My season started Thursday and the weather wasn't cooperating. The winds were steady andgusting up to 30mph. On top of that it rained off an on. I heard a few sparse gobblesin the mornings on theroost but nothing the rest of thetime anywhere I went. I had other seasons like this in years gone by where it seemed like the birds evaporated. I figured they probably went to low valleys and I only had places to hunt on the tops of the bluffs. I was fairly confident I was going to go home empty handed.

Mid day yesterday (saturday), I picked the only place I had to hunt that had a hillside facing down and away from the wind. Ipicked a random spot andset up. I had made two calls about 40 minutes apart. Out of nowhere a jake shows up. He didn't make a single noise. My gun was resting on my knee, my red dot scope wasn't on, and my hand wasn't close enough to my safety to turn it off. I was hoping he would strut and fan and turn his back to me but he never did. So, every time he turned his head I made a slight move. I managed to getmy gunup in a few short moves, but whenI movedmy hand to the dial onmy red dot he caught me. He started to alarm putt. I turned the knob on the red dot and he turned to run back the direction from where he came. I madea quick move down to my safety, turned it off and pulled the trigger all in one motion.Imostly got him in the chest but a few bb's managed to get him in the lower kneck and he went down.

He wasn't very big but he'll be good eating. Attached isa picture. I pretty much blew his beard off, there were only a few strands left so you'll have to look hard to see them. Oh well, it was a success nonetheless!