Fixing Personal Problems

Today I want to explore fixing personal problems and write it down so that I can look back at my thoughts later and see if they still make sense. Here is a fictional situation that needs to be resolved: Whenever you see a willow tree you are filled with emotion and begin to weep uncontrollably. You feel that you know the reason why you react this way as when you were ten you father was killed under a willow tree. However, on the same day and time your friend Sam also witnessed his father dying under the same tree and does not have the same issues as you, at least not with willow trees. The problem is that there are willow trees all around your office and your work is suffering terribly. This problem needs to be resolved.
Option 1: Solve the problem logistically. Move some place where there are no willow trees and make a new life for your self.
Option 2: Solve the problem head on and get someone to replace the trees at your work or chop them all down yourself in the middle of the night.
Option 3: Deal with the emotion, so that you can live at peace with willow trees.
Most of time you have to fix your problems using option 3. Option 2 is a resource hog and option 1 precludes any type of long term relationship in your life.
So let’s drill down on how to fix your problem using Option 3.
Solution 1: Work through this issue yourself.
Pro: Who knows you better than yourself?
Con: Most people don't know themselves very well.
Solution 2: Get help from a friend or family.
Pro: Your friends and family care about you and want the best for you.
Con: Sometimes advice from friends or family can have a hidden agenda or might be just telling you what you want to hear. Overall not very objective.
Solution 3.0: Get outside help.
Pro: Advice is somewhat more objective.
Con: The advice usually comes from a model that doesn't always apply to you and your special circumstance.
Solution 4: Get professional help.
Pro: You can get advice that works great.
Con: You’re relying on the pro to know what works. Pros make mistakes too.
Solution 5: Ask God for help.
Pro: God cares about us, knows what's right for us, and always gives us the right answer.
Con: It can be difficult if not impossible sometimes to hear what he is saying to you.

So there it is. Is there some solution here that is "better" than another? Are different solutions needed for different problems? Does using one solution ever preclude the ability to use another solution? Should a certain solution never be used because it is just too faulty? Do certain solutions work better for certain personality types? Does a solution type work better in certain situations? Should we all just throw our hands up in the air and not deal with problems because it’s just too hard?

Turkey Blog to Banjo Blog

I haven't been blogging much lately, because rather than think about doing something, I've been actually doing it. I'm sure I will have more turkey related stuff after next week. I'm going out to New Mexico on Sunday and am very excited to go turkey hunting, but kind of ran out of material for continuing a turkey hunting blog. I am currently learning how to play the banjo that I borrowed from my dad. I am having a blast and look forward to getting a new instrument. I've been saving my pennies. It will take me a while, but in the mean time I'll practice using my dad's Harmony banjo from the mid seventies. It doesn't sound too bad for a plastic banjo. I've learned the words to a couple songs and can sing to a slowed down roll for those songs. Its fun and is getting me started. I also learned a couple of easy songs from tabulature. Tab is helping me learn my way around the fingerboard and a lot of fun. I have been practicing some rolls and also the basic frailing strum, but have spent most of my time on learning to sing while chording and the tab.

Banjo Decisions

So I got my dad's banjo and I am starting to lean towards frailing now. I'm thinking that my musical ability doesn't fit with my musical ambitions. When I look at the Scruggs (Bluegrass) style of banjo picking, it seems like a long road of practicing rolls and learning how to fit licks and rolls together in a kind of seemingly magical way to then play a song. Combine that with the speed that Bluegrass guys play and you have the recipe for years and years of practice before you can play any kind of recognizable song. Of course there are those guys out there that have a natural musical aptitude to make that kind of practice pay eventually. Unfortunately I have to be realistic and I've realized that my goal of playing for my friends and family may mean trying to get in faster at the ground level. Of course I haven't made the effort to start to learn how to frail yet, so I may run into more trouble. Either way, my commitment to practicing every day should pay off some time, if not immediately. In the end I imagine that I will eventually learn a little bit of both Scruggs style and frailing. Here is a video of a guy my dad's friend referred me to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo0cy0REMY8

Banjo

I've been in a flurry of activity lately learning about the banjo. I'm looking to take up the instrument and am very excited about it. My dad played when I was young and I have always enjoyed the sound. I played guitar in high school, albeit poorly, and want to have another crack at a musical instrument. I want to make some music and the banjo seems very appropriate for the turkey woods once the gobblers have all gone to sleep. Who knows maybe with the banjo I'll finally have a shock call that works. I'm going to try to borrow my dad's old banjo to get me started until I can make a good decision about what kind of instrument that I want to get. One thing that is giving me a lot of angst is the bluegrass vs. open backed banjo dilemma. Here are some of the pros and cons for each. I love bluegrass music. Ever since I got XM radio I listen to the Bluegrass Track 14 a lot. I really like the hard driving banjo in bluegrass songs. The down side is a lot of bluegrass is very fast paced and will be hard for a beginner. As for the open backed banjo, there is a lot going for it. It is the instrument of choice for folk music. Folk music is great for singing around the camp fire, especially with kids. The instrument is lighter and cheaper. The problem is that it doesn't seem like as much fun to me. The open back lends itself to a technique called frailing, which I was less than interested in until my dad's friend shared a link with me to an artist/teacher named Patrick Costello. He can really make frailing look fun. It seems to me like a fellow ought to make a choice about what style he goes for at the beginning as both frailing and finger picking take a year or more to become proficient. Right now I'm leaning towards bluegrass. Before I talked to my dad's friend I was sure I wanted to do bluegrass, but now I'm not so sure. The downside of all this wonderful information on the internet is that every time you answer a question you find three more you need to answer.

Friends Don't Let Friends Hunt Unarmed

A lot of friends of mine have told me they'd like to come hunting sometime, except not take a gun and just bring a camera. I have heard of some old timers who do this on a regular basis and I have nothing against it. For some reason when my non-hunting friends suggest that they want to go out with me gun less it rubs me the wrong way. There may be someone reading this that is a friend of mine and has made this very statement. If so don't get bent out of shape, I not judging anyone. The biggest problem I have with this is it seems like something someone wants to do so they can feel the coolness of hunting and not have to feel bad for killing the animal. This life and death struggle, prey predator relationship is what makes your pulse rise and your body shake uncontrollably with excitement. If you hunt without the intent to kill it’s just not hunting. So now you've heard my take on this, here is what I would like you, my non-hunting friends to do about your camera hunt. Come out with me! I would love to have you at my camp. The food is good and the scenery is better. If you want grill me on how I can justify killing animals the whole time, be my guest. If your a friend of mine just come on out, just make sure you get a hunting license. I'll bring along an extra shotgun or you can use mine if you want;)

Morning

Cold and silent, Morning stirs

Eyes still closed, beginning to think about opening

A cold wind blows down the hill and then fades.

In the stillness a deeper chill sets in, her eyes begin to open/

The big pines cut through the dim sky,

dark, still, black sentinals silently suggest she is near.

An owl speaks to the night asking that dark mistress to stay.

A woodpecker shatters the owls plea and all the forest knows she will soon come./

Then she opens her eyes.

A coyote rushes to find a dark hole to crowd into.

A chipmunk chirps again and again in his impatience for her embrace.

