On Saturday evenning, I was trying to analyze the last few trips into the turkey woods and then prepare a game plan for Monday morning for May 7.

The beginning of the second week of Pennsylvania’s turkey season finds many hunters still chasing tom.   Since I purchased a second turkey tag  from the Pennsylvania Game Commission, I am in a Huntingdon County woodlot waiting for daybreak attempting to fill that second tag.

So as we began week-two, turkey hunters were taking a look at their options and discussing all the variables.  Some say the spring mating season is almost over, or there are too many hens to occupy the gobblers, the gobblers have become call shy, hunting pressure is keeping them from gobbling, or all the “talkative” birds are dead.  There is some truth to these points and they do affect the turkeys just don’t let it affect your desire to hunt.

I believe that each spring season consists of several blocks of days when the turkeys change character so I try to recognize the change and adapt my effort.  Where I live in central Pennsylvania, we are currently in a period when gobblers call from the roost but get quiet quickly after fly down and never seem to gobble later in the morning.  You need to get to them quickly or lose the advantage. 

Why? Here is my theory (s).   #1 they gobble at daybreak and the hen (s) shows up. They fly down and go off  together.  Sometimes they will gobble a few times as they move off just to tempt you into following,.  #2 – They gobble at daybreak and no hens show up so they fly down and begin strutting and drumming as they quietly move to their strutting area.

When the gobblers get quiet I like to sit tight.  Moving around the woods when the birds are quiet is a losing proposition.  Most of my “calling/walking/excursions” end up spooking nearby birds or worse yet flushing a big tom that presents the tempting wing shot.  Because of the “scoped cannon” I carry into the woods, I have learned that this is a low percentage gamble. 

By the way, if you have not had the time to scout the strutting areas just remember the places where “pre-season” tom liked to strut.  He will be there again.  You also can try the location in the woods where you last heard a gobbler on a previous hunting trip.  Once the gobbler arrives at the strut area, he will gobble the location if no hens are waiting.  If they are there and he does not gobble, so you must refer to your scouting notes.

The next morning, I got up at 3:30 a.m. and left the house as quickly as possible. I was hiking into a remote area of Raystown Lake so I needed the extra time to be at the strutting area before dawn. As I shared my plan with my wife she made me take the cell phone to make it easier for me to call for help or to find my body if the mountain wins.  Some people have no faith, but I put it in my shirt pocket and turned it on just in case!

Hunting Raystown Lake requires a climb. Even the lower ridges are steep and the footing less than ideal. So I wore a light shirt and packed my camouflage jacket in my hunting vest.  By 4:00 a.m. I was disappearing into the moonlit woods. I did not need a flashlight once my eyes adjusted. 

Walking uphill and carrying a shotgun, extra ammunition, bottle of water and 58 years worth of carbohydrates made me forget the frosty morning air.  By the time I crested the ridge, I was really burning some of those carbs and looking forward to a gulp of that water!  It was 5:08 a.m. and I was more than a mile from the road on a ridge overlooking Raystown Lake.  I stopped wheezing, sipped some fluids and thanked the Lord for my good health and guiding me through the multiflora rose thicket at the foot of the ridge. 

At 5:30 turkeys began to gobble - one, then another and then a third from different directions.  I was happy to hear them, but disappointed because they were in another zip code and I was not taking another step.  Some were across the lake too.

Thirty-minutes later a gobble snapped me to attention, but I was not sure of the exact location.  A few minutes later when he gobbled again I knew he was on the ridge about 200 yards from me and slightly down hill toward the lake.  Another tom further down the ridge gobbled too.  I was in business.

The turkey nearest to me was moving uphill toward the strutting area at the top of the ridge were I was waiting.  When he was 100 yard below me, I called and he answered.   I waited and he called again after moving closer.  I called and he was quiet.  The next time he gobbled I put my gun up and check the TruGlow aim point scope.  Every thing was ready and waiting for the guest of honor.