Well I started the season last Tuesday morning with a young man that has some physical handicaps. I really wanted to get him a bird and had 3 different good birds in front of him and he just could not keep still long enough to get a shot and spooked every one of them.
I didn't get a chance to go back out till Thursday morning and I just went to watch the birds and see where they were going. I picked a spot they frequent after fly down and saw 4 big birds there that morning so I went back out in the evening and put up my blind. Here is my spot.
I was just sure that Friday morning would be a slam dunk for a shot but the birds came into the clearing and seemed spooky about the blind. I had not even set a decoy because they had walked right past that tree behind the blind every time I watched them. I did not even take a call with me that morning. I saw them but they went wide of the blind and walked about 30 yrds behind me. Much to far for my recurve skills. It was sure exciting though having 3 big toms gobbling around the blind. I got to go back for a Saturday evening hunt and set the hen decoy you see in the first pic about in the same spot and I set a jake decoy beside her looking her way. There were some guys out fishing and the pond is right behind the blind...I took the pic of the blind from the pond dam. I could still hear birds gobble up in the timber every once in awhile so I just kept quiet till the fishermen left. After I heard their truck leave, I gave a few yelps and some soft purrs and got a gobble. I called sparingly and heard a gobble every now and then but none seemed to be getting closer. All of a sudden, one gobbled right behind the blind and I looked around and what I think was probably the bird I eventually killed was coming to the decoys at about 50 yrds. About that time I hear a noise on the other side of the blind and there is a herd of cattle that have walked up and are sniffing the decoys and licking them. I threw a stick at them and they started sticking their nosed into the blind. A good whack with a limb of the black widow stopped that but I could not get them to leave the decoys alone and eventually the bird just walked off gobbling every now and then but would not come back with the cattle around...and they stayed till dark.