  A better view of the palm of the paw. It was like Grand Central Station for turkey up and down both sides of the road. Turkey tracks and turkey scat. While we did not see any turkey that day, Brian did call in five Toms the next day.  The great thing about hunting and being outdoors is that you never know what sort of adventures you will have during the day.

I have been thinking about it since Friday.  The gobbling that just got closer and closer, seeing the quick movement in the dense trees and brush just in front of me, that black band across the top of those dark brown feathers and his white head stretching above the blow downs to find that purring hen that he was after.  I could hear the drumming and strutting as he got closer.  Finally, there he was in front of me.  He stepped out, his long neck leading his puffed out body into the slight clearing... The field where we started calling.  Dad and I woke up a little before 2:30am in order to have breakfast and meet our guide, Brian for our turkey hunt.   We got to these fields around 4:30am with just enough light coming up that we didnt need flashlights. Brian knew that there was a Tom around and that it would be a good place to start.   He brought along a blind for Dad and I.  It was raining a little as the first light of the day c...

On Thursday night, before our big outing with Brian , Dad and I sighted in our new shotgun.  We paced out 30 yards and started shooting at our make-shift turkey heads. Dad shooting at 30 yards. Dad's pattern. My pattern. My comment to Dad after I took two shots at this piece of paper: "As long as a turkey comes in from my left, I should be in good shape."  Oh the irony!  Dad and I were confident that as long as a turkey was within 30 yards, we would be in good shape.  I worked on setting the bead in the middle of the gun so that it would not pull to the left.   It was a new gun for us and long - 28 inches but it was comfortable and I was confident that I could shoot it. We went to bed around 8pm so that we wwould somewhat functional when the alarm went go off at 2:30am. What happened next has been playing over and over in my head ever since...

Here we go! Turkey season has kicked off in Maine and as Dad and I are getting ready to head out with my friend Brian , I can not help but think of where we were a year ago . I wanted to shoot a turkey while I was pregnant so that I could say that I got both a deer and turkey while waddling around in the woods.  It didn't happen but Dad and I learned a lot about this new critter that we were hunting, which is why I asked Brian to take us out for a day.  We need to learn how close they need to be to us in order to take a successful shot and we need to learn how to get them to come to us.  We were successful last year in having them call back to us, but we were not able to get them to come to us.  I think (hope) that is the missing piece. New this year, Mainers can hunt all day (instead of just the am) and can take two bearded birds.  We have SO many turkey here that this is necessary to keep the population somewhat under control.  Dad has been seeing ...