Last night as I headed out to my car I smelled pine in the air. It was really strange because I live in the Phoenix. I often smell the creosote after it has rained, which is very pleasant, but last night I could smell pine. It was the honey sweet pine smell of Ponderosa forest, either it came drifting down from Mt. Ord 50 miles away or it came to me through the ethereal to remind me of where I wish I was.
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Smell of the Pines
Last night as I headed out to my car I smelled pine in the air. It was really strange because I live in the Phoenix. I often smell the creosote after it has rained, which is very pleasant, but last night I could smell pine. It was the honey sweet pine smell of Ponderosa forest, either it came drifting down from Mt. Ord 50 miles away or it came to me through the ethereal to remind me of where I wish I was.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Trying Something New
Turkey season is coming up soon and I've been thinking about successful hunting techniques. It is so imperative to be in a good spot early in the morning while it is still dark. Last year, I had what I consider some success in my hunt. I wasn't able to get a bird, but I have the begginings of a new technique that I think long term will really help me be successful. This year I would like to find some more concentrated hot spots like the one where I killed my first turkey. Here is my plan on how I'm going to do it.
First a little background on what I have done in the past and how I think it has held me back a little bit. I have had little to no success "roosting" the birds. Most of the time in the places I've hunted the turkeys don't want to gobble much in the evening, so my morning hunt has always been a bit of a crap shoot and is chosen by turkey sightings while driving around or where I have found fresh sign. I would get settled into a spot well before sunrise and hope that I was in a good location. To some degree I've been lucky and gotten close to roosting turkeys using these methods, but often I've heard no gobbles in the morning or sometimes I'll hear a gobble but way off in the distance. In my mind no gobbles meant that there WAS a gobbler nearby and that he just wasn't gobbling. Also, if I heard one way off in the distance that meant to me that he could hear me and would eventually come to my call. I would be wary of getting up and moving, because I didn't want to disrupt the area that I was in and thereby cause these turkeys to leave.
Well I have found out in the last two or three years that the woods in New Mexico are a big place and an area is likely quiet because there isn't anything there. Second, that turkey that I hear a half a mile away has his own things to do and isn't likely to come running a half a mile to my call. Third, making plans and executing tactics based on what you DON'T see and hear is very tempting, but usually futile. Unless your reaction is to move on, turkeys that you can't see or hear are really hard to hunt. This seems like common sense, but when you have been working your butt off and you have little or no evidence of turkeys in the area, it is very easy come up with scenarios that apparently make your hard work worthwhile.
This year I plan to for sure move toward turkeys that I hear way off in the distance. Then the next morning start where I heard him last and hope he's still nearby. In this way I'll eventually home in on him and hopeful find a new hot spot in doing so.
First a little background on what I have done in the past and how I think it has held me back a little bit. I have had little to no success "roosting" the birds. Most of the time in the places I've hunted the turkeys don't want to gobble much in the evening, so my morning hunt has always been a bit of a crap shoot and is chosen by turkey sightings while driving around or where I have found fresh sign. I would get settled into a spot well before sunrise and hope that I was in a good location. To some degree I've been lucky and gotten close to roosting turkeys using these methods, but often I've heard no gobbles in the morning or sometimes I'll hear a gobble but way off in the distance. In my mind no gobbles meant that there WAS a gobbler nearby and that he just wasn't gobbling. Also, if I heard one way off in the distance that meant to me that he could hear me and would eventually come to my call. I would be wary of getting up and moving, because I didn't want to disrupt the area that I was in and thereby cause these turkeys to leave.
Well I have found out in the last two or three years that the woods in New Mexico are a big place and an area is likely quiet because there isn't anything there. Second, that turkey that I hear a half a mile away has his own things to do and isn't likely to come running a half a mile to my call. Third, making plans and executing tactics based on what you DON'T see and hear is very tempting, but usually futile. Unless your reaction is to move on, turkeys that you can't see or hear are really hard to hunt. This seems like common sense, but when you have been working your butt off and you have little or no evidence of turkeys in the area, it is very easy come up with scenarios that apparently make your hard work worthwhile.
This year I plan to for sure move toward turkeys that I hear way off in the distance. Then the next morning start where I heard him last and hope he's still nearby. In this way I'll eventually home in on him and hopeful find a new hot spot in doing so.
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