Im sure that to most people on the rest of the earth a serious turkey hunters seems a little silly. You get up hours before the sun even thinks about coming up, cover yourself from head to toe in camo and make your way down deep into the woods. From there you begin trying to annoy a sleeping turkey by pretending to be an owl and try to sound offensive enough that it responds with an obligatory gobble to show its frustration (which by the way is the same sound it uses to convey every emotion). If you're lucky then you pinpoint one and start getting set up in a position where you can intercept his path once he flies down.
Once you have your bird located then its time to find your tree. You can just find any tree as I have seen plenty of people try to do, you have to find the right tree. You want a big oak or pine that you can settle in to, pull your knees up to your chest, rest your shotgun on your knee and begin calling. But before you do that you have to put out the bait. There is nothing more attractive to a gobbler during mating season than a nice and receptive hen so you always want to have at least one decoy out there to lure in the testosterone filled tom.
Now you begin calling. Some birds will come in quietly and some will come in screaming their heads off. There are times you cant even think about striking the first note on your call before they have already responded. And then there are other times where they will systematically respond to every 6th call or every 10th call or every 5 minutes. Its quite unpredictable.
You want to find a hot bird though. A hot bird is not really thinking with its brain. This is a bird that is thinking about one thing only and its going to respond one of two ways. Option A: its going to run in with feathers tucked to investigate which is like the equivalent of a desperate guy with no tact and really bad pick up lines. Option B: the bird is going to play it as cool as it possibly can, he's going to keep his distance of anywhere from 40-80 yards and do a big puffy feather dance for a while to show just how cool he is. The bird in option A is a goner. The bird in option B however poses a different challenge. Sometimes in his quest for coolness he actually gives up on the female and goes elsewhere to find one that will actually come to him. Those can be some of the more depressing moments for a hunter as you watch a huge gobbler who has been putting on a show for you simply go walking out of sight having never come into shooting range.
Regardless of the outcome of the hunt it is an amazing way to spend a spring morning outside. Being in the woods and watching them come alive in front of you is an amazing experience and sets the tone for the rest of your day or even week. I leave every morning turkey hunt feeling refreshed and at peace.
Im ready for 3.15.
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