WEBVTT - Ep. 324: This Country Life - Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.600 Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves. 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:12.680 From coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:14.680 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:19.200 my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life is presented 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:23.200 by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:28.240 the best outdoor podcast the airwaves have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.760 grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:43.000 stories to share. Double your pleasure, Double your fun O. 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:47.960 On my Turkey episode before we switch gears, the main 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:50.519 offering is from a hunt this year that was a 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.840 first for me and my friend Toby Neemeyer. It seemed 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:57.440 like we could do nothing right in the Turkey woods, 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.880 and then we caught a break. I'm gonna tell you 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:08.399 all about it, but first I'm gonna tell you this story. 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:15.399 This is from This Country Life listener Brady Johansson. Brady's 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.960 from the great state of Texas and said in this 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:21.880 one about chasing turkeys in the lone Star state. So, 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:28.480 in Brady's words, in my voice, here we go. Last year, 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:31.000 my eight year old son Porter and I had a 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.840 great day in the field for spring turkey season, a 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:37.559 red letter day. As my dad and his grandfather would say. 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:41.080 But before I get into everything that happened, I have 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:45.279 to explain a long standing family tradition that my brother 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.800 and I are committed to upholding, and one that we 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.720 cherish and our family. You must wait until you're ten 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:56.240 years old to kill your first deer and your first dove. 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.960 The two standard game animals and hunting seasons US Texans 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:04.120 look forward to every year now leading up to your 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:07.200 tenth birthday. Starting at about six years old, you're giving 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.160 a b B gun and you get to start tagging 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:12.960 along with Dad, and if you're the younger brother, you 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:16.399 get to go with your older brother too. Now, then 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.160 after you have mastered the BB gun and can show 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.800 the basics of gun safety, you're allowed to start shooting 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:27.360 at twenty two and also a twenty gauge. Then, after 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.600 you show proficiency with these calibers on targets, you advanced 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:34.880 to start hunting small game rabbits and varmints, squirrels, et cetera. 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:39.920 This typically happens around eight years old, and then finally 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:44.080 you graduate to a rifle large enough to kill a deer. 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:48.160 And our family, we have an old Remington Mom seven 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:51.280 hundred and six millimeter with the original Weaver scope on 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:55.600 it that was purchased when Porter's grandfather was ten years 0:02:55.600 --> 0:03:00.520 old in nineteen sixty five. In fact, my fo killed 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:03.560 his first deer with this gun, as have my brother 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:07.680 and I and countless other guests and family members. So 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:10.520 by the time you're ten years old, you've been practicing 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.600 for quite some time with this rifle in anticipation of 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.480 your first hunt. But no matter how good you get, 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.200 you still have to wait all the way until you 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:25.239 pass your tenth birthday to finally make that first shot 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:30.040 on a deer. Now back to why all this matters 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:34.040 for my then eight year old son and I. Last 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.080 year he was showing some advanced proficiency with this rifle 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.440 and shotgun skills were pretty good too. And I should 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:44.480 also add that he's big, if not bigger than many 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:48.080 ten year olds I know, and he started asking about 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:51.000 when he gets to shoot a deer. Now, me having 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.520 already explained the family tradition to him multiple times, he 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:58.240 already knew the answer, but he is getting quite impatient, 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.280 and to be to be perfectly honest, so am I. 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.600 He is my oldest of three sons, so I'm not 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:09.240 sure who is excited more for that first deer, him 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:13.320 or me, but neither of us can hardly stand the weight. 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.320 In response to the extremely hard answer of no to 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:21.360 the deer hunting, he asked, well, what about pigs? Now, 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:23.760 we have a little wild hog problem here in Texas 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:27.240 where we currently hunt, but we did not where my 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.160 brother and I grew up hunting with our dad. So 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.599 this poses a bit of a gray area when it 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.919 comes to the family tradition. Now I think for a moment, 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:37.880 and I decided that a hog is not considered a 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:41.640 game animal in Texas, more like a varmit, as there 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:45.400 is no season or bag limit, or hardly any regulations 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:48.600 on killing them. So why not? Yeah, yes, son, hogs 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:52.000 are in play, I answering. His eyes light up. Then 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:57.400 he asked, what about turkeys? Now I have a real 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.280 problem because my reason for the hog approval, well, I 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.080 did not consider that he would ask about a turkey. 