TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
I had the official first outing of my season 2025-2026 on Saturday. I was a little bummed that I didn't get a chance to close out my prior season with a coyote hunt but February was just too busy.
But I have a game camera that needed a new antenna and a new piece of public I wanted to scout for an Early May turkey hunt, so I drove out to my dad's house and picked him up.
We spent most of Saturday driving out to the public hunting area where I have my camera. I hadn't received any pics since I moved it in late January and I was pretty sure I had broken the antenna. So Dad and I hiked in and found the camera and replaced the camera. I also had to replace the batteries. It was a beautiful day and the hike was nice. I checked the pics I had missed and there was some deer activity but no turkeys. Although I think the turkeys show up in April when the hens get broody. It is smack dab in the middle of good nesting habitat.
After that, we drove to another public hunting area that I had never been to. It was supposed to be a 30 minute drive, but we missed a turn and had to back track and then we saw about 20 swans feeding in a field and stopped to put our binoculars on them. In the process we missed another turn and ended up driving about 5 miles down the road and had to back track a bit. I think it took us more like an hour to make the drive.
We pulled in to the first parking area and immediately saw a bald eagle riding the thermals above us. While we were watching that one, we realized there were about 5 of them up in the air.
We hiked in about 400-500 yards in to the hardwoods, skirting an ag field to the north. It was nice and open under the canopy and there was a highpoint to the south that we were thinking about heading up to see the overview, when all of a sudden we heard a turkey. We stopped still and just stared as a hen appeared from the direction of the highpoint. She walked right up to about 5 feet from us and just kinda milled about. We took a bunch of pictures and really enjoyed the encounter.
I felt like we had seen enough of this part of the property and so we backed out and went around to another parking area to check out what looked like a clearing on ONX.
I probably should have paid attention to the topo lines, because that clearing was a bald at the top of a bluff that required us to gain about 120 feet in elevation. I don't think there's much chance I would want to hunt on top of the bluff, but it was a nice view.
All in all it was a great day with my dad and raised my hopes for a good hunt in a new place.
But I have a game camera that needed a new antenna and a new piece of public I wanted to scout for an Early May turkey hunt, so I drove out to my dad's house and picked him up.
We spent most of Saturday driving out to the public hunting area where I have my camera. I hadn't received any pics since I moved it in late January and I was pretty sure I had broken the antenna. So Dad and I hiked in and found the camera and replaced the camera. I also had to replace the batteries. It was a beautiful day and the hike was nice. I checked the pics I had missed and there was some deer activity but no turkeys. Although I think the turkeys show up in April when the hens get broody. It is smack dab in the middle of good nesting habitat.
After that, we drove to another public hunting area that I had never been to. It was supposed to be a 30 minute drive, but we missed a turn and had to back track and then we saw about 20 swans feeding in a field and stopped to put our binoculars on them. In the process we missed another turn and ended up driving about 5 miles down the road and had to back track a bit. I think it took us more like an hour to make the drive.
We pulled in to the first parking area and immediately saw a bald eagle riding the thermals above us. While we were watching that one, we realized there were about 5 of them up in the air.
We hiked in about 400-500 yards in to the hardwoods, skirting an ag field to the north. It was nice and open under the canopy and there was a highpoint to the south that we were thinking about heading up to see the overview, when all of a sudden we heard a turkey. We stopped still and just stared as a hen appeared from the direction of the highpoint. She walked right up to about 5 feet from us and just kinda milled about. We took a bunch of pictures and really enjoyed the encounter.
I felt like we had seen enough of this part of the property and so we backed out and went around to another parking area to check out what looked like a clearing on ONX.
I probably should have paid attention to the topo lines, because that clearing was a bald at the top of a bluff that required us to gain about 120 feet in elevation. I don't think there's much chance I would want to hunt on top of the bluff, but it was a nice view.
All in all it was a great day with my dad and raised my hopes for a good hunt in a new place.
