Dan Geddings: The Man Cave

Posted

It is a small tract of land, close by the highway. Cars roar down the road, headed to some unknown destination. All of the other hunt club land lies across the busy road, where there is room to get away from the steady hum of traffic. There was a mobile home on the tract several years ago and a small out building with attached shed. The mobile home is gone now, but the small building and shed are still there. A powerline extends from the highway to the home site. There is a gate at the highway, and a good all-weather road leads into the property.

This past fall, a deer stand was installed near the home site, and a food plot was planted on the powerline right of way. The place is so small that it's overlooked by most of the hunters. I hunted the stand a couple of times, saw some deer but didn't take one. Another club member shot a buck there, early in the season, and a doe was taken later, toward the end of the season.

A portion of the powerline right-of-way is visible from the highway, and I always try to glance down that section when I drive past, looking for deer or turkeys. The powerline extends away from the road at a slight angle, and depending on your direction of travel, it's hard to see down that section while driving past at highway speed.

Back in early January, I was driving past around midday and glanced back over my shoulder at the narrow right-of-way. There were three big longbeards standing just off the highway. I didn't slow down or stop because I knew that the difference in traffic noise would cause them to step out of sight into the surrounding woods.

I scout for turkeys year-round but get more intense about it as the turkey season approaches. I've seen some big flocks showing up in the fields and got some good trail camera pictures. The weather has been so bad lately that I haven't been out early in the morning listening for gobblers, until recently. It's late winter, and spring seems far away right now. I've seen some strutting activity in the big flocks, so I know they will also be gobbling. Gobbling will tell you where they are without actually seeing them.

We had some better weather this past weekend, but I couldn't get out due to other obligations. And besides, it was too cold. Then Monday, more rain. I think turkeys will gobble in the rain, but I don't like to get out in it.

I got up early Tuesday morning and was standing near a food plot where I've been getting some good trail camera pictures. It was clear and cold and still. Perfect conditions for a gobbler to sound off. Sunrise gave no color to the eastern horizon, just brighter and brighter light. I heard what I thought was a gobble in a distant swamp, but I wasn't sure. A few minutes later another gobble, but it was far away on another property. Crows called, songbirds sang, and woodcocks twittered overhead, but no more turkeys gobbled. I was disappointed.

I got up early Wednesday and went to another location where I had been seeing a big flock of turkeys. Again, just songbirds and crows. At least there was a bright orange sunrise, but there were no gobbles. The Man Cave was nearby, so I decided to go there and do some scouting. It was late morning, and I wasn't expecting to hear any gobbling, but maybe I could find some good sign. I opened the gate and drove in just to get my truck away from the highway.

The food plot starts out in front of the deer stand, and I realized the ground there was packed hard from the recent rains. It would be hard to see a track there. Then, about halfway down the plot, I saw droppings. Hen droppings and a portion of a hen track. That was encouraging.

I went on to a bend in the food plot then turned into the open hardwoods. There were turkey scratchings in the leaves. This was also a good sign. As I was walking through the woods, I thought that it might be a good idea to check this area early one morning for gobbling. I turned back toward the road, and something caught my eye in the soft sand of the driveway. It was a huge gobbler track.

The Man Cave might be a small area, but now it will be big on my list for the turkey season. Maybe I will hear that call of the wild there that stirs my heart.

Email Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com