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.359 Once again, growing up, we didn't have turkeys in the 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:09.320 area my family hunting, so this it never came up. 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:13.480 There is also one other problem, and that is that 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:17.479 my father passed away seventeen years ago, so he's not 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.719 here to consult about the rules and the regulations of 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:25.760 this long standing family tradition. There's no board of directors either, 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.200 but there is my brother and Porter's uncle to consult. 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:33.360 So I started trying to justify my explanation to him, because, 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:36.280 to be honest, I wanted to take my son turkey hunting. 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:39.880 A quick phone called in a discussion that probably sounded 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:42.600 like a teenager trying to convince his parents let him 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:45.919 stay out late past curfew, and my brother gives his 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.320 blessings and says, yeah, turkeys can be taken prior to 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:53.960 the deer at ten. And with that endorsement, it's on now, buddy. 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.440 Opening the morning of Texas's youth turkey season, and we 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.599 head to our first spot and within five minutes of 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:04.640 getting set up and hitting that call a couple of times, 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.680 we hear a gobble. I hit the call and he 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:12.040 God was again. I told Porter to get ready and 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:16.200 be still. He's going to come in five minutes past, 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:19.520 another yep and another gobble. I don't blieve my eyes 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:21.800 when I see him about one hundred yards away. Bobbed 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.159 it weaven through the grass, coming in hot. He popped 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.960 up over a little hill and Porter lets him have it. 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:33.159 Maw the turkey goes down and sodas Porter. I swapped 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.800 his twenty gates from my twelve and a three inch 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.600 turkey load because I wanted to be sure he got 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:41.000 his first turkey and he didn't leave the situation with 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.839 the wounded or miss bird. Now I did mention that Porter, 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.120 he's a big eight year old, but he's so sure 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.520 he was ready for that. In hindsight, I realized that 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:53.720 was a little much, but he popped back up quickly, 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.640 and we celebrated and high fived and laughed and cried 0:06:56.680 --> 0:07:01.160 over his first turkey. I explained to him, Now, you 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.680 kind of got spoiled on that first one, because it 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:07.279 never happens like that, especially the first time out, and 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:11.040 especially with a tom that was sporting eleven inch beard 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:14.000 and curved spurs that were well over an inch long. 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:17.600 If that was the end of the story, it would 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:20.680 have been a great one. Here's where the story gets 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:24.440 even crazier. That evening, we decided to give that little 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:26.560 honey hole to our hunting buddy and his son, and 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:28.240 we headed to a part of the ranch, and we 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.760 had never seen turkeys before, but we figured, what the heck, 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:34.400 we might as well try, so I pulled up in 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.120 the truck and told Porter to stay inside, not anticipate much, 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:40.680 and as I hit the box call, I didn't believe 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.120 my ears. A gobbler responded before I even got out 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.440 my fourth yep, and he was only about two hundred 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.680 yards away. Get out of truck, Porter, get the gun, 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:53.559 let's go. So we set up again, and once again 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:56.920 a gobbler is responding right away, and then we see 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.840 him one hundred yards out way across an open field 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:05.920 in full strut. Then, much to my surprise, two jakes 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:08.840 come charging right at him, and they proceeded to get 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:14.000 into a vicious two o one all out broad. They 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.240 are jumping and spurring and pecking and scratching, and eventually 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:21.040 disappeared back into the tree line. On top of that, 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.640 there was a hen up and further down the tree line, 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:27.160 right where they were headed. I started letting Porter down 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.680 gently and told him how cool that was to see, 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.880 but our hunt was probably over. But it's all right 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:37.080 because we'd already got one that morning. Once again I 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:41.360 was wrong. After a few minutes, he reappeared in full 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.080 strut and had a straight for our jac and hen decoys. 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:46.000 I guess he figured he just whooped two of them. 