“What’ll it be for ya, son?” the lady behind the counter asked.
“I believe I’ll take a bacon, egg and cheese this morning.”
“You must be on your way to chase after those turkeys?” she politely asked.
“Yes Ma’am, I am going to try.”
And try I did.
It was opening morning and I was anxious to see what the morning hunt had in store for me. As the cool layer of fog lifted from the food plot I was hunting, a thunderous gobble erupted from a wood-line about 100 yards away. My heart began to race as I quickly set up my decoys.
“I’m taking this boy home with me this morning,” I said to myself as I found a good tree to rest against.
But hunting has a way of humbling you in the strangest of ways, and I was about to be humbled.
I quickly tossed in my mouth call and gave a few yelps in hopes of luring the bird into the shooting range.
The tom quickly responded with a pounding call and the battle was on.
Back and forth we went, yelp and gobble, yelp and gobble, but the bird never showed his face. After about 30 minutes of playing ‘it’s your turn to call,’ I figured out why this bearded beast wouldn’t enter the field: he had found another woman to hook-up with.
I heard the hen give a quiet yelp and I knew that I was in trouble.
It had been about an hour since the gobbler made his last call, so I decided to head into the woods to try and track him down.
I walked about 50 yards and gave a yelp into the towering timber, but there was no response on the other end. I repeated the process, and again, not a sound in the distance.
It was now about 8 a.m. and the mosquitoes were feasting on me like Takeru ‘The Tsunami’ Kobayashi gorges hot dogs.
The only sound I had heard within the hour was a drake Wood Duck taking off from a nearby creek. Round 1 was over, and I had been knocked out.
I decided to do a little scouting before I called it a morning, and, I must say I am glad I did. I found what looked like a roosting site and several lanes in which the turkeys were traveling.
Even though I was skunked on opening morning, I felt good about the hunt. I heard a bird, but his attention had been drawn elsewhere. I was simply the loser on this particular hunt.
But now I am ready to get up and make a move in Round 2.
Jake Fagan can be reached at [email protected].