Turkey Season 2013

I arrived at Camp on Nov. 8. It was a very cold evening. Opened camp and started the stove. It's always colder inside the cabin than it is outside. I knew it would be one of those nights to sleep in my clothes. This time, I arrived at camp with a full stomach. A good friend of mine from college just became a pastor in Liberty and he and his family invited me for dinner on the way up. The food and conversation was awesome! A awoke early on Saturday and decided to go up the big hollow across from camp. I had heard some turkeys over there in October. Temperature was around 22 degrees, but it was nice and warm in the camp. About halfway up the hollow, I noticed that first, I'm not as young as I used to be, and second, I began getting a cell-phone signal. Near the top of the hollow, I heard some turkeys fly down off roost. I heard them land, and dig for a while, and then walk off. They were not too far above me. Decided to sneak after them. Oh, how I was wishing for a little snow. I probably covered about 6-7 miles throughout the day, and never did find the turkeys. There were a lot of grapes in the head of the hollow. The turkeys and bear had been scratching quite a bit to find them. In the entire day, I did not see a single deer. A few scrapes and rubs, but not very many. Nothing like I would have seen 10 years ago. There is no question the deer herd is down considerably. Two things that I noticed this trip. Once I got on top the mountain I had a full cell phone signal. I never had that before. They must be constructing more towers. While it felt weird to be getting emails and sports scores while turkey hunting, the ability to send messages home was comforting for the family since I was up here alone. The other thing I noticed was a low humming sound. I heard this back at camp too and all through the night. My guess is it is a far off gas well that wasn't there last season. I'm heading back up this weekend for the opening of bear season, then a week later for deer season. I have never missed an opening day of deer season at Peter's Camp for 39 years. I love this time of year!!