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:50.600 What's one more? And we got an absolute strut show 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:53.280 for all the time it took him to get within range, 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.960 and finally I tell Porter to let him have it, 0:08:56.000 --> 0:09:01.160 and wham, Turkey number two goes down. More celebrations and 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.440 high fives and hugs that I explained once again, this 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:07.760 never happens like this, and how fortunate he is. But 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:12.720 I don't think he understood. And as the sun was 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:16.160 setting on that beautiful March evening, while we were taking 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:19.079 our pictures and selfies holding up Turkey number two our 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.760 fingers signifying the second bird of the day, I can't 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:25.480 help but to think that his grandfather was looking down 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:27.679 upon us. He might have had something to do with 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:32.080 sending us both of those birds, letting us know he 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:35.320 approved by the loophole that we'd come up with in 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:40.640 the new family tradition. And according to Brady Caller of Turkeys, 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.240 litigator for Youth Turkey hunters and father of Porter, the 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:50.320 Gobblers smashing baseball playing eldest Joe hadson tax deduction. That's 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:54.720 just how that happened. I had the pleasure of visiting 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:58.000 with young Porter during a FaceTime call, hearing him tell 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:02.280 me that story and another turkey tale that has his 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:06.000 tally up now to three. I'd be lying if I 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.880 told you any particulars about it that the last turkey 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.320 he killed, I was so distracted by how polite and 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:16.600 respectful he was and how good his manners are. I 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:20.400 feel confident his two younger brothers are a similar demeanor. 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.680 That's a good boy you got there, Brady. Thank y'all 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:34.800 for sharing your story, Toby said, I'll just go hunting 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:37.600 with you tomorrow. Job site is too wet to do anything, 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.079 and I ain't killed the turkey in thirty years. Well. 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:43.640 I was surprised, to say the least, but not shocked. 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:47.760 My Missouri born and bred brother by choice had been 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:51.520 hosting me for over twenty years now, and anyone who's 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.160 paid half attention has heard me talk about him numerous 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:56.880 times on here. His home was my home away from 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:01.680 home every spring. His family is my family every day 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:04.520 of the year. They're the kind of folks I don't 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.880 have to talk to every day, week, or even month, 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:12.400 even though I'm all for it. Our bonds transcend time, 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:16.040 space and frequency. I have a handful of folks like 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.480 that in my life, but none surpassed them. I love 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:22.400 these people. I didn't think twice when he said he 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.200 wanted to go with me. I did, However, when he 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:29.240 said I ain't got no camo to wear, I checked 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:31.240 my bag and found a leafy top I hadn't been 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:33.360 wearing yet this year, and I knew I had an 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:36.920 extra face mask in my turkey vest. Always told an 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.920 extra because before the season is over, it winds up 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:42.520 being the only one I have, because I've lost the 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:46.760 originals somewhere between the South and the Midwest. Fortune favored 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:50.080 Toby this time because I had yet to lose one. 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:52.440 He looked at me and said, I can't find any 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.760 camouflage pants. Well. My response was, you know how many 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:59.080 turkeys have been killed by folks wearing overalls? A lot 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.360 is tall. You've got on some brown jersey gloves, that 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:06.240 leafy jacket and a face mask. You'll you'll be good. 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:10.839 Just be still When four point thirty am rudely punched 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:12.760 me in the ear. The next morning, I stumbled out 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:14.920 of my room to see my new turkey hunting partner 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:18.320 dressed and pouring coffee. I told her we were going 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:21.679 to my regular spot and listen. It was my favorite 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.840 jumping off spot for hunting their family's land. I knew 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:26.880 it as well as my own, and had been standing 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.000 in that spot at daylight for the majority of the 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:34.200 last three decades. At Goblin time, we were there standing 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:39.240 the side beside, sipping coffee and listening to Missouri wake up. 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:42.439 And I add what I thought was a reasonable, if 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:46.120 not perfect, fac simile for barred owl leaning forward as 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:49.640 to catch the recoil of the coming gobbler, and dang 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:52.119 there fell on my face. When I got no response, 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.440 I dare that turkey not answer me? We waited a 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.160 few more minutes and have to hear nothing. We moved 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:02.280 out on foot. Toby, We're gonna go down to the 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:05.400 bottom field across the creek at your deer stand, and 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:09.280 listened in that other bottom field where they normally roosed. 