Spring Turkey Season

So far, Mike and James both have taken toms out at The Land, so I didn't really know what to expect for my season.  With the baseball season winding down and lots of things going on at home, it was hard for me to put in a lot of time in the field.  I was able to get out for a few hours after practice on Thursday afternoon.  I was in the blind by 5:30.  I decided to sit by the wood pile where I sealed the deal last year and where both birds were shot already this year.  Around 6:45, I spotted six turkeys about 100 yards to west.  Through the binoculars I counted three hens, 2 toms and a jake.  While the turkeys never made their way towards my location, I was confident that they roosted on the wood line.  The next morning (Friday), I decide to sit in the same location, hoping the turkeys were still in the area.  Sure enough, around 5:45 am the same birds appeared in the field and this time there were coming my way.  Unfortunately, they never made their way close enough and passed me at about 80 yards and made their way into the woods above the houses.  I decided to hurry to the north side of the property to potentially cut them off, however after sitting in the far north field for 2 hours I never saw a bird.  Feeling a little defeated, I made my way back to my original location to scout a spot for Saturday morning.  I decided to set up above the houses where the turkeys entered the woods earlier.  Hoping they would do the same thing on Saturday morning and walk right towards me.  I was in the blind well before sunlight hoping that my plan would pay off.  At one point, right after sunrise, I could hear 8 different toms gobbling on the roost.  I had two pretty close behind me and could hear three other toms gobbling from the usual roosting spot.  Unfortunately I never saw a bird.  The two toms behind me went to the north and I never saw a bird come from the "usual" spot.  That put an end to my spring turkey season.  Pretty good overall for the ECO boys with two toms taken at The Land. 

NFAA Leauge - Week 2

Shot my best round of league this week.  After a less than stellar start, I managed a 235 with 10 X's.  I actually had a single X on the last 7 targets.  I decided not to take any warm up shots this week so that I didn't get so worn out shooting the course.  That combined with a few sight adjustments and keeping a close eye on my form made for more consistent shots and a higher score.

Shotgun

I haven't had a chance to post about my shotgun saga.  Long story short, my expensive Winchester SX3 shotgun literally blew up in my hands on a pheasant hunting trip to North Dakota in October 2009.  When I returned from ND, I immediately sent my gun to Browning Arms.  A few weeks later, they sent me a letter stating that they would fix the gun for $400, which was a 40% discount.  Browning Arms told me that it was a "classic barrel obstruction" more than likely caused by faulty ammunition.  They recommended that I contact the ammunition company, to see what they could do for me.  After working with the ammunition company for months, they finally agreed to cover the cost of fixing my shotgun.  Obviously, I'm very pleased that the Olin Corp. is taking care of the customer.  It's great to finally get some "good news" for once.  In addition, yesterday I received a letter confirming they were fixing my gun AND they sent $40 worth of coupons good for Winchester products.

NFAA League - Marshall Bluff Bowhunters

Last week was the first week for this year's NFAA League at Marshall Bluff.  Instead of shooting at 3D foam animals at unknown distances, you shoot at black/white targets at known distances ranges from 15 feet all the way to 80 yards!!  Needless to say, it is quite a challenge!!  Last week was "Average" week and I scored a 199.  It's not a great score, but it is a starting point.  I had a cool encounter with an owl after shooting the third target.  While walking to the target to score my arrows, an owl (about the size of a football) was sitting on a log right next to the trail.  It scared the crap out of me.  I decided to go score my arrows and come back to take a closer look.  I was able to locate the owl in my binoculars from a farther distance.  He was an amazing site.  It was a great experience. 

This week was the first official week of the league.  I scored a 205.  My main goal is to just get better every week, so.....so far so good!!