Thursday eve Pullit went to the honey hole(beautiful wheat plot in a river bottom) and managed to get a nice tom right off the bat. Dad and I drove around to several properties we normally hunt to scout and blind call a bit, but couldn't find any sign at all. We finally spotted a tom way off in a pasture adjacent to a property we could hunt, so we tried him, but he didn't want to cross the fence. Dad decided to try him the next morning and came up empty again. He got him to talk a good bit, but he wouldn't cross the fence again. It really wasn't ideal as he was in a clean cow pasture and the property we were on was brush, but it was worth a shot since it was the only bird we found Thursday eve. I tried several spots where we'd had success in previous years, but never heard a bird or saw any. It was a weird year, we always hear tons of birds and see them all over while driving around, but we didn't see them like usual and it was silent in most areas. We just had to run and gun. Pullit managed to bag another nice tom mid day Friday, so I decided to hunt with him as it was apparent his spot was the only area holding birds this year. We sat all eve, but no dice. They just weren't there like usual. Saturday morn I tried another area we'd had success in years past and actually called up some jakes, but never got on a tom. That afternoon I decided to go back to Pullit's honey hole and about 2pm we finally struck a bird in the creek bottom and it all unfolded quickly after that. He came out of the brush about 65yds out, strutted in to about 40yds, and I laid the hammer. Don't know if it was the tough season at home and there, but I was more nervous shooting that tom than I've been in a long time. My heart was beating so hard I could almost hear it
Sunday morn was silent as well.
New SA-459 officially broken in:
Dad didn't get a bird, a first for our group in TX as we usually get 3-4 a piece. It's hunting, so you never know. The guy who has the properties told us that they had some really cold weather and several snow and ice storms, so maybe that had something to do with it. The most concerning thing was that we always see tons of birds while driving around, but didn't see them this year. Heck, I've been out there at times and heard what sounded like 50+ some morns. For those places to not have any sign at all and be silent, sure makes it seem like something was up.
Looking fwd to chasing Rios again next year. Hopefully the birds will cooperate.
Good Luck,
Loder
