JoeA

Two season ago, I set up in a brush & rock pilenext to a big grass burn. I checked the tracks for a few days, they always passed from the burn to the right side of the pile. Well, the morning I set up I waited. I heard a few soft yelps from across the burn, coming my way. It was a bit too dark to see anything. I waited and everything went quiet. Just before day break, I could see across the burn...no turkeys anywhere. A few minutes later, I kept hearing a strange "phhhtttt", from directly behind me. "Phhttt"...."phhhttt"....."phhttt"...that was it. I thought it might be a "little brown bird". Again a few more times, "phhhtttt" but no "woooom". I had heard toms spit & drum before. Finally I thought "Man, that really sounds like a spit & drum, but without the drum part". So I turned to see what was making the noise...and found myself looking dead in the eye of a gobbler in full strut 10ft away. I coulda counted the ticks on his head. He saw me move, but didn't bust out. He just struttedaround the end of the debris pile. I tried to get my gun around buta tree blocked me. By the time I could slowly change position, theyhad walked out of range and intosome thickcover. I called once and got a gobbler to answer. I yelped again, and he answered but farther away. That flock was determinedto go wherever they were going.
The next day,I set up70yds away closer to where they came into the burn....I heard one hen, then yelped. A satellite gobbler snuckinto 25yds...he didn't walk out of that field that morning.

Siman08/OH

Back in 2003, i bought a stake blind, some decaoys and a box call at walmart. It was late March or early April at the time, and i was 13. I remember walking out into the middle of the woods, setting up my dekes and blind, and hammering on that box call. After about 10 minutes i heardaruckus in the woods like i never have before, and 4 jakes came running up to my decoys. They were probably 10 feet away. I just remember ducking down and shaking and taking pictures through the little holes in the blind. I lost them all when my computer crashed though [:@]

Thats what got me hooked.

SwampCollie

I have had several close encounters. Both while turkey hunting and while not turkey hunting.

I've had a couple of tweety birds fly into my ground blind while deer hunting... that is always entertaining.

My closest encounter (as far as most heart stopping) was on my first turkey bow hunt in the spring of 2007. It was the last week, and I had spent my entire season trying to put my girlfriend at the time on her first turkey. It just didn't work out. The day before, we had our last hunt that spring together, and this particular morning was my final hunt as well. I decided to carry my bow, and put up the ground blind in a place I knew turkeys were using often. I didn't hear any gobbling from the roost that morning at all. I was reading a book and drinking a glass of tea while blind calling about every fifteen minutes.

Around 745 or so if I recall, I looked up and saw a gobbler standing in the tall winter wheat about 35-40 yards out in front. I managed to close my book (without losing my page) and set my glass down without making a mess. I purred softly to the bird (who hadn't seen my decoys) and he sounded off for the first time.

I was set up in an island of woods about a quarter of a mile in circumference. Winter wheat fields ran all around me. I was in the far right hand corner of this oval shaped island. The bird walked off to my right, gobbling his head off. Since I am right handed and was shooting a bow out of a rather tight space, I had no opportunity, the bird was outside my 25 yard comfort zone.

This turkey kept gobbling. He walked around the back side of the block and headed straight through the thick stuff behind me.... right to me. I could hear him walking behind the blind. I had the mesh window up to my right and he came even with me at about 6 yards. It was similar to the T-Rex looking down in the Explorer in Jurrasic Park... or at least I felt that way.

I was certain this bird was going to see the decoys and go charging out to them... and I'd have a going away shot inside 15 yards. But as it happened, he turned and went back through the thick stuff to the other side of the block. For 45 minutes, this bird worked the circumference of this wooded island... gobbling his fool head off.

As luck would have it... that bird made it around without finding a hen, and stepped out in the road 150 yards to my left and saw the decoys and came at a run. He died at 26 yards.

FLboy77

My buddy and I saw a couple of jakes runn across the road in front of us one afternoon. We waited about 15 min and went into the woods via a loging road. about 100yrds down the road the jakes poped out 10yrds in front of us. We just froze and stood there as still as posible untill the waked off. Then we walked back about 50 yrds and heard a gobble. Next morning I killed a longbeard at 15 yrds about 100yrds from were we saw the jakes. Very cool!