The Hunt I Almost Missed
Being a businessman, I would not always take the time to enjoy the outdoors. The
story you are about to read changed all that.
My brother Hokey and my best friend Bubu and my faithful dog (Ticky) all shared my experiences in the woods. Ticky received his name because we found him in the woods, and he was infested with Ticks.
Let’s go on a Turkey adventure, early morning at sunrise Hokey and I were walking
into a blind that we set up the previous day on top of a hill that looked over a field 40 yards wide and 200 ft deep ending in a ravine. The hill behind the blind had large oaks and the field was bordered with assorted pines. As we slowly walked to the location, Hokey asked where I put the blind up. It was gone as we came closer, we saw the blind was there, but it had bear claw marks in it and was lying on the ground.
We reset the blind, and Hokey preceded to do what he does best, call in turkey. It only took 10 minutes and the biggest Tom you ever saw came towards the blind. He was so fat he tripped over an 8″ log while running towards us. He was only 8 yards from the blind, they say you can shoot through the screens. I pulled back my bow, easy shot, right? I missed at 8 yards, Hokey laughed his butt off. One of those stories that will haunt me for a lifetime. I still blame it on the screen.
If I had shot this beautiful bird, we would have cleaned it and I would have been back to work by 10:00. Thank God I missed, or the rest of these stories would not be shared or enjoyed with my brother & friend. Read on.
About 15 mins later we watched a skunk walking across the field, I knew this skunk
well, Ticky had a little tussle with the skunk and still smells like tomato juice. At 30
yards I pulled back my bow and pinned the skunk to the ground. It never sprayed! I guess you can shoot through the screen! It was quiet for the next hour, time for a cup of coffee and sharing memories with my brother.
Then a flock of 20 plus hens came into the field and woods scratching up pine
needles and tearing up the grass looking for bugs. Then the excitement began. 5 toms came strutting into the field. The big boy was not one of them. It was like a big party clucking, purring & drumming. Then the toms lined up 3 facing us with the end birds facing the other way. All at one time they gobbled. It was chilling, Hokey looked at me and said he never saw anything like it. It was like the toms heard him, they strutted around lined up just in the opposite directions and let another blood curdling gobble.
Being we were only 25 yards away, it made us both jump. It looked just like a
Mexican hat dance. What a wonderful morning! Closing time was at noon, so I guess we would have to hunt another day!
DAY 2
Hunting alone today, walking in it was a heavy fog like drizzle; It was just so quiet.
When I made it to the blind and was setting my backpack and bow inside and through the fog, about 60 yards away, I thought I saw a deer was walking towards me, then I realized it was a bear. Looking at the claw marks in the blind I made a very quick decision to yell, “HEY!” at the bear. smelled the air, then again started walking towards my blind again. This time I gave him, “HEY! HEY! HEY!” I’ve never seen an animal move so fast! It was gone in 5 seconds. The Sun burned off the fog and the rest of the morning was very peaceful.
Guess I will have to hunt another day! Darn!
Day 3
This day started with clear skies and was much warmer than the previous days. Bubu wanted to tag along for the hunt. Bubu has been my best friend since we were young teens. His name fits him perfectly, he is a big teddy bear. We decided to move the blind off the hill to a shady area to the south. We were set up less than an hour when “fatty Tom” came out of the pines. We tried everything to draw him in. Time after time a hen would show up, go into the pines and come out 15 minutes later. Pretty frustrating to have the big bird 40 yards away and not getting a shot at him. According to Bubu I dozed off and was snoring, I don’t know if I believe him. It was pushing 11:30 and Bubu was getting restless. Then we heard a drumming really close to the blind, bubu said it was a grouse; I was sure it was “fatty Tom”. At 11:45 we decided to pull the plug. When I went to unzip the blind guess who 20 yards was away; You got it, “Fatty Tom”. Bubu will hear this story in the rocking chair.
Since this hunt I have learned life is more than work, I’ve shared countless hours with amazing friends all over the country! I hope to make many more memorable hunts.
Oh, I forgot to tell you I was called Ding-a-ling
Enjoy today!
