Season wrapped in a tortilla..... Couldnt say nutshell, someone else already did!

[longbeardfever4ever]

well, someone else had already said in a nutshell so i had to change it:D! I had been hearing reports of people seeing flocks of a hundred+ birds in early April so i was PUMPED. I had gotten a bunch of calls over the winter but my favorite was the M.A.D. Heavy Metal Aluminator. My dad and i went out on youth day and we were not set up 10 minutes and had a bird within 150 yards double, triple, and quadruple gobbling! We were not even calling yet and this bird was going CRAZY! So we let out some soft tree yelps and he hammered right back. We started hearing other gobblers around us within a couple of mountains but only 2 or 3. We could tell that thiss bird was definitely a Dominant Gobbler. About 15 minutes later we let out some yelps and nobody answered. This boy was already henned up at 6 am. We waited and left at 7:30, a Big mistake. That probably cost me that bird:o. So we got home and we were home about 30 minutes and what happens but a jake walks across the field in front of my house over across a stream. So i let out some yelps on my MAD call and he gave a distorted little gobble. He wasnt very interested though:). That same morning at about 10 we had 2 gobblers behind our house sounding off with no avail! so i went back and had them gobbling at every call but they wouldnt come in. All in all a pretty exciting youth day! A couple days later i see a dominant bird strutting with about 8-9 hens 300 yards from our house and on private property:mad:. Next morning i spotted him again, same place, same full fan. So i decided to start going out behind our house to scout for gobblers. The first morning i had 4 gobblers answer right away and then hen up. Then that week i talked to a gobbler across the road and nearly called him in, but the gobbler was spooked after some close shotgun blasts. A couple days later i did the same thing but he was held up in heavy cover and wouldnt come! The second morning i had 5-6 gobblers and the third morning i had 8+ gobblers surrounding me. I nearly called 2 or them in but these boys were not goin downhill! So we went back up to the public land and lost the bird that we had heard earlier but still heard about 8-10 different birds within 300-700 yards. The next week was the same so we went out behind our house. The birds didnt feel much like gobblin by then. except for of course the 2 gobblers ACROSS the road:mad:. So i scouted and called more that week and found a different hot spot. This is close to a stand of pines but they were roosting in lone hemlocks. I had 3 birds answering all of my calls and bumped a hen off the roost. I was within 20 yards of that roosted gobbler when he shut up. So next morning i go out and they have roosted on the other side of the stream. i blew my hs strut hammerin crow twice and 2 birds answered. I blew it again and they once more fired back. So, with my voice i went wakk wakk wakk wakk, wakk wakk wakk WAAKKK! and they went nuts! i did it once more and while they gobbled i crept to within 40 yards and they had no idea that i was there. But then for no obvious reason the gobblers treehopped back into a stand of pines on POSTED property and wouldnt sound off. I was then left with a tree full of clucking hens:(. The next saturday we went out and didnt hear a thing. It had poured overnight and they had moved who knows where! i went scouting some the next week and didnt hear a bird. So we ended unsuccessful, a bit frustrated, but very Excited for the year to come! Not to mention this fall!

[PA_RIDGE_RUNNER]

Sounds like you had a grand time. I live in Centre Cy and although I had a fair number of gobblers located things didn't work out for me either.