Well, I had high hopes for turkey season this year. Last year was a tough one and I should have had a bird or two but it never worked out right. The 6" of rain that came the weekend prior to the opener didn't affect my woods as bad as I thought because of the quasi drought we have been in. I still needed my hip waders though.
The swallow-tailed kites showed up on time and the rain lilies were popping like crazy
The first weekend was silent. The gobblers refused to talk so I did a lot more driving around than normal, checking out places where I have seen and heard birds, trying to get a gobble. One particular place was nice and open from a fresh burn so I got out and picked a tree to sit against and called. I had a gobbler come in and dance for me but he did not get close enough. He never once uttered a single gobble but lordy did he drum. Eventually he wandered off and I called it a day.
The next weekend continued in much the same way. One lone gobble and lots of flowers on the ground and in the trees
The next few weekends, I had to be in Jacksonville. My mom had to fly home to OR to take care of her Alzheimers ridden dad. She couldn't find a house sitter to feed the cats or have someone stay the night, so after talking to my bosses, I made plans to be working out of Jacksonville while she was gone. The plus side is that I would be there to try and trap feral cats that hang out at her place. They needed neutering/spaying very badly and there is an organization that does free spay/neuter for feral cats if they can be brought in in traps.
Instead of turkeying, I spent the weekend at the beach hunting other treasures.
Throughout the week I was there, I did my job of hunting cats and taking them to get fixed. In total, I caught two big ass raccoons, two toms (my main goal) and three females (not the main female I wanted but at least that is three less popping out kittens).
The two Toms made my mom the most happy. While I was gone, a wren had taken over my FJ Cruiser spare tire well. I came home and saw a wren bouncing around the FJ so I went to check it out and sure enough. It was stuffed full of nesting material. I didn't hear anything or see eggs so I pulled it all out. Turns out that Reggie let me know that there were babies in there. I stuck everything back in the wheel well and told them I'll see them later.
The swallow-tailed kites showed up on time and the rain lilies were popping like crazy
The first weekend was silent. The gobblers refused to talk so I did a lot more driving around than normal, checking out places where I have seen and heard birds, trying to get a gobble. One particular place was nice and open from a fresh burn so I got out and picked a tree to sit against and called. I had a gobbler come in and dance for me but he did not get close enough. He never once uttered a single gobble but lordy did he drum. Eventually he wandered off and I called it a day.
The next weekend continued in much the same way. One lone gobble and lots of flowers on the ground and in the trees
The next few weekends, I had to be in Jacksonville. My mom had to fly home to OR to take care of her Alzheimers ridden dad. She couldn't find a house sitter to feed the cats or have someone stay the night, so after talking to my bosses, I made plans to be working out of Jacksonville while she was gone. The plus side is that I would be there to try and trap feral cats that hang out at her place. They needed neutering/spaying very badly and there is an organization that does free spay/neuter for feral cats if they can be brought in in traps.
Instead of turkeying, I spent the weekend at the beach hunting other treasures.
Throughout the week I was there, I did my job of hunting cats and taking them to get fixed. In total, I caught two big ass raccoons, two toms (my main goal) and three females (not the main female I wanted but at least that is three less popping out kittens).
The two Toms made my mom the most happy. While I was gone, a wren had taken over my FJ Cruiser spare tire well. I came home and saw a wren bouncing around the FJ so I went to check it out and sure enough. It was stuffed full of nesting material. I didn't hear anything or see eggs so I pulled it all out. Turns out that Reggie let me know that there were babies in there. I stuck everything back in the wheel well and told them I'll see them later.
