Finally, after a relatively quite morning, I heard a gobble on the ridge in front of me about 150 yards away. So I produced more yelps using both the slate and my mouth call. Immediately I heard another gobble from the same area. After a short pause I called again, then again. Nothing! The woods fell silent except for the sounds of song birds.

“This is how it usually goes,” I thought to myself. Now what?

On my way home from work the evening prior, Craig [a friend and distant neighbor] called to ask if I wanted to hunt with him on some private property in our neighborhood. I don’t think he’s ever shot a turkey but it would be an opportunity to explore new ground.

Then I got a call from a co-worker who usually bags a turkey every year. He knows where 2 long beards are roosted but I would have to get up earlier and I already told the other guy I’d join him.

We were to meet at his place at 5:00. I was ready to head out the door when I received a text that read, “I’m sick as a dog, don’t think I can make it.”

I was shocked and a little upset that I passed on the roosted long beards. I also passed on hunting with my usual hunting buddy, my father.

So I quickly called Craig back and asked him where he thought I should go hoping he’d tell me to just pull in the driveway of the private property we were originally supposed to hunt. He directed me to a completely different spot. “Go to that field across from the gravel company. I think there is a pull-off there too,” he explained. Oh well I’ll give it a shot.

I walked down the edge of the field to the back corner. I found a large Red Oak just inside the woods and leaned my gun against it. I paced off 30 yards into the field and put up my hen decoy. After the woods woke up and no sounds of Turkey I did some tree yelps and a fly down cackle. Nothing! So I decided to just do desperation yelps with the slate and the mouth call.

After hearing the two gobbles I moved from the Red Oak back to another tree making me less visible. But I have to admit I was ready to start looking for wild flowers and Morels after hearing no more gobbles, my usual at this point.

Then, out of nowhere, 5 bowling ball-sized black objects with white heads appeared at the other corner of the field. Alright I thought! Could this be my time?

I usually keep calling in this case but decided to try something different. I’ll just shut up! They know where I am and can probably see my decoy by now. I’ll just let them come to me now.

It seemed like forever. They took their time feeding and looking in my direction.

Now, they are around my decoy. My heart is pounding! I had to decide which one to shoot. Just then one went into full strut, turned sideways for a profile of his beard and back to facing me again. My window was getting smaller and I heard one putt. I knew it wouldn’t be long for the jig to be up. So I put the bead on the head of the Jake in full strut and squeezed the trigger. BOOM!

The other four Jakes took off in a panic and I went running to claim my first Turkey.

The woods were quiet again. A minute of reflection on how the morning went and how the odds were against me made appreciate my bird even more. I paced it off at 35 yards. It was a trophy to me. What a hunt!