A Turkey Tale
After a long morning of dealing with chilly, damp conditions and no luck, I had stopped on the side of a ridge to reevaluate the situation. The area I was turkey hunting was known for having an abundance of turkeys. I had hunted there in years past with regular success. Today however was not going as I had planned.
As I stood there, I took out an old mouth call and began softly clucking just to remind myself of its sound. As luck would have it, apparently I was loud enough to be heard. A gobbler answered from a distance. Actually he answered rather aggressively with three gobbles. I was excited for the first time all morning.
I pulled my face mask down and found a nice spot to lean against a tree. There was a little bit of under growth to help aid in my set up. I began my calling again and again was greeted with several more gobbles. The gobbler appeared to have gained ground and was headed my way. After several minutes the gobbler had made his way within about seventy five yards. I could not however see the turkey.
For the next forty five minutes, the gobbler zig zagged from side to side in front of me. Moving up a little closer, then moving back away. Apparently I had located a wise old gobbler that wasn’t quite ready to show himself. Then, the gobbler went quiet on me. I changed the tone and frequency of the mouth call and once again the dance was on.
This time the gobbles were more consistent and the gobbler was moving in on me rapidly. About the time I thought I should be seeing the gobbler, silence once again returned to the equation. A long silence. I sat there expecting a head to pop out at any second, but it didn’t happen. I made a couple more soft clucks with no response.
Suddenly, as it happens so many times, the gobbler popped out of no where. I was looking directly at him. My heart rate increased rapidly. I made a minor adjustment in my position and let loose with an accurate shot. I was able to successfully take a nice twenty pound gobbler with an eleven inch beard and inch and a half spurs.
This just goes to show you how quickly a bad day can turn good. The thing about turkey hunting is nothing is ever the same. No matter how many times you go into the woods, always be ready for the unexpected. There have been many a successful turkey hunts made on the last set up of the day after not even having heard a bird all morning long.
