The next day (Sunday...no hunting) I spotted a bird I really wanted to kill, and on Monday I atoned for my lapse in marksmanship skills by shooting this double-banded gobbler.
A quick drive to North Carolina put me onto another gobbling bird that I soon failed to bring to bag (yeah,
another miss!). By the time this evil, hainted ghost-tom had finished almost noiselessly circling my position, I was pretzel'ed 270-degrees to my weak side (I shoot left-handed, so counter-clockwise) so far that I couldn't even pull the trigger with my left hand...I had to reach over and use my right index finger! Needless to say, I boogered that situation about as badly as it could be boogered. Why I didn't just switch over and shoot him right handed never even occurred to me until the next day. DOH....brainfart! The longer I hunt turkeys and the more I know, the more ways I find to screw the pooch!
Anyhoo, after a week of toughing it out in an area that held too few birds and far too many bird
hunters, I moved operations into a section of the Nantahala NF that really appealed to me. Beautiful scenery, good number of birds, and moderate preassure. I managed to kill 2 birds in 3 days, despite more heavy rain. Here's one of 'em.
Next up on the schedule was a return to southern Illinois...a place that I had hunted twice previously, and where I had killed a pair of toms in only about 3 total hours of hunting time stretched across 2 days. I thought it was gonna be a cake-walk. Boy, was I ever in for a rude surprise!!!
The rain started before dawn of Day 1, and by the time I finally had to leave for home 6 days later, it was still raining...day and night, and night and day! I have never seen such rain! The Ohio River hit an all-time high flood mark during that time period, and gobbling toms were practically non-existant. Then, I met up with our own Hobbes, and received a lesson in humility when he and his brother both went out and killed birds seemingly at will. In all fairness, Hobbes was absolutely top-notch and extremely helpful in trying to get me into birds, but the weather was just too much to overcome. To add further insult to injury, I then heard 3 birds gobbling on my final two days, but I boogered all three by pressing the issue and getting too close. Guess I was just too eager to get something done. I left for home with my tail tucked firmly between my legs, and whimpering the whole way...shut out for the first time in 64 hunting trips. However, the biggest disappointment was just in the way I hunted, because I didn't give it my all, and performed poorly whenever I had the slightest chance to make something happen. Oh well...yet another lesson re-learned...NEVER take anything for granted, and always hunt SMART!
As bad as Illinois was to me, my home state of Indiana was that good. I hunted with an old friend the first 2 days of the season without anything to show for our efforts but good times and good companionship, but then I hunted alone on Day 3 and shot a really nice tom after a very rewarding hunt.
Back ahead of schedule, I decided to make a run for Missouri. First thing I did was notify our own Neill Prater that I was coming, and although we had never met before, I had always admired his writings on these talk forums. Neill ended up being just about the kindest, most helpful fella imaginable, and I am thrilled that I got to finally meet him and his charming wife. I also killed a couple of nice toms at noon and 11:15 AM, allowing me to head on out to Iowa even further ahead of schedule. Here is one of them.
Now, I love Iowa turkey hunting. Where I hunt, it is just about the prettiest place imaginable, and the state is absolutely smack-full of both deer and turkeys. For instance, despite 35 mph winds on Day 1, I heard no less than 7 hard-gobbling toms, and killed a bird that afternoon in an absolute gail-force wind! However, I just might never hunt there again, because the $235 fee charged is just plain too-danged-much money for a single bird license! That is a shame, but I believer their DNR's greed is far beyond reason. I will certainly miss Iowa's hunting, but there are simply too many quality places to hunt across the nation, which offer just as good or better opportunities, and at far-lower costs.
Since I was now so far ahead of schedule, I decided to hunt Kansas. One of my oldest friends from home came out to meet me, and for a week we toured around various parts of the state. I managed to kill a pair of toms, but Tracy wasn't quite so lucky....he missed two that I called in for him!
As a final stop, I drove up to Michigan and hunted with another old friend, Christene. Rain once again dampened our clothes and spirits, but late in the evening of the first day, I called in no less than 7 red heads and a few hens. There may have been more, but when the first longbeard offered a classic "shoot me now" pose at 21 yards, I obliged. Although he weighed 23 pounds and sported about 11 inches of beard hanging, his legs were totally slick....no spurs, whatsoever. I was a little disappointed in that, but then again, I'm glad I shot him to hopefully get that gene outa the pool!
So ended my 2011 campaign. As I said, it was tough and everything brought home was totally earned by hard work and perseverence, coupled with some good luck along the way. It will be a season not soon forgotten, and long remembered for the extreme and adverse weather which made it all such a challenge.
