Well, the 2022 Turkey season has come to a close, at least for me it has. Needless to say it did not go as I had had hoped it would go. If you have been following along on our YouTube channel you know how it went. This is where I will remind you to go subscribe to our channel and check out all our content if you have not already. Thanks! So here we are at the end of another turkey season with unfilled tags in my pocket. Really had hoped this would be the year that I finally bag my first wild turkey. As they say, there is always next year.
Now I have to say this is only my fourth year ever hunting turkeys. I did not grow up hunting turkeys back in Pennsylvania. It was not something my dad did as there really were not any turkeys to hunt when he was growing up and never got into it as an adult. Therefore, I was not introduced to it until I was stationed in North Carolina. There I had one halfhearted attempt at turkey hunting but it never came to anything. To be honest I had no clue what I was doing and just fumbled around the woods. After that I had a several year hiatus until I moved to Virginia. When I moved here in early 2020, right before COVID hit, I was able to get out and do some of my first real turkey hunting. Still though I was pretty lost as to what I was doing. I did not really know how to call or how to even locate birds. Last year was a little better but I was not able to get out as much as I had hoped. I did call a tom into about 80 yards so that was pretty cool. A step in the right direction at least. So that left me feeling like this year would finally be the year.
I came into this season feeling pretty good about my chances. Even though I did not get to do the amount of scouting I had hoped to do I did lay out a plan for where and when I was going to hunt. I even planned out some time off from work to give myself some extra days during the season to hunt. My original plan on where I was going to hunt ended up not working out as planned but my back up plan started out promising. Had birds gobbling off the roost on opening morning and that was such a morale boost. It really did give me some confidence. Only problem was that they shut up as soon as they hit the ground. Talking to people around here that seemed to be the case everywhere. The next few trips out all played out the same way. I was getting closer but the birds just did not want to play the game.
Finally, on about my fourth hunt I got into some serious action. I was actually getting ready to call it as it was starting to rain and had not heard a bird. All of a sudden, I heard a gobble and when I called back, I got a response. So of course, I got all pumped up and moved in to try and make a play. Had to make a quick move but was able to get into a position I though was good and I actually had a bird pitch over from the opposite ridgeline where they were calling from. Then everything when quiet and I thought maybe I had busted them until I heard a gobble done below me. Here we go I thought. I am actually calling in a tom! Next thing I know I have a bird pop out in front of me and it sees me and takes off. I am sure that is the end of it but I still hear birds down below me. So, I keep calling every once in while trying to be careful. Finally, I see a read head come out from behind a tree. I cannot tell if it’s the tom though and I keep watching. At this point I am not calling anymore. As this whole thing unfolds, I end up with about five jakes in front of me in range with a couple of clear shots.
Now I am sure you are thinking it’s in the bag at this point and I am going to have a bird down. However, I already alluded to the fact this year did not end up being the year I had hoped for. The problem was I was indecisive and hesitated. This being the first opportunity on a turkey I should have just taken the shot on the first jake I saw. Unfortunately, I hesitated and did not take a shot when I should have and the birds got squirrely on me. That is when I decided to take a shot, just as they took off flying back across the to the other ridgeline. Of course, it was a bad shot and I whiffed it. Talk about feeling pretty dumb. I walked out of the woods that morning with the just missed my first turkey walk of shame.
The rest of the season I really did not get any more action. It was a tough season all around. I did have some people I know that made it happen in the later part of the season but for me I was not able to finish out the season. Had some things come up that prevented me for getting out at the end and also from getting up to Pennsylvania to hunt. So now it is on to the next year. I have not ventured into fall turkey hunting as I am more focused on deer hunting and filling the freezer at that point. Next spring though will be my year. I am going on record now and saying I will finally get it done. However, I will say I still had a lot fun this year. Learned a lot and I truly feel I walked out of the woods on my last hunt a better turkey hunter. I hope, for those that turkey hunt, you had a good season and were able to bag a bird to two. Looking forward to what the next year will bring. Stay tuned because my turkey advetures are far from over.