Her fiery gaze lights the tops of the tall pines on fire./

All the creatures of the day come to meet her.

An elk barges through the forest following his harem

His crown lit with orange flame.

Aloof in his glorious realm ./

Then she kisses me.

Warm at first on my cheek and then on my lips.

She cozies up to me and whispers coyly,"I want to show you something".

And then she kisses me again./

Then she is passed

and day appears

Morning is gone./

Cooking My Wild Turkey

So once I had everything in the freezer, I was able to think about what I wanted to do with my bird. I had already decided to cook the bird without disguising it too much. When I butchered him it was pretty clear to me that it was fine meat that would taste good. I had left the meat in the freezer for a couple of months waiting for an opportunity to share my bird with the family. My mother in law was very interested in trying it out, since she'd never had wild turkey before. I defrosted the turkey in the fridge over a couple of days. The first dish that I wanted to make was a boned drumstick wrapped in bacon and stuffed with turkey stuffing. This effort turned out to be a disaster. Here's what I did. I cut the meat of the drumstick down at the tendons and then worked the meat off of the bone so that I had a small rectangular slab of meat. Then using a knife I picked out all the tendons and fine bones in the meat. This job was very time consuming and I missed one of the tendons while doing this. I whipped up a little turkey stuffing from a pre-seasoned box that I bought at the store. Then laying some of the stuffing on the meat, I rolled up the meat with the stuffing inside. After that, I took some turkey bacon and wrapped the whole thing in bacon. Once it was all wrapped up, I secured the roll with toothpicks. I took the two wraps and put them in the oven. When it came out, the turkey meat was gray and dry and shriveled, the bacon wasn't crispy, the toothpicks had popped out and the stuffing had squirted out of the rolls. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy with this result. I'm not sure I will do this again, but if I do, I'll pre-cook the bacon some so that it ends up crispier. Also, I used turkey bacon for my bacon, which was a mistake. Next time I will use real bacon. Second I would use butcher's string to tie my rolls shut instead of the tooth picks. In addition, I might use a higher temperature in the oven to sear the bacon on the outside without over-cooking the turkey meat. After this failed experiment I was a little worried about cooking the rest of the bird. I loaded the rest of the meat in a cooler and went over to the in laws to cook the rest of it. I decided to cut everything into strips coat it in seasoned breading and fry it in olive oil. The thighs felt a little tough from the freezing so I de-boned them and pounded them with a meat hammer before cutting them into strips. I took a couple of strips along with the wings and put them on the BBQ to see what would happen. The wings turned out very tough and the strips on the BBQ were dry. The rest of the bird was fried up and the result was very good. My niece had never had wild game food before and is a very picky eater. She ate more than I've ever seen her eat, without complaining. It always really pleases me to see how the kids go after the game meat I bring home. It is a special treat for them, as it should be, and it makes me proud to bring it home and share it with them. There is no ick factor like with a lot of adults that have never had game meat. There was plenty for everyone with four adults and four kids. The thigh meat was a little tougher, but not bad. Also, I think the thigh meat had a fuller flavor, which was very nice. The breast meat was very tender and tasty. I had left overs to share with some of my co-workers who expressed an interest in trying it. They weren't as receptive as the family, but none of them failed to finish what they took. I asked a guy I work with what he thought of it just now and he said it was ok, but that he was surprised and a little let down by the ordinariness of it.

Funny Map

I like looking at maps and think that its funny when someone messes up. Of all things maps should be as accurate as possible. Here's a funny one that I found online recently.

Butchering My Bird

Once I got my turkey to my dad’s house, I had already planned on skinning and butchering the bird into manageable pieces. I had originally planned enchiladas because reports from more than one source said wild turkeys were gamey and dry. When I pulled the breasts off the bone, after skinning the turkey, it became obvious to me that the meat was far too tender and succulent to hide it in enchiladas. I hung my bird up by its feet at my folks house and cut the second joint of the wings off and saved the wings for the feathers, since I like to tie flies for fly-fishing. Then I removed the beard by pulling on it and cutting off the skin to which it was attached. I put the beard in with the wings. Then I skinned it, starting at the knee joint and peeling the skin away from the leg. I put a relief cut on the inner leg to get the skin away from the drum sticks. Once I got past the legs the skin became easier to remove because there was a gelatinous fatty layer under the skin. I pulled the skin over the drum stick like portion of the wing and then down over the head. At that point the neck was exposed and I cut the neck off. After the skin was off I cut the tail feathers off and put the meaty parts of the tail fan in a box with borax along with the beard and wings. I left the box at my folks house for my dad to ship to me later. Once the bird was skinned I cut the legs off at the knees and put the legs in with the feathers I'd saved. I then took the carcass and washed it well in the sink, picking off some of the fatty tissue and getting all the down off that floated onto the meat while skinning it. I carved the breasts off the body and cut the thighs and drumsticks off as well. I cut the wings off the back. Then I put the wings and the back in a one gallon zip lock bag, the breasts in another and the thighs and drum sticks in a third. I stowed the zip lock bags in my mom's freezer and bought a small cooler from Wal-Mart. The next day I took the frozen meat, packed it with some blue ice packs and lined the cooler with newspaper. I strapped duct tape around the cooler and checked it for my flight home. When I got to the other end the cooler came off the luggage carousel and broke open the duct tape, spilling my frozen meat all over. I re-packed it and was on my way home. Next time I’ll strap more duct tape around the cooler. Next installment cooking my wild turkey.

