The majority of the hens are sitting on nests right now, which gives hunters a late season opportunity to find a lonely gobbler.

This year more than any other, I dedicated a lot of time to turkey hunting. The bird I picked out prior to the season is still out there, and I’m down to one more week before having to pack away the gear until next year. One of the things I’ve learned this spring is sometimes it can be easy, meaning no matter what you do on the call, the bird is coming and will give you an opportunity. Another thing I’ve learned is sealing the deal can sometimes be the hard part. I used to think it was calling, but I’m changing my thinking on that. Finally, I figured out how how to turn frustration into enjoyment, which is a good thing when turkey hunting. Let me explain.

Yesterday I had a well though-out setup that included my blind in an area where I could see the birds coming in my direction from a good distance. I’ve been out enough days to know what their pattern is, so I figured I’d just cut them off along their route. Since the giant tom I’ve been flirting with is roosting further away, I decided I’d be willing to take a lesser bird if one presented itself. There are three gobblers in the group I’m watching, with two being jakes and the other somewhere in between. Just when it looked like things were going according to plan, I have to sit in the blind and listen to the “big guy” come through gobbling his head off as he walked through an area I had set up in many times previously! On top of that, the birds that normally stroll through where I was set up decided they would zig instead of zag, and walk through yet another area that I was using for an ambush location. This has been the story of my hunts over the last week or so, and in a strange way, it has been great!