ive had many close encounters over the years..

2 of my favorites...

one year i had a longbeard strutting at 30-40yds..just enjoying the show before i gave him a dirt nap...out of nowhere i see a jake RUNNING behind him...runs through the woods to my right and circles around and ends up literally right on my lap. i was calling with a mouth call that morning and i swear he was looking directly at my mouth...he KNEW that hen sounds were coming from that tree and was starring straight through me...head bobbing walking all around the tree completely stumped...i couldnt even blink...my eyes teared up and after a while i HAD to blink...he busted me and the longbeard made it away...awesome hunt..

one morning dad and i were setup on our favorite point...the birds roost there then come back later in the morning so we usually run n gun after fly down and would head back to the point at 8 or 9am and setup and blind call and wait for the birds to return and fire back up...dad and i are both notorious for napping and that spot is over an hour from home so we hit the road at like 3am...dad drove coz i wasnt old enough...anyway, were setup like 50yds apart...we had a system dad would call then a couple minutes later id call...i was 14 or 15 and really didnt do much calling so that was how i learned and if something fired up, dad would take over...just how we did it...it was a nice warm spring morning and it was a while and dad didnt call at all...im 14 or 15 and bored outta my mind..havent heard a bird since flydown...dont wanna call because i dont know dads plans and dont wanna ruin the hunt or anything...no cell phone so i had nothing to do except enjoy the morning...out of nowhere i hear dad SCREAM like a girl...i look over and theres a longbeard standing at the end of his boots...bird runs...heard dads saftey click off and bird took flight...dad never fired...i still tease him about it to this day...funniest hunt ever i think...dad woke up and the bird poked its head around the tree dad was sitting at and had that big ole ugly head inches from his face...