Field Dressing a Wild Turkey

So after all your hard work learning how to hunt the birds, you've just shot your wild turkey. What now? I'm not sure what the right way to do it is, but I can tell you how I did it. After killing my bird I carried it out to the truck over my shoulder like you see in the books. I think there must be an easier way to do it since my grip was cramping halfway back and the wings spread out making the bird very awkward to carry. In addition I got blood all over my backpack as it dribble out the holes in the bird’s neck. Next time I might try something different to carry the bird back to the truck, although I'm not sure what that is yet. On the other hand maybe I just need to cowboy up and carry that bird out the way God intended. Anyway, I didn't expect that much blood. I put down my game bag and a tarp to protect my dad’s truck from the turkey blood. Later, he said I shouldn't have done that because game blood in the bed of his truck would be an improvement. When I got back to camp I pulled out the camp trash can and plucked the feathers around the vent area of the bird. I was surprised by how much dandruff my bird had in its feathers. I cut the abdomen open from the vent about two inches towards the breast and then using that opening tried to carefully cut all the way around the vent. I remember this was very difficult at the time and I ended up nicking the large intestine while cutting around the vent. I was very careful to not get any of the green gunk from the intestine on anything and then after carving out the vent and starting to pull out the guts the intestine along with the gunk came out of the bird and didn't really get on anything but the guts. Next time I'll be more careful. Once that first set of digestive organs were out, I cut along the original two inch slit another two inches or so up so I could get my hand inside the body cavity. I was struck by how hot it was inside the bird. Once I could get my hand in, I started pulling out the rest of the organs. I would carefully work something loose by feeling around in there and pull out what ever I could get my hands on. I tossed the liver in the trash and my dad was really disappointed. He wanted to cook up liver and onions on the spot and have a little mini feast. Since I had tossed it in the trash it had feathers all over it and I was afraid that the other stuff in there may have contaminated it. Next time I'll save it. I was a sizable piece of meat and I'm sure it would have been very good with onions. The reason I had tossed it in the first place was that the bile duct looked like it would be hard to get off without getting bile all over the liver. In retrospect I don't think it would have been that hard. Someone hard warned me that while cleaning the bird it would smell awful. With my bird this couldn't have been further from the truth. Most of the time I didn't really smell anything, since I was expecting a horrible smell this surprised me and I really opened up and took a good whiff right in the body cavity. The smell was very faint, far less odor than a regular store bought turkey. The smell was rather pleasant like butter. After digging out all the organs I really felt around and got a couple more things from near the spine that where hiding up in there I think they were the lungs. I took some paper towels and sopped up the blood that had pooled in the body cavity and tossed the towels in the trash. Then I put some ice in there and shook it up and then dumped the ice and repeated. Then I took some more paper towels and dried it out in there again and tossed the paper towels in the trash. Then I stuffed as much ice as I could into the body cavity wrapped the whole bird in my game bag and let it sit in the shade while I waited for my dad to come back from his hunt. The air temperature that morning was probably around 40 degrees F. When my dad got back about an hour and a half later, I drained the water from body cavity and stuffed in more ice. Then I wrapped it up again in the game bag and put the package into a trash bag. We drove to the nearest town about 45 minutes away and bought a foam cooler and some ice. We put our camp food in the foam cooler and then put the bird in the big cooler with ice for the trip home. I think putting ice in the bird’s body cavity was a good idea, but if you’re going to have your bird mounted, you'll want to remove it and dry out the cavity with towels after the bird cools off because when the ice melted the feathers got wet and would have not looked good on a mount. I hadn't planned to have my bird mounted because my wife wouldn't have liked a mount on display as it doesn't fit the decor of our home. Once the bird was in the cooler I felt good about the 3 hour trip back to my parent’s house. Don't miss my next post "cleaning and butchering the turkey". I'll try to get the pictures from my mom.

From the Sound of the Shot to the Table

One of my biggest worries before I began my first hunt was what to do once I finally killed a wild turkey. I had no idea then that I'd have a long time to think about it. For those of you who may be just beginning, I'll relate in a series of posts my experience with the wild turkey I killed from the time I shot it to when my family ate it. Of the different animals that I've hunting since beginning this journey into becoming a hunter, I have been able to kill two other game species. My first kill was a pheasant in South Dakota. That trip was a wonderful beginning to my experience with preparing and eating game birds. I had no idea at all what to do and I got a lot of practice during that afternoon. All of my cousin Hobart's family and extended family from South Dakota converge on his three section farm that he hobby farms specifically for rasing game. That year was the best year for pheasant in 10 or 15 years and everyone limited out. We set up an assembly line operation cleaning the birds. With 8 dedicated people on the line and everyone else supporting the operation it took us about an hour to clean all the birds. I was lucky enough to get to participate in all aspects of cleaning the animals and after going through that many birds any feelings of grossness had turned into weariness. The other game animal that I've had the pleasure of cooking is mourning doves here in Arizona. After doing the pheasants the doves were fairly easy to figure out. Having these experiences before I finally got my bird really helped me. In my next post I'll talk about after the kill and field dressing my bird. Keep in mind these posts will address what I did with my bird. I can't tell anyone what is the best thing to do since I have only had this one experience. Hopefully, I will be able to experiment and come up with new and better ways of cleaning and cooking future wild turkeys.

Getting into the Sticks

Bush whacking through forest even when it’s not that dense is really slow and difficult. It’s tough to get into thick woods away from the roads. According to some of the stuff I've read online, that is where the birds are. It would stand to reason that turkeys, as twitchy as they are, would like to be away from the hustle and bustle of the dirt roads and in the back country. The issue with that, especially in the areas that I hunt is the lack of water in the back country. The mountains of New Mexico can be pretty dry in drought years. Creeks will sometimes completely cease to flow much of the summer. What is left for the forest animals are muddy cattle tanks. Even some of these sources of water can go dry during bad years. Much of the national forest in New Mexico is leased for cattle grazing so cattle tanks with water will often have cattle near them. Generally the better tanks will be near roads and those roads will be maintained for the cattle leases. In addition, cattle tanks that don't hold water still had to have been built with heavy machinery, so at some time there had to be a road to it. Once a road is built people often find other uses for it so they are often maintained even if the cattle tank doesn't hold water. The result is that everywhere there is reliable water there are almost always roads as well. My dad and I have done our fair share of bushwhacking through thick woods as much as 3 miles from passable roads, but haven't found much in the way turkeys due to (I think) the lack of water. In places that I've been where there is plentiful water everywhere it seems like the turkeys are hard to find and I don't see much sign. Maybe this is due to the turkeys spreading out over a wider area, but it seems more like they just aren't around to me. Needless to say, it is really hard to hunt turkeys that you can't find. I bet if I could find a forgotten cattle tank that holds water, with its road un-maintained and 2 miles from the nearest good road, the place would be crawling with turkeys. Cattle tanks that hold water are important resources for ranchers in the dry country I hunt, so I don't think it’s likely I'll find such a place with out looking long and hard.

My Biological Grandfather Died

I never met my bio grandfather. My mother was adopted by my "actual" grandfather who died last year. It does make me wonder though, what gifts and curses I was given through my genes by my biological grandfather. My mom's half sister contacted her ten years ago or so and wanted to meet my mom and have her visit my bio grandfather. I saw a picture of him fishing. I think someone told me he liked to fish. The man was for sure not well thought of in my family. His new family, that my mother met, seemed to have thought better of him. It always seems like there are two sides to a person, but I have a hard time over looking certain things, like fathers (or mothers for that matter) leaving their children and wives to fend for themselves. I sure hope he didn't leave me the leave your family gene. I hope that I got the straighten up your act and stay with your family gene from my dad. So far it seems like that's the one I got. Anyway, if you can see me now Grandfather, next time I tie one on, it'll be for you.

Strange Smells at the Latrine

I know what you’re thinking. There's a lot of smells at the latrine and most aren't "strange". On the drive up to our campsite my dad had thrown a fresh roll of TP in the dry goods box. During the trip the soy sauce had leaked all over the toilet paper. The next day, while out for my constitutional, I caught the unexpected and clearly identifiable smell of the soy sauce. It was very surreal until I figured out what was going on. I told my dad the story and he took it a step further, by suggesting that the attendant at high end restaurant bathrooms should offer soy sauce. "Excuse me sir, can I offer you some soy sauce." It struck me as really funny and for the rest of the trip we offered each other soy sauce before heading out with the shovel. So the year passes and the fall hunt comes. After the hunt I stopped by my folks to take a shower before heading home. I noticed that a bottle of soy sauce had been placed on the bathroom counter with a towel discreetly wrapped around the base. At first I was confused, but then I remembered. They about had to take me away in a stretcher I laughed so hard.

