Search This Blog

Saturday, April 23, 2016

West Virginia Turkey Hunting (Blog 291)

This morning I drove to a mountain in Monroe County, West Virginia to turkey hunt, and, unfortunately, as I feared would be the case at this stage of the season, the gobblers were all henned up. I used to bemoan the fact that I couldn't convince gobblers to answer me after they flew down from the roost, but, now, I understand why this is typically the case in this part of April.

The three toms I heard at sunrise never gobbled on the ground.  Later in the morning, I was hoping that they would start up again, but the wind was howling on the mountain, and I probably would not have heard them if they had gobbled after 10:00.

Still, it was an interesting day afield.  I heard my first scarlet tanagers, worm-eating warblers, and yellow-throated vireos of the spring.  In a few days, I expect to hear my first yellow-billed cuckoo.

And in about a week when more of the hens have gone to the nest, I expect a gobbler will come charging in one morning.

No comments:

Post a Comment