---

   The best part of spring when the weather starts to warm is being able to sit on the porch in the early morning, listening to the birds, and drinking coffee. Just before dawn, the turkeys begin their annual mating calls. The hens cluck and the tom’s answer with their raucous gobbles. I like to practice my turkey calling by imitating the hens I can hear nearby. By the time my season opens to go turkey hunting, I am usually practiced enough to convince a gobbler to answer, if not come to me. 

   Saturday morning, I was in my usual spot, listening to the turkeys gobbling up and down the valley. It was a warm and sunny day, and the gobblers were actively strutting and calling until well after daylight. That is an indication that turkey season is almost here. I came back outside after refilling my coffee cup and glanced up the driveway. There were three gobblers and one hen milling about. The toms were not gobbling but were in full strut. The hen did not seem impressed but that did not discourage the toms. They continued to strut with the iridescent colors of their feathers shining brightly in the morning sunlight. Billie, the poodle, wanted to join me outside about that time. He immediately spotted the invading turkeys in his yard and took out after them. They tucked their tails and ran off to the nearest timber. He came back all proud of himself for protecting us but that put an end to the show.

   Later in the day, we went for a ride in the side-by-side. We were starting across the Long Hayfield when we spotted a flock of turkeys. Two gobblers were strutting in the afternoon sunlight and six or seven hens were milling around, eating green grass and an occasional grasshopper.  It reminded me of a gobbler I hunted there several years ago in that same spot. 

   I had set up my blind in the pasture not too far from the fence to the hayfield. I was in my blind well before daylight and I could hear a tom gobbling from his roost. When he flew down just before dawn, he went into the hayfield. He strutted and gobbled answering me on every call. He was very active and remained interested but would not come any closer. After a couple of hours of him strutting just out of range, I finally gave up and decided to sneak up on him. This rarely works as turkey have extremely good eyesight as well as sense of hearing. I was making slow progress, getting closer to the fence when my cell phone rang. My ring tone is a mallard duck quacking. To my surprise, the gobbler did not spook. I punched the off button and slowly crept closer to the fence. I spent at least an hour slowly moving through the damp grass. When the bird would turn his back, I would scoot forward a few inches. I am sure he did not see me but seemed to move farther away as I got closer. Though it was a warm morning, the more wet I got, the colder it seemed. I was beginning to wish I was back in the blind being frustrated where it was warm and dry with hot coffee in the thermos rather than being cold, wet, and frustrated in the grass. I was debating whether to just give up trying to get the bird to move closer or continue the quest when the decision was made for me. A hen came up behind me, hopped over the fence, and went straight to the gobbler. She and my gobbler strode over the hill together, never to be seen again.  

---