Archery Vs. Shotgun

Before I begin this post I want to make it clear that I respect other peoples sport and as long as it’s legal and ethical I wish everybody a happy hunt. We all make personal choices about the style in which we hunt. With that said, here is my take on bow hunting for turkey. Before my first hunt most of the information I had came from a book called "Some Turkey Scratchings" by Dwain Bland. It’s a good book with a lot of interesting stories and information. In the book Dwain talks about Archery hunting for turkeys. He doesn't say very favorable things about it. He like me isn't against bow hunting for turkey per se. The reason there is any question is that the turkey has a very small vitals area. Combine this with the fact that the vitals are in an unusual place and you have a very difficult shot to make. I have been to the archery range many times and am sad to say that William Tell or Robin Hood would not be proud. That’s not to say that there aren't many very good archers hunting, but the majority of people that I've seen shoot don't have the ability to make an ethical shot on a turkey under reasonable circumstances, myself included. If you are one of the few people that can make the shot, well ok, have at it. Even amongst the folks who think they can make the shot, there are some that probably can not perform when put to the test. There are several reasons why people bow hunt. One reason is it opens opportunities. Here in Arizona the fall turkey season has over the counter licenses for bow hunting turkey. Another reason people bow hunt is to practice a stronger fair chase ethic. Third, people sometimes bow hunt because it is a more pure form. Ethically, I would submit that the shotgun is a better choice because you are more likely to make a clean kill. As far aesthetics, I think the shotgun is again a better choice because it is difficult to draw a bow while turkey hunting without the use of a ground blind. While I have nothing against blinds from an ethical standpoint, I think they contradict the pure form that archery brings to hunting. There is a special broadhead that can be used to make headshots. It is two rasor blades configured in a three inch wide "X". Either you hit the turkey and it is decapitated or you miss, making for a much cleaner kill, thus a more ethical shot. The problem with this broadhead in my opinion is again aesthetics. This broadhead seems practical, but not pretty.

When I told everyone about killing my first turkey last spring many of my non-hunting friends asked me if I had done it with a bow. When I said, “no I used a shotgun", my friends said, "oh" and the tone suggested that of less achievement. I wonder if my choice of weapon isn't influenced by peer pressure from my non-hunting friends. I've many times heard non-hunters say such and such uncle is a serious hunter because he uses bow only. When it comes to turkey hunting my gut says that the bow is the wrong choice. I really feel like I'm respecting the animal more when I use my shotgun.

Using Decoys

I have never used decoys while hunting wild turkeys. I've mentioned before how important hunting safely is to me. I've always thought that having a decoy around while making turkey sounds was a bad idea. I've read about people blasting decoys. Chances are that if someone shoots your decoy that they aren't going to hit you, but some guy taking a wild snap shot without knowing where I am freaks me out a little. Lately I've been reading blogs and forums about turkey hunting. I notice a lot of people consider it almost cheating to use a decoy. I don't think its cheating, but if I had known that it was effective, I might have tried it. I learned from turkey hunting forums that some guys used them extensively early in their turkey hunting careers. Later they didn't use them due to the bulkiness in carrying them around, hassle of setting them up and general no need to, because their calling and woodsman skills had improved to a point where decoys became obsolete. I still am concerned about the risk associated with hunting over decoys. I probably would try them if I was hunting on private land though.

How to Prepare for Hunting While in the Cubicle at Work

Many of us are not lucky enough to get out to the turkey woods every day. It can be very difficult to prepare for your hunt while working in a cubicle. Here are some tips that can be helpful. 1. Practice soft clucking and purring while typing up reports. If anyone comes into your cube and asks if you heard that noise, sit very still, don't speak or even move your eyes. If the "turkey" leaves shaking her head, you can assume that she didn't bust you. 2. Camouflage isn't just for home use. Wear your gillie suit to the staff meeting and try to blend in with the white board. Don't worry, the 3D nature of a gillie will subdue your outline. If your boss asks your co-workers during the meeting why you're not there, then you have succeeded and may reveal yourself. 3. Stalk a co-worker. Use cubicle aisles and file cabinets as cover. Remember as in the woods, being busted by other "animals" is likely to end your stalk. Use a rubber band to "kill" you're trophy. 4. Stay fit by climbing poles G4-G11, add poles as your fitness level increases. 5. It is also important to hone your camping skills. Be sure to practice for camp farting contests. Length and loudness is what gets you on the scoreboard. Character and odor will only get you bonus points. If you practice these tips you will be sure to bag that trophy longbeard this spring!

Bill Heavey

I get two magazine subscriptions. One is Scientific American, the other is Field and Stream. What a strange thing it is to be friends with someone you don't know. I guess to truelly be "friends" with someone they have to have met you. When it comes to Bill though, if he showed up at my camp in the spring he'd be welcome. His writing is very genuine. Bill is very open about his triumphs as well as his failures. This morning, I read a story in his new book If You didn't Bring Beef Jerky, Then What Did I Just Eat. Yet again I'm almost brought to tears by Bill's writing. Sometimes its tears from laughing so hard, as in the his fly fishing vs. spin casting article. Sometimes its a tragic story like the one I read today about mowing his neighbors lawn. No matter what the story is, it is always real. So Bill, if you are one of the five people who will read my blog (I know, five people seems a stretch) then I'd like to extend to you an invitation to come out and hunt Merriam's in New Mexico with my dad and I. If you accept you will be the only other taker out of about 10 people that I've invited. Hope to hear from you soon.

Gear

My wife and I each have 40 bucks a week to cover stuff we want. This includes Thirstbusters, lunch at work, guns, and climbing gym membership. The money doesn't go far, so I only buy what I really need. Here are some of the things I have. For me versatility is paramount. The L.L. Bean camo goes over shorts or winter jackets. I can wear it in the heat, cold, rain, or whatever. It hides me like a gillie suit, but is super light and easy to move in. My Browning BPS kills everything I hunt. My Etrex was cheap and gets me anywhere I need to go. The only hunting gear I want right now is a wool black watch cap. Give me some warm cloths, granola bars, boiled eggs, Nalgene water bottles, ammo and a box call and I'm ready to go.

Counterfeit Turkeys Are Being Passed Around

Several years ago in New Mexico a test flock of Rio Grande sub-species turkeys was released near the Rio Grande at a wild life refuge. The flock did really well the first three years or so and then the numbers plummeted. I don't know if those few stragglers made it through, but I don't think that there were any more plans to release any more. I was talking about this with a friend of mine and he told me that his buddy had seen lots of turkey sign and tracks by the Rio Grande in Albuquerque. Thinking that there may be some opportunity to hunt turkeys closer to town I looked into the possibility that the old Rio Grande flock might have made a come back. I went down to the river and after very little poking around found some tracks and sign. Still somewhat sceptical I looked in my New Mexico animal tracks book to see what might be going on. What I found was that a Sandhill Crane and a Wild Turkey have very similar tracks and scat. To make matters worse the "J" shaped tukey sign looks just like crane sign. Here are some pictures that I found on the internet. I couldn't find any pictures of crane scat.