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:12.840 We walked the five hundred yards along the edge of 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:16.040 the woods and slipped down past Toby's stand. We were 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:18.600 standing at the fence directly under the roof tree where 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.800 the day before I'd called four hens to me off 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:24.400 that roost. I sat up at the edge of the 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:27.160 field one hundred yards behind where we had just walked through. 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:30.520 But now it was well after flying downtime, No way, 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:32.800 they're still on the roost. I know this land, and 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:36.640 I know these turkeys. I told Toby, now, those hens 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.440 were roosted right here, right here, close yesterday. They flew 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:42.000 out in the middle of that field and they came 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:45.280 straight to me. They didn't roost here last night, obviously, 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.520 or we to heard him fly down. This morning, Toby 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:50.800 looked up to our left at a big sycamore tree 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:53.640 thirty yards away and said, there's a turkey on the 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.200 limb right there. I looked up and saw two turkeys. 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.200 I pulled out my bioes and confirmed one did have 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:01.800 a beard. But it was the beard and hen that 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.800 I'd called up the day before. They put it a 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.199 couple times and flew off. I out right behind there, leaving, 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:10.600 and a gobbler sounded off a long way in the 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.480 direction they flew for them leaving. Ain't gonna bother us nothing. 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:16.840 Let's slip across the creek and set up right over there. 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:19.840 They like to meet up in this spot and strut. 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.080 I've seen them do it a million times. I wasn't 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:24.520 kidding when I told him that I'd killed several turkeys 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:28.119 out of that bottom field over the years, my confidence 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:31.920 level had yet to wane. My plan was solid, and 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:34.160 all we'd scared off was a couple of Hens, which 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:36.880 more than likely was going to help us by eliminating 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:39.960 some competition. Because if there's one thing I know, it's this. 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:45.080 The turkey, you hear, goblin ain't the only one out there. 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:49.840 This is when patience and knowing the land comes into play. 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.200 I ain't a rookie at this. As a matter of fact, 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:55.200 I pretty dang good at it. That's what I was 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.880 telling myself when two gobblers blasted off the roofs across 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.280 the little bottom field, flying to what I can only 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:06.040 assume was Nebraska, followed by three more Hens. I looked 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:09.360 back at Toby. He was giggling in me like a 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:14.160 little girl. We changed directions. We sat up on the 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:16.280 edge of another field, and to make a sad story 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:19.480 shorter and even sadder, we couldn't convince six jakes an 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:22.360 hour later to walk up to our decoy. They ignored 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:26.360 me and her. I wanted to cry. Then it started 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:29.640 raining and we walked three quarters of a mile back 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:32.560 to the side beside, chasing something we felt we had 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:38.000 more control over. Breakfast. The waitress at the Pioneer restaurant 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.680 tried to kill me with eggs, pancakes, biscuits, and all 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.400 the coffee I could hold the tote in my pockets. 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.320 And for the next few hours we drove around looking 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.000 at turkeys middling around in the big open farm fields 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.240 as safe from us as they could get. Nothing short 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:54.800 of an artillery or lightnings Strake had harmed them, with 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:58.880 the latter being a greater possibility than the former. It 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:02.680 was storming then around three that afternoon, we drove by 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.560 a family friend's farm. A visit with the landowners saying 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:09.120 we were just killing time, riding and looking until the 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:13.680 rain stopped. Turned into a genuine invitation to hunt his property, 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:19.040 and his property is loaded with turkeys. He said, there 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.800 was five strutting down there by that gap this morning, 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:24.640 Y'allso to try that out in the morning. And I 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.560 asked Toby, why don't we just go this afternoon. You see, 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:31.040 we can get ahead start on tomorrow morning. What a 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:35.720 grand idea. So after driving around Muddy Mile after Muddy 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.600 Mile for a few hours, looking at turkeys all over creation, 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:42.680 we parked and made our way into our new hunting spot. 