So it’s just barely light enough to avoid bumping into trees when I get set up...nylon camo tarp spread like an A-frame on a rope just overhead expecting rain, I’m 6-8 feet in behind a wall of young wild pines, a few of which I’ve trimmed so I can get a shot charge through a couple places, located on the edge of a weed field and the heavens opened up as predicted. No sweat, the tarp is huge, everything under it is bone dry, I’m leaning back in my little turkey chair, got a thermos of coffee, water, some grub, life is good.
And at 7:00am, a hen appears out of the woods about 75yds away at one end of the weed field and starts foraging down the middle of the field in the rain...a good sign I think, but nothing else shows.
Then at 9:30am, out steps a big beautiful Tom from about the same place...a lot of red and white on his head, big beard...moving very slow and deliberate, would stand motionless except for slight head movements and look down that field for 2 minutes at a time, I assume for hens...and every few minutes shake like a dog to get the rain off.
Since I have not yet had a Tom respond to any calls I’ve made this year, I decided the best thing for me was to stay quiet and see if by chance he might mosey a little closer into gun range...but instead he began foraging down the center of the weed field like the hen had done and out of my limited field of vision...but knowing hens normally feed that field in a huge U-turn, I continued to stay quiet on the assumption he'd curl around and come right back up in front of my boots, but an hour passed and no Tom.
Patience, coffee, sammaches and at 11:30, movement out in the weed field...it’s the Tom and now two hens foraging back up through the middle of the field and he’s much closer than before, at about 50yds but still beyond my 40yd max...I’m thinking maybe this will be my day...the rain has let up by then and when they step clear of the weeds, there’s several yards of bare area in front of the woods line and the hens both stop there and spend the next 30-45 minutes preening, and getting their feathers all back in order.
Meanwhile the Tom is standing around like guys do and starts walking slowly towards the tree line like he’s going into the woods but gets to the edge and turns, following it around towards my position. OK, its show time...heart rate picks up a little, I slip off a glove, cock the set trigger on the Flintlock, and wait for him to cross the 40 yard line into the clear. He’s now at a 45* angle to my left at about 40 yards and stops on a raised area of ground I guess for better visibility out over the field...but now there’s a few 5’ pine trees smack-dab between him and me...the pine limbs & pine straw would shred the pattern so I have to wait.
He stayed there the whole time those hens were fooling with their feathers and when they finally finished, the hens walked over to him and they all just stepped into the woods and vanished. I sat untill 1:00pm and packed it in.
And at 7:00am, a hen appears out of the woods about 75yds away at one end of the weed field and starts foraging down the middle of the field in the rain...a good sign I think, but nothing else shows.
Then at 9:30am, out steps a big beautiful Tom from about the same place...a lot of red and white on his head, big beard...moving very slow and deliberate, would stand motionless except for slight head movements and look down that field for 2 minutes at a time, I assume for hens...and every few minutes shake like a dog to get the rain off.
Since I have not yet had a Tom respond to any calls I’ve made this year, I decided the best thing for me was to stay quiet and see if by chance he might mosey a little closer into gun range...but instead he began foraging down the center of the weed field like the hen had done and out of my limited field of vision...but knowing hens normally feed that field in a huge U-turn, I continued to stay quiet on the assumption he'd curl around and come right back up in front of my boots, but an hour passed and no Tom.
Patience, coffee, sammaches and at 11:30, movement out in the weed field...it’s the Tom and now two hens foraging back up through the middle of the field and he’s much closer than before, at about 50yds but still beyond my 40yd max...I’m thinking maybe this will be my day...the rain has let up by then and when they step clear of the weeds, there’s several yards of bare area in front of the woods line and the hens both stop there and spend the next 30-45 minutes preening, and getting their feathers all back in order.
Meanwhile the Tom is standing around like guys do and starts walking slowly towards the tree line like he’s going into the woods but gets to the edge and turns, following it around towards my position. OK, its show time...heart rate picks up a little, I slip off a glove, cock the set trigger on the Flintlock, and wait for him to cross the 40 yard line into the clear. He’s now at a 45* angle to my left at about 40 yards and stops on a raised area of ground I guess for better visibility out over the field...but now there’s a few 5’ pine trees smack-dab between him and me...the pine limbs & pine straw would shred the pattern so I have to wait.
He stayed there the whole time those hens were fooling with their feathers and when they finally finished, the hens walked over to him and they all just stepped into the woods and vanished. I sat untill 1:00pm and packed it in.