Scouting

I live in Phoenix now. When I started hunting turkeys, I lived in New Mexico. The first place we went that fall in 2001 was part of the Sacramento Mountains range in New Mexico. After moving to Arizona I wanted a place to hunt where I could meet my dad halfway. To get to the Sacramentos from Phoenix is about a 10 hour drive. As it turned out, about a year after getting to Phoenix my Jeep Grand Cherokee started becoming unreliable and I started flying to Albuquerque to meet my dad. The move to find a new spot to hunt was very beneficial to us though. The place where we started hunting in 2001 was not bad, but it wasn't great either. In scouting for a new spot we have looked in a lot of areas. The exercise left us with a better understanding of turkey habitat and reading sign. Here are a couple of things that I've found. An area can be pretty dry, but there must be a source of water that is available every day. The quaility of water is important and turkeys tend to not drink as much from murky water. Old sign doesn't mean that turkeys are in the area. They may like that area for some reason, but probably have vacated it or found greener pastures if there isn't fresh sign. In areas where the geography allows it, Merriams turkeys will migrate from higher altitudes to lower altitudes in the winter. This migration results in an area being great one season and terrible the next. Of course certain spots tend to hold more birds on average, but might be weak some years. Good Merriams habitat contains a couple of things other than a stable water source. First and most important is Ponderosa Pine. There needs to be plenty of Ponderosa. Pole sized Ponderosa is dense and creates a good source of food for Merriams. Medium sized more mature trees are used for roosting. Besides ponderosa I have noticed a lot of live scrub oak. The live scrub oak provides a mast product for turkey during mast years, but there has to be another food source during off years. In the areas that I hunt this is alligator juniper. In dry years I've seen turkey sign that is filled with juniper seeds. You can tell its Alligator Juniper because the scat is purple like the ripe berries. I don't think that one sead juniper is as important, because areas with one sead don't seem to hold as many birds. There also seems to be a kind of holly in areas with a lot of turkeys. I don't know why, but its something I've noticed. These things in my opinion are the main components of turkey habitat in New Mexico. I have seen vast Ponderosa forests that don't seem to have a lot of birds in them. I think that the mixed Juniper and other plant diversity is important.

Waiting for Turkeys to Come to Water

I have read that for the most part turkeys come to water every day. From the sign I've seen and turkeys that I've seen at waterholes from afar, it seems like they go to water mostly in the afternoon. The problem is that I've sat by a lot of watering holes in the fall hunt and never had any luck with it. Most of the time I sat by water holes in the afternoon, but I have also sat in blinds by tanks in the morning and other times of the day too. One time I was hanging out in a blind and noticed an apparently half full bottle of gatorade. After seeing some sediment in the bottle it occured to me that it wasn't gatorade. It is kind of fun to be near a water source, because of all the song birds and things that hang out there. Another neat thing I've seen in holes are waterdogs. They are creepy looking half tadpole half fish things that float around in the muck picking at stuff in the water. Sitting gets boring for me after too long. I'd do it again if the activety around the hole seemed really extensive, but the drought we've been experiencing lately looks like its starting to break and hunting a tank might be even less productive then it was. Without a drought, animals don't have to come to the exact same water everyday, because streams are running and seeps and springs pick up. One fall there was a cattle trough that had water in it all the time. A leaky valve or something would let the water into the trough a drip at a time. The area was very active and there was fresh sign all over the place. My dad said he felt like it was almost cheating to be sitting near the trough. We sat all morning, it was very beautiful, but the turkeys never showed. My dad thinks he heard some turkeys coming and might have been busted. I think the flock in the area was also using a drinker on the other side of the ridge. At the time we were anaware of the drinker. Anyway, if you decide to hunt a water source make sure there is tons of activity around it. One or two foot prints doesn't mean much. If you put it all together I've probably sat by a water hole 40 hours and haven't even seen a bird during that time. Most of the unproductive time can probably be chalked up to inexperience. I've sat near tanks that had little or no turkey sign. Animals are on high alert when they go to water since it is a perfect place for predators to ambush them. A lot of animals won't come to a tank if they think things aren't just right. Turkeys can be particularly twitchy.

Hunting Merriams

I mention in my welcome that there are some key differences in how to hunt the Merriams sub-species compared to the Eastern sub-species. I have never actually hunted Easterns, but most turkey publications are about Easterns. To make it even harder on us Merriams folks, the people who write these articles often use the generic term "Wild Turkey", as if Easterns are the only kind of turkey in the world. When I started the sport, I would read these articles and try to apply the techniques that I had learned. It took me years to realize when I read an article or publication about turkeys to be very careful about which sub-species the author was talking about. Here are a couple of really good information resources on the Merriam's subspecies: Mark A. Rumble has several publications on line that helped me understand the habits of Merriams like http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/sd/microhabitats.pdf and http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/rapidcity/PDF/macrohabs.pdf I studied http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/rapidcity/PDF/roostinghab.pdf long and hard to understand roosting habits. This one is great http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/rapidcity/PDF/feeding.pdf, but kinnikinnik is scarce (if there at all) where I hunt, so I had to kind of extrapolate. A good book about Merriams is Stalking the Big Bird by Harley Shaw. In my opinion the biggest difference in hunting Merriams vs. Eastern turkeys is the forests that they live in. Eastern turkey woods are a lot tighter, with a lot more cover. The Ponderosa Pine forests of the west are pretty open with a lot less understory. I think with a more open forest the turkeys don't talk as much. The turkeys can rely on their vision more for cues within the flock. Only when they get in more dense cover do they need to use their calls to communicate. Less cover also means less cover for a hunter to hide. I can probably count on one hand the times that I have surprised a turkey while walking around. Probably half the turkeys I've seen during hunting season are while rolling along at a pretty good clip in a truck. I think the turkeys just don't have a chance to leave the area when your bumping along at 30MPH down a dirt road. When your walking around in open woods though, they see you coming long before you see them. Walking around in Ponderosa woods looking for turkeys in pretty futile. My plan in the future when trying to locate birds during the day is to walk and call a lot, not looking for birds, but listening for them. I've heard of this tactic being used extensively on Eastern turkeys, but I think that with Merriams it is highly over-rated. I spend months and months planning for my turkey hunts though, so I don't want to just sit around at camp all day waiting for the morning hunt. Another big difference is the barred owl shock call. I went to a turkey hunting seminar before I ever went hunting. The expert demonstrated the deadly barred owl shock call. I must have cooked for you all (the call of the barred owl sounds like "Who cooks for you, We cook for you all") for two years before I figured out that barred owls don't live in the U.S. rockies or southwestern states. Don't expect the barred owl call to elicite any response from a Merriams. I've had better luck with slamming the car door than the barred owl call. If you want to do an owl try the Western Screech Owl (pretty hard to master though). Other shock calls I've had luck with are mooing and morning dove. I think I may learn to elk bugle, as last spring it elisited a good response as I mentioned in my Lonely Bachelor post. I have to say that at least with Merriams "shock" call is not the right word. A better name would be "possibly somewhat disturbing, but no real need for me to call back" call. Lastly, there is an idea out there that is widely written about called "roosting the bird". It is painfully clear to me why roosting the bird would greatly increase you chances of killing a big gobbler. I have busted my rear trying to roost a bird and during the whole 6 years of hunting I don't think I have been successful once. I have on several occasions made a good guess where the birds are roosted, but never have I "used my shock call to put the bird to bed". I'm not saying that its not possible to roost a Merriams, but I'm resonably sure it isn't the way they do it in the Eastern turkey woods. Perhaps I got discouraged from roosting gobblers because I used my barred owl shock call. Anyway, I hope that I don't come off as bitter about the press that Easterns get, but if your hunting Merriams or probably any of the other sub species besides Easterns, be careful what you read.

