The spring turkey season started out wet and cold.  This was the second day of the hunt and the weather hadn’t improved.  My hunting partner and I got up early, put the coffee on and were ready to hit the woods while it was still dark.  I had decided to hunt in a ravine between two hills coming down from a thicket of briars and near a patch of pines.  There seemed to always be turkey sign in that area.  I got wet walking in and was getting cold.  My coveralls didn’t keep me dry with so much moisture on the bushes and tree limbs.

By the time I reached my desired hunting location, it was getting light.  I made a blind on the side of a ditch using a few fallen tree limbs.   I loaded my gun and settled in for the morning hunt.  I made a faint yelp call.  I hadn’t heard a turkey yet but didn’t let that discourage me.  I knew there were turkeys in the area.  It seems that some days you can’t get a turkey to gobble at all while other days they are gobbling all over the place.  The fact that they weren’t gobbling doesn’t mean they won’t come to a call.  I waited and called again about every twenty minutes.  The best opportunity to hear turkeys gobble is between 6 and 8 o’clock.  It was soon mid-morning and no turkey, not even a gobble. 

Arriving at the area where the gobbling was coming from, I found a stream bed with a ridge on the other side.  The turkey must have been in strut on the top of the ridge.  I couldn’t see him but he was obviously just out of sight.  I slipped down into the valley and sat down against a tree just below the ridge.  I didn’t have to wait long until he came walking toward me.  He was in strut and gobbling.  I raised my gun slowly so as to not attract his attention.  As soon as he came out of strut, I shot.  The turkey was a little too far away for a sure shot.  Needless-to-say, the shot didn’t hit the head or neck and the turkey started to fly.  I have learned over the years of turkey hunting that when a turkey is scared into flight, he will fly in the direction he is walking.  The turkey seemed to have a hard time getting air born but he was headed in my direction.  I shot twice more as he flew over my head.  The last shot brought him down.  I got my turkey and proudly headed back to camp to show off my bird and have breakfast.