had an interesting experience this morning. got out right at first light, heard the gobblers gobble and come off the roost. got set up perfectly in an open spot in a draw. I called, they answered back and forth as they were coming in. for 45 minutes I watch them slowly get closer and closer. the biggest tom was huge! he was at full strut almost the whole time! finally he saw my feeble looking "funky chicken" decoy and started thumping his wings and coming straight at it. when he got to 60 yards I grabbed my bow. my heart was pounding and I knew I was going to get him. all of a sudden BOOM and down he goes. some jackass with a shotgun shot him at the edge of my decoys! I stood up and the guy shouts "sorry" does the fist pump to his buddy and chases after the bird shooting at it 2 more times. I collected my gear and hiked out disgusted. there was no way he didn't hear my calling or see my decoys. I was livid, but it was public land. what are you gonna do. I have seen/heard more and more encounters like this where people have no regard or respect for others. oh well, still plenty of time left in the season. It would have been perfect though for my first archery turkey, the morning was beautiful, the birds worked in awesome. I went home, took my girls to breakfast and did chores around the place. took the boat out for the first time for a bit. I'm done hunting on the weekends though.
Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.
