Tale of the Hunt

Friday night the rain was a torrential deluge, drowning and drenching everything. Lightning flashed all night long. I was determined to be in the woods early, dripping wet or not.

I was going to be out there with the turkeys when daylight broke. I almost got my truck stuck when I entered the gate to the property. The ground was rotten and saturated. I had to walk about twenty minutes downhill to the creek bottom, but I knew there was a huge gobbler at the edge of the creek and I was planning to take him home. As I walked, I could hear the sound of rushing water growing louder as I approached the creek in the darkness. The water must have been up 10 feet higher than when I had been here days ago and it even sounded dangerous. It was still black as pitch and I was not going any closer to that roaring rage. It would be my luck to fall in and never be found. I decided to change my original plan and find a suitable spot further up the hill above a grassy clearing where wet birds just might visit to dry their feathers early.

I placed a hen decoy about 5 yards from the edge of the woods and moved past the tree line and into the woods about 20 yards next to a wide white oak. I also snapped together my three sided ground blind for a little added seclusion.

It got very quiet right at daybreak and even over the dripping trees I could hear hens yelping. With only one game ear, I could hear the birds but I could not tell what direction they were calling from so I removed the earpiece and started watching.

I thought the turkeys would come from the left which overlooks the creek bottom 50 yards farther down, but as I was scanning the area moving only my eyes, I saw a wet turkey in the grass to the right. I had been softly calling and they must have been just down the slope. Two healthy gobblers appeared. Their beards were swinging and both birds were fanned out but their feathers were all stuck together.

After I had taken a good look at them, I clucked a little cluck and they stopped. As soon as they saw my decoy, they turned up the hill and made a beeline for the hen. I shifted right and waited for my shot. Both longbeards were about the same size and weight. The gobbler that was first in line was the surest target and I didn't hesitate. No. 6 Winchester Supremes did the job again!

I really wasn't disappointed that the super gob didn't show because for my last hunting day of the spring season, taking a bird on this rainy morning was just as exciting as the first one I ever got. I was finished hunting by 7:30 and enjoyed every dancing step back up the hill to the truck. I made it out the gate without getting stuck and relived the morning all day long.

I just love this!