Camo

Camo is really magical. The technology that has gone into it over the years has made it really effective. Here are a couple stories about how effective camo really is: One fall turkey season I was sitting up on the hillside. The road was about 15 feet below me. I was in full camo including gloves and face mask. A couple of guys on ATVs came humming along at a really slow rate. I could tell they were deer scouting by the way they were looking around and driving. I wasn't hiding and I wasn't in any ground cover. There were some pole sized ponderosa, but it wasn't thick forest. The first guy drove by me without a glance. The second guy drove slowly by me and looked at me for more than a few seconds. I was about to wave to him and say "hi" because I thought he saw me when he stuck his finger halfway up his nose to pick it. It was then that I realized he was looking right through me. Needless to say I let him slide by. I wouldn't want to bother someone when they're prospecting and I think this guy may have hit the mother lode. Another time I got to see the power of camo, my dad and I had stopped in the shade on a warm fall day to eat lunch. We were in an area with heavy cover, but we were in full view. Neither of us was trying to be stealthy, we were just eating lunch and talking. My dad had fallen asleep when a young doe walked up on the bench of the canyon we were in, about 20 yards below us. The wind must have been right because the doe looked to be completely at ease. She bedded down looking into the canyon. I sat and looked at her for the next fifteen minutes or so until my dad woke up. When we got up the movement startled her and she ran off. The coolest time I saw the effects of camo was when my dad and I had been scouting this canyon. I was really interested in this canyon and had gone ahead of my dad for twenty minutes or so. He had already headed back to the truck. After a while I went back to the truck too and when I got there, I didn't see where my dad had gone. I went to look inside the truck to see if he had leaned the seat back for a nap or something, when I heard his voice. He asked me something about what I had seen in the canyon. I proceeded to have a conversation with him for about three minutes without seeing where he was, so I'm like, "where the heck are you". He said, "I'm over here." I looked toward his voice but still couldn't see him. I looked harder and finally spotted his disembodied head floating in the forest. A fraction of a second after I saw his head, the outline of his body slowly traced into view like he had just appeared from a different dimension. His camo was just regular pants and shirt when that happened and he was standing in full view. With the L.L. Bean 3D suits I will sometimes lose sight of him, even when I know exactly where he is. Its kind of funny, because when someone is wearing camo in the city, it sticks out so much you might as well be wearing hunter orange.

Strange Clucking

I've looked at a lot of info on turkey hunting since I started. One of the first interests I had was what an actual wild turkey sounded like. I heard guys like Ray Eye the world famous turkey caller doing his thing and recordings of wild turkeys. Most of the clucking I heard sounded kind of like a hollow truncated yelp. The first few years while learning to hunt I didn't hear a lot of turkeys, because the most inter-action I had was watching them run away while we drove around on logging roads. Since we have found the new honey hole, I have heard and seen a lot more turkeys that were unaware of my presence. I was really surprised when I heard them cluck. At first I thought the sound must be the putt sound since the hens that were making it when I first heard it were flying out of their trees to get out of Dodge, because I had just planted myself in their territory. Then some hens showed up later who weren't away of me and they were popping along nonchalently. The sound they were making sounded like the pop from the song "Lollipop". The part where the song goes "Lollipop (POP) Ba dum dum dum" at the end of the chorus like a cork gun popping. I've never heard this online and never have the guys in the turkey calling contest used this call that I've heard. Anyway, I think that there may be local dialects for turkeys not as much for the mating calls like gobbling and yelping, but maybe for calls like clucking an purring they can differ from flock to flock. If anyone else has experienced different turkey "dialects" leave me a comment so I know I'm not crazy.

A Disertation on Gobbling

In every book that I've read about turkey hunting it says, "Never, ever, ever, never, ever gobble", they continue to say that for all intensive purposes there are hunters out there just waiting to shoot wildly at foolish hunters who gobble in the turkey woods. For a long time I didn't gobble because it is important to me to be as safe as possible. I still don't gobble when trying to locate turkeys. I only gobble when I think it will really make a difference and I'm calling in a bird that I can actually see. Still if gobbling is so dangerous, then why is it ok to bugle in an elk. Also, I haven't read many cautions about decoys. It seems to me that a turkey replica is much more likely to get shot at than a hunter gobbling. Third, there are not many hunters in the places that I go, if I only gobble at birds that I can see and I'm trying to call in. The other hunter is more likely to shoot at the bird than me. I could see where a hunter could shoot at a bird without knowing the backstop. I try to mitigate that risk by keeping a close eye out for other hunters and letting people I meet know when and where I'll be hunting. If I see another hunter walking around, I say hello. I've had hunters who see me coming yelp and it really confuses the issue. I wonder, "does that guy know I'm here? Am I in danger walking around this guy?" If I think someone is yelping to announce themselves, I say "hello" and then head the other way.

Call a Lot

Early on I was warned not to call too much or I would affect the behaviour of the birds in a very negative way. I was almost afraid to call at all the first hunt that I went on. I also felt like when I did call, all the birds within three miles would hear it and depending on how well I had imitated the call of the wild turkey all or none would come. There are key times when not to call, but in my experience these are the exception, not the rule. There are three times while turkey hunting that you shouldn't call. When you have called once in the morning to let gobblers, you heard gobbling, know where you are, stop calling until the gobblers come down off the roost. Calling over and over to birds on the roost will make a gobbler think you are so hot to trot that he doesn't need to come to you. If you want to work the bird up while he's on the roost, use a shock call. My favorite shock call is mooing. You can tell the bird is off the roost because there will be a pause in his gobbling and it will be a lot less loud or he'll shut up completely. Sometimes the gobbler will turn away from you on his roost, making the gobble quieter, but if you hear several quiet gobbles in a row especially if they are dimming each time the bird gobbles, he is off the roost and its time to start calling again. If the bird honors your call, wait to call again until you can determine if he's walking away or towards you. If he's walking towards you don't call, except to cluck softly and/or purr. If the birds is leaving, call a lot, you don't have much to lose. If it seems like the turkey is going to leave all together, consider gobbling. I would hate for someone to get hurt, by taking my advice, so don't gobble until you have read my post on gobbling (coming soon) and even then be sure to make your own informed decision about it. Another reason not to call is if you see another hunter. Say "hello" instead. Turkeys don't talk so hopefully they won't shoot at you. Re-cap: 1. Don't call to birds on the roost once you've told them where you are. 2. Don't call to a gobbler that's coming in. 3. Don't call when you know that another hunter is in the area. Say "hello" instead. Otherwise call a lot. Its really hard to get close enough to a turkey to shoot it without calling it in.

