Bachflock Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 I got out a bit later than I had originally planned. The sun was a solid 10-15 degrees above the horizon and casting some pretty long shadows. I believe it was about 7:40-7:45am when I hit the fields. The land owner was just home from work so I was able to chat with him a bit about the layout of the land etc. He said its been 2 weeks since he's seen a turkey - I haven't decided if that is good, bad, or indifferent yet. So, I headed off across a clover field toward a stand of willow and mixed brush and that all bordered a small soybean field. 10 steps in I encountered my first barrage of either hungry or angry mosquitoes, not sure which, but they thought I was a likely meal and did everything possible to take advantage. I saw a TON of deer sign. Found two puffball mushrooms - one the size of a softball and the other, without exaggeration, the size of a basketball. If I was shroon hunting I might have picked them up but I was 15 min into my scout and didn't want to lug them around or walk them back to the car already. Before it was all said and done I covered about 1/2 of the land that will be available to hunt. It included soybean, clover, and hay fields, and mix stands of trees and brush today. I didn't make it over by the corn. Wanted to but 2 hours into it all I couldn't hack the mosquitoes any longer. At one point I was in a stand of beech and such and the buzz from the mosquitoes was, literally, so loud I couldn't hear anything else in the woods. You ought to see the welts on my temples and cheeks! Final scouting report: Already mentioned the two large puff ball mushrooms. Two different species of warbler - haven't identified them yet. Two gray squirrel and an immature bald eagle. I was done once the eagle flew out of the tree about 45 yards from me. I knew I wouldn't see much. Cool thing about that deal was it wasn't overly concerned about me and made a big, slow circle around me never getting more than 50 yards away and only maybe 30 ft up in the air. He circled around and flew over the tree he had been perched on and headed west toward the Lake Michigan which is about 2 miles, if that, from where I'll be hunting. It was neat to watch. Turkey sign - not a ton but I didn't leave disappointed. I found two wing feathers and a tail feather from a gobbler, my guess a jake. It didn't appear to be full size but the coloration was the same. One wing feather appeared to be from an adult and the other was much smaller - likely from a bigger poult. The feathers weren't all together - all in different areas of the land I covered. In one stand of woods I found a large scrap area and some turkey droppings. Again, not a lot but enough to give me an idea. I found acorns, wild grapes, feral crab apples, and even quite a few old beech nuts laying about not to mention the fields this is all in between. I'm hopeful but being realistic about all this. The turkey's will be there but getting myself there at the right time will be the clincher. Suggestions or advice welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HoppeMan Posted September 6, 2007 Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 Sounds good I haven't gotten out and done any serious scouting yet, but I will soon. Got a few sets of timber I gotta watch. Take care, Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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