Well, a friend here in Maryland invited me to hunt his unoccupied land out in the Ozarks of Missouri this spring. What a deal - I'd take the wife (a non-hunter, but adventuresome sport) to visit her cousins in St Louis afterwards, if I could get two mornings out of it to climb the hills. We visited last summer and got the lay of the land. I got my license and plane tickets off the Internet, scouted Weds afternoon and last Thurs morning found me on the side of a promising ridge, south of Stover, MO. After the morning rain had let up, a hard yelp on a tube call brought an enthusiastic response. I held the gun on the decoys, but the three adult gobs traveled just thirty yards above me as they ignored the decoys and traveled on. I patiently gave them 20 minutes to clear the area, re-located ~40 yds away and began again. They fired up several hundred yds away, and proceeded to close the distance again. About 80 yds out they shut down. Soft clucks and purrs brought nothing but silence. I picked up a slate and gave some hard clucks that a hen immediately responded to. She came a-walkin and a-cluckin in, checked out the decoys and walked up to about 12 ft away from me. I continued my cluckin' and purrin' along with her, she didn't mind my little movements, and was just fixated on me. In the meantime, I see the three gobs warily approaching closer and closer... while I'm holding my slate and striker. No way to make a move - I was resigned to just watch the show with the hen standing feet away and three gobs all within 25 yds - there would always be tomorrow. Well, the turkey gods smiled on me and the hen started to walk directly away from me towards my decoys. I re-position my hands onto the gun resting on my knee without spooking anyone, and settle the sight on the tom that is only 20 yds away. A cluck with the mouth call and it's all over, save for the fond memories. Next morning, I get the wife out and she snaps pics of another adult bird called into 25 yds. No shots, just pics, as I am tagged out. Nice when it all comes together...
-fsh