Gorgeous clear, cool morning today, set up in a big Oak flat where I always see Turkeys during hunting season, in hopes of having some come scratching through today.
Decoy is exactly 20yds out in front of me and I'm in the most perfect natural blind possible, all nestled down in the big limbs of a blowdown.
I've called a few times every 10-15 minutes and at 7:30am hear something in the leaves over my left shoulder.
I freeze, it's the last day of the season, don't want to blow this...don't know if it's a tom or a jake, but if it's got a beard I'm taking it down with my Flintlock.
Another few steps and he stops, just teasing the very edge of my peripheral vison and if I had two broom sticks tied together I could have touched it. More steps through the leaves and my peripheral vision is picking up that the "turkey" is wearing a set of front legs that look remarkably like those of a deer!
More steps, and this Buck comes into view less than 15' from me...totally fixated on my decoy...I mean full alert focused on the plastic bird in front of me. (couple of 2-3" velvet covered humps on his head).
Takes him a good 5 minutes to close on the decoy...stops just short and stretches out every muscle possible until his nose finally touches the wing area on one side, and I assume at that point he got a whiff of my scent from handling the decoy...he didn't snort, but he wheeled around in a flash, and was in the next county in the blink of an eye.
Never heard or saw a turkey the whole morning...nor have I for the past 3-4 trips...season's over and didn't have one in range but such is life.
Congratulations to all of those who managed to score this season...
Decoy is exactly 20yds out in front of me and I'm in the most perfect natural blind possible, all nestled down in the big limbs of a blowdown.
I've called a few times every 10-15 minutes and at 7:30am hear something in the leaves over my left shoulder.
I freeze, it's the last day of the season, don't want to blow this...don't know if it's a tom or a jake, but if it's got a beard I'm taking it down with my Flintlock.
Another few steps and he stops, just teasing the very edge of my peripheral vison and if I had two broom sticks tied together I could have touched it. More steps through the leaves and my peripheral vision is picking up that the "turkey" is wearing a set of front legs that look remarkably like those of a deer!
More steps, and this Buck comes into view less than 15' from me...totally fixated on my decoy...I mean full alert focused on the plastic bird in front of me. (couple of 2-3" velvet covered humps on his head).
Takes him a good 5 minutes to close on the decoy...stops just short and stretches out every muscle possible until his nose finally touches the wing area on one side, and I assume at that point he got a whiff of my scent from handling the decoy...he didn't snort, but he wheeled around in a flash, and was in the next county in the blink of an eye.
Never heard or saw a turkey the whole morning...nor have I for the past 3-4 trips...season's over and didn't have one in range but such is life.
Congratulations to all of those who managed to score this season...