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.400 We started the layout on auax before taking off, and 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:48.960 I said, you see that field right there, Toby, that'd 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:51.120 be a great place for turkeys to be this time 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:55.760 of day after this rain. Well about six hundred steps 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:59.280 later we confirmed that being a great place for turkeys 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.120 to be. As we watched them spook out of the 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:04.600 field that we were trying to slip up on, Tobe 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:08.800 suggested we'd go home before we cause further calamity. That 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:12.080 made close to a dozen turkeys we'd spooked. If that 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:14.560 trend carried on, it would be like hunting turkeys on 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:18.359 Neptune by daylight. We walked down to the gap that 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.000 farmer told us about and scooped it out, kind of 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:23.479 picking out a place to set up the next morning, 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:27.639 and we left. Two hours later. The farmer sent us 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:29.800 a text, there's a whole pack of turkey strutting down 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:34.680 there by that gap. Are y'all down there? I hate 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:39.080 turkeys and everything they stand for, but tomorrow it will 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:43.560 be another day. Alexander Pope was a poet born May 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:48.080 twenty first, sixteen eighty eight, in London, England. And there's 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.199 no doubt in my mind that that dude was a 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:54.320 turkey hunter. Here's how I know. He wrote a poem 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.760 called an Essay on Man, and in that work he 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:04.000 wrote the line that every turkey lives by hope springs eternal. 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:09.040 The full quote is, hope springs eternal in the human breast. 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:14.040 Man never is, but always to be blessed. The soul, 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.600 uneasy and confined from home, rests and expatiates in a 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:22.000 life to come. The phrase suggests that hope is an 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:26.679 inherent part of human nature, a persistent and resilient force 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:31.040 that allows folks to persevere even when things seem bleak. 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.560 Now that's every turkey hunter I know, right up until 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:39.200 the season closes. Tomorrow is going to be better. Tomorrow 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:43.639 is another day. Now you need further proof. Alexander hunting turkeys. 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:48.040 Check this out. He died May the thirtieth, seventeen forty four, 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:51.760 at fifty six years of age. He stood four foot 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:54.359 six inches tall, and I soon measured the same in 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:57.600 his casket. But regardless, he died at the end of 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.520 the spring. Probably had a rough go in to turn woods, 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:05.639 and turkey hunting had obviously stunted his growth. The next morning, 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:08.000 I rolled out of bed for day three and beat 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:10.560 Toby to the coffee pot and in short order we 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:13.720 were on the way to our new spot. Our plan 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.720 was simple. We just sit inside the fence just down 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:19.600 from that gap, and that meant that before daylight I'd 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:21.800 have to slip out and job that he and decoy 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:23.520 up in the edge of the filled to give the 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:27.080 gobbler something to concentrate on. Due to the limited back 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:30.320 and cover we had, the trees were small where we 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:33.280 had to sit, and there was a five strand bobble 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:36.360 our fence that could become an obstacle, but we had 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:38.720 no choice. We had to sit right there because of 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:43.160 the cover or like thereof so picture in your mind 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:46.560 were sitting there, just down from this gap. We're on 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:50.560 one side of the fence, decoys on the other. God 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:52.879 in time came and went, and we heard one faint 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:56.760 gobble we estimated to be a half a mile away. 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.359 Time ticked away, and by eight thirty, after two and 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:03.120 a half hours, we hadn't heard anything else. Then directly 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:06.960 across the field a gobble. The lay of the land 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:10.000 and the rise of topography kept us from seeing directly 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:13.280 across in front of us, which was south or back 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:16.000 to the right on the west end of that eighty 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:22.000 acre opening. I called, and he responded. Then another unseen 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.879 gobbler gobbled further to the west, and that would be 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.280 the way it went. As they traveled away from us, 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:30.359 down to the right from the west end of that field, 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:33.920 out of sight and for the moment, out of our lives, 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:38.679 we were stuck, unable to move because we didn't know 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.000 where they were, or really where they were going. For 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.160 all we knew they could be making their way toward us. Yeah, right, 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:47.800 but that's the last place I expected them to be, 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:53.000 And unfortunately this time I was right. A more faint 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:56.840 goble confirmed that they relocated to the southwest end of 0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:01.240 that field, a quarter and a half away. I slipped 0:21:01.320 --> 0:21:03.159 up behind a tree right on the fence roll. When 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:05.600 I washed through the knockers, they strutted and gobbled and 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:07.520 walk could have passed for a turkey. Do you believe 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:11.280 that was taking place down there? They like they were 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:14.640 having a lot of fun. I wanted to go, they 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:18.720 didn't invite us. Then another turkey, God will do west 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:23.480 straight down the fence line from us in the northwest corner, Kobe, 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:