Hunting Alone

For me it wasn't intuitive to hunt by myself. One of the main reasons I go turkey hunting is to spend time with my dad. I like the comfort of having someone nearby while I'm out in the woods. Its also nice to be able to discuss the information at hand and brainstorm to come up with ideas about what to do next. I was very apprehensive about going out on my own for the morning hunt. My dad and I had the same or similar information and so we could take our different viewpoints about what happened on a given day. I think this was good for learning. We could discuss what we saw and heard and later come to a consensus about what we had learned. In retro-spect I think we could have benefited from going it alone half the time during the initial stages of our learning. Our independent experiences could have been put together at camp, thereby effectively doubling our experience. Another good reason to go it alone is you double the ground that you cover as a team. For me this can be a great morale booster. If I have a bad day, my dad's good day can bring me up and vice versa. Also, If we both don't see anything, we can be more confident about moving on. Conversely if we both have good days there is more opportunity for making good decisions about tomorrow. Another good reason not to hunt together is safety. I once had a shot (albeit a bad one), but didn't want to take it because my dad was down range of me. As it turns out, my dad didn't take the shot either because he wanted me to have a shot at the bird if it was presented to me. As it turned out the bird just kept on going and we never saw him again. Lastly, when there is two people in an area there is twice as much movement noise and general hubbub. In fact with two people around, the whole is probably greater than sum and your even more than twice as likely to be busted when your together, considering that people like to talk to each other. One day when the action had died down, I was sitting and watching the woods in my set up when a hen came ambling by. I was having great fun watching her when all of a sudden she became very alert and then high tailed it off over the hill. About five minutes later my dad showed up ready to move on. Had that bird been a rooster I would have had a good shot at it and my shot may have been ruined by my dad getting up from his set up and coming over. By the way, he was a least three hundred yards away in full camo in medium thick woods. By the timing I'm sure that hen saw him when he first got up from his set up. Unless your behind a hill a turkey will see you coming when your walking. The only chance you have not to be seen is when your in light cover, full camo and completely still. I think it is appropriate to walk around and call, but you'll hear turkeys and thereby locate them, rather than see turkeys most if not all of the time. So if you've always hunted with your buddy go ahead and keep the tradition, but make sure that some of the time, you split up.

Being Deliberate

Last spring I came up with a three part plan to bring my odds up for killing a turkey. One bullet point was to be very deliberate about the decisions I make while hunting. I'll outline what I mean by this. I'll also make it clear why being deliberate is important. You might ask why someone wouldn't be deliberate in making decisions. Well, it is very easy to lose focus while hunting. First of all, no one has told me when I'm doing something wrong. I didn't learn how to hunt turkeys through a mentor. My dad and I were both just as green when we started. If you have a buddy who is very experienced, they will tell you when you've made a bad decision. It is easy to be deliberate when your following someone else. Second, when there is little or no information about the animal your after, it is very hard to make good decisions. You see a little sign or hear a crow cluck and you can quickly be off wandering around on some dead end road. Third, being away from regular society makes superstition more real. It is easy to hear and see things that aren't really there. Being deliberate means not giving in to shadows and ghosts. Either you saw it or you didn't. Making decisions based on "I think I saw something" is a real waste of time. The idea of being deliberate can be a little abstract, but making a decision and sticking with it can really make a difference. Only if a decision is made based on sound logic and real evidence will the effort pan out. So, if you give a decision its proper due, you can also be more sure if it was a mistake. To a large degree this kind of confidence only comes with experience. Here's an example of not being deliberate and what it cost: My dad and I had set up on a hill side near a known roosting area early in the morning. I had located these roosting trees 5 months ago. It was the first time I was able to find bona fide heavily used roosting trees. After a morning full of gobbling and a hen yelping near us, everything shut down. I assumed that the turkeys had all left. About 20 minutes after the calling had shut down, I decided to give up and show my dad the roosting trees, since he hadn't seen them yet. While we were standing around kicking at piles of turkey crap under the trees, the forest exploded with gobbling and it was all my dad and I could do to get to some light cover and sit down. A huge boss gobbler showed up strutting and drumming across the clearing. He was in a hurry to beat up another gobbler who was gobbling nearby. We weren't prepared for these birds to show up because of our lack of deliberation. Furthermore, we didn't hang around very long and try to call the birds back to the area. Here's an unglamorous example of how being deliberate taught me something valuable. One day my dad and I decided to try to ambush a bird on a game trail. We layed up for about 4 hours as quiet as mice waiting for a turkey to show up. The lesson was you better have a pretty good reason to do such an exercise. We didn't and I got the message.

