Keith couldn't make it out the next week, so I was solo on the next time I went out. At first light I crested a ridge in the dark and listened. Soon a bird gobbled to the west, then another to the north, and another....! Think I heard half a dozen birds sounding off! A great start to the day - there were birds in the area!
I started working towards the closest bird, but had to cross an open area to get there. Not far across and I spotted a couple of hens, and think they spotted me too, that slowly went into the timber. That tom stopped calling after that. Continuing further I stopped and listened often. Birds were calling, but always over a ridge or around the next hill. Eventually I made my way around a steep rock edge and heard 2 birds gobbling fairly close. One was on the ridge top and another was closer, in a shallow draw a few hundred yards ahead.
I started making my way closer to the bird in the draw, being careful to keep a ridge edge or clump of pines between us. I was getting close, 100 yards or so, and climbed into a thick clump of pines thinking I could set up. Not finding something I liked there, I looked higher. A steep rock bank was a little further up, with a pine growing at the bottom edge. I looked carefully to make sure I could get there without getting spotted, climbed up to the pine and tucked myself in beside the trunk. Another smaller pine was in front of me which gave even more cover if the bird came in. If he did come in, he would need to get within 20 yards to see where I was. It felt like a perfect setup.
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