Turkey Beard and Shotshell

Lonely Bachelor

Last spring turkey season my dad and I went out to our favorite hunting spot and set up a tent in the snow. It was kind of unusual for it to snow so late in the season. The next day when we got up the snow was still on the ground. I was excited because we would be able to see fresh turkey tracks in the snow. It was one day before the season opened. We had learned that for no apparent reason a big flock of turkeys could move out of an area that previously had a lot of activity, so we usually go out a day before season opens to be sure the birds are still where we think they are. We drove some of the roads above our camp after breakfast. We saw a bunch of hens about 200 yards off on the ridge we were on so we felt good about the area we were in. Later we fooled around in our camp, since we already had decided where we would set up in the morning. The next morning we hiked up the road in the dark and sat up on the ridge where we had seen the hens. We saw that they had come from the north, so we set up in that direction. It was cold in the morning. When the sun rose it was really quiet in the woods, which is unusual in the ponderosa woods in the morning. Usually there are woodpeckers, crows, and other animals chirping and squawking when the sun comes up. After the sun came up the wind picked up and it was hard to hear anything. All in all after seeing all those birds the day before, it was a very discouraging morning and the wind for me makes it very hard to hunt turkeys. I get discouraged pretty easily during my turkey hunts. While I love being out in the woods with my dad and enjoying the great outdoors, by the end of a fruitless day I can get pretty grumpy. I was stewing pretty good by the afternoon. We stopped by a watering hole to scout it on our way out to town and met a guy who had killed a turkey in the area. On our last day of the hunt the year before, we set up by the watering hole and the forest exploded with turkeys that flew out of their roosts. We could hear two different gobblers going off again and again. I had planned all year to sit in that same spot, but decided against it when we had seen those hens up on the ridge. On our way into town I was in worse shape mentally than I've ever been since we started turkey hunting. Just ready to call it quits. In an effort to save my sanity, I decided I would do three things. 1. I would be a lot more deliberate in decisions I made about my hunt. 2. I would call a lot. 3. For the second time ever I would go alone to my morning hunt. I think these decisions uped my odds the second I made them. I'll discuss each one in detail in other posts. That evening, I walked a logging road for about two miles squawking my box often while I walked. I didn't hear or see any birds, but I at least felt like I was doing something productive. As it turns out right after I got back to camp, we heard another hunters box call just 200 yards away by the fork in the road. I went over to say hello, but then realized that it was a real turkey hen that had high tailed it up the hill. I think it had heard my calls and was calling me to the flock up the hill. I had talked over the morning hunt with my dad and we had agreed to hunt different areas in the morning. With the encounter that night as well as the birds we had seen the day before, my dad still felt like hunting the same ridge as in the morning. I had decided to hunt by the watering hole we had scouted that afternoon. We both woke up at about 4:30 packed up and headed out. I drove my dads pickup to about a quarter mile from the watering hole. It was darker than the inside of a cow, but I could barely see the logging road that lead to the watering hole in the starlight. I didn't dare turn on my headlamp. I just walked carefully and slowly up the road. I passed by my setup by accident and could see the stars reflected in the water hole. I retraced my steps and inched my way into the inky undergrowth. I got settled in about a half an hour before the skies started to lighten. When the sun came up the forest woke up nicely. I heard an elk bugle way off in the distance. I'd never heard an elk bugle in the spring before and wondered if a hunter was using a bugle as a shock call. Whoever or what ever it was, it worked. About 300 yards up the hill and south of me a gobbler sounded off. Throughout the morning, until about 7:30 two more gobblers joined in. I chimed off a string of soft tree calls and the gobblers went nuts cutting each other off mid gobble. After about a half an hour of this mayhem, everything went quiet. When everything went so dead quiet I was worried that would be the last I heard of them. I called aggressively as per my plan. I continued to call every five minutes or so for the next half hour. I hadn't heard anything, so I was thinking that the excitement was over when a gobbler barked a gobble behind me about 200 yards off. I was so surprised I about jumped out of my skin. After a prescribed waiting period of 3 minutes of so, I yelped on my box. The gobbler hammered on my call, so I layed off and clucked with my mouth. He gobbled about two more times and then turned around. I couldn't see him yet, but knew he was headed the other way by the sound of the call. I yelped at him again and again to get him to come back. He finally hammered my call and just kept gobbling over and over. I knew he was coming in so I had moved to the other side of the tree I had set up on, I knew he wouldn't see my movement because he was still on the other side of the crest of a small hill. When he bobbed into view he was in full strut. As excited as he was, I expected him to be spitting and buzzing, but he was quiet except for bellowing a gobble every minute or so. He looked for my call, but I could see he didn't recognize any danger, as he casually strutted up the hill away from me. He was in full view so I could only cluck at him with my mouth or I would have been busted. Then he strutted away up the hill over the crest, gobbling the whole way and leaving me sitting there flat footed with my back to him. With the gobbler "safely" out of site I moved back around to where I was sitting before and made a decision to gobble at him in hopes of attracting him back. I fully expected to never see the bird again, but when I gobbled he turned back immediately from a hundred and fifty yards away on top of the hill. He gobbled my way again and then crept slowly down the hill toward me, I could tell he was really looking hard for a hen, so I was as still as the ground under me. When his head went behind a tree a hundred yards up the hill, I yelped at him. He gobbled, displayed and spit for just a second and then hopped into a clearing and looked right at me. I could almost feel his laser gaze searching for me. I froze in place like a statue, and he didn't spot me. Then he dropped low and ran right toward me. I thought, "crap, he's going to run right into my lap and I won't be able to get my gun up to my shoulder". Then he slowed down and turned left at about forty yards. It proved to be his undoing. If he had kept coming straight down the hill, he would have busted me had I tried to shoulder my shotgun, but to the left there was cover. He walked behind a ponderosa and I shouldered my shotgun in one quick smooth motion. I remember thinking that if he came out the other side I would take the shot. As he appeared on the other side of the tree, I tracked him on my bead for a fraction of a second. Then something weird happened to me. It felt like my gun the bird and my body were all connected together like some kind of crazy machine. I don't remember pulling the trigger, although I do remember calculating the shot. In that moment all in a millisecond everything came into focus. Not just visually, although there was that, but spiritually and mentally and everything else. I was awoken from my trance by the sound of the shot. I sprang up and racked another shell into my shotgun. When I saw the bird it was flapping and flopping on the ground. I could tell he would never get up again. I ran over and stood on the birds neck to be sure that he wouldn't. I stood over him, very emotional and after 20 seconds or so he ceased to move. I knelt down and petted his dark body, bowed my head and thanked God. I opened my eyes and told the bird I was sorry and thanked him. My excitement and sorrow were all one thing and I was completely overcome by emotion for a short time. I carried him back to my set up and prepared my things to bring him back to my dad's truck. He was very heavy to carry. I wrapped him in my hunter orange game bag that my wife had sewn for me and carried him out over my shoulder. I was elated and could hardly contain my self. On the way back to camp I listened to Bluegrass music and whoohooed a couple times. I felt on top of the world. When I got back to my camp I set to work field dressing the bird. I was struck by how hot it was when I reached in the body of the turkey to dress him. When my dad came back. I had on my orange stocking cap. I knew that would signal him as he hiked back into camp that I had gotten a bird. He told me that when he saw me in the orange cap he knew I had. It seemed like it took forever for him to come back from his hunt. My success was just as much his. He had been with me from the beginning and we had learned together.

Weeds

My wife and I are watching a show called Weeds that she got on DVD for Christmas. The show is good so far. I fully expect it to get way out of hand in the next season. I think next season its going to get Melrose Placed.

My wife started watching Melrose Place when it first came out. Since I was a huge couch potato back then I couldn't have gotten off my rear to leave the room and so I started watching the show too. The show wasn't too bad at first. The characters showed more depth each episode and it was pretty interesting. Then weird things started happening and I'm thinking, well things should settle back down here in an episode or two. Well things just got crazier and stupider until finally, I had learned my lesson. When a serial drama gets Melrose Placed, just walk away.


So anyway, back to Weeds. The intro has a really cool song, called "little boxes". It really makes me think. How can I in this American society not live in a little box made out of ticky tacky. I, as the song suggests, went to the university where they put me in a little box and I came out just the same.

There's a joke going around on the Internet. It says something like, "the Indians went hunting everyday and then had sex every night and it takes a white man to think they could improve that system". I don't know if it was the Indians that invented that lifestyle, but I do think we were all fools to have given it up.

Drainage Draw or Arroyo

So I created a blog called Drainage Draw or Arroyo a while back and then lost interest in writing in it. I re-read some of it and most of it holds true and I feel as strongly about what I said then. That said, I have learned a lot since I originally wrote that blog and it seems that my enthusiasm then has grown into a deep love for the sport of turkey hunting.

I lost the password to the original blog and the e-mail I used to set up the account is long gone. I think it is appropriate to start a new blog anyway, since it has been so long since I wrote in the old one. The "wish me luck" post I made on Sept. 16 was appropriately the last post I made, because it was soon after that my life took a nasty left turn. It was about then that my marriage which had always been a haven for me turned into Dr. Moreau's island. My wife and I were able to pull it out by the skin of our teeth, but the experience left deep scars. I don't know if either of us will ever be able to relax and just let us be us again. Hopefully we have entered a stage of healing and we'll someday be better off for the work we've done. I know that things are much more peaceful now than before.

In other news: I was finally able to get my turkey last spring. It took me 6 years to do it. I took him in the [Top Secret Eyes Only] National Forest in an ahem...undisclosed location with my Browning BPS, carrying Remington Magnum 2 3/4 in. shells with #6 shot. It was a good shot at 30 yards, in spite of my excitement I was able to take an extremely deliberate shot. It was a clean kill and I thanked the Lord and the bird. I called the bird in with a H.S. Strut Field Champion box and a Quaker Boy gobble tube. It was definitely among the most powerful experiences in my life. In a later post I will tell the whole story in detail. If no one ever reads it fine, but I'd like to put it down for posterity at least.

I will be flying out and meeting my dad this spring. I'm looking forward to going back to the same place as last year. I didn't get to go to the last fall hunt due to my grandfather's death. Its been a long year and I'm really looking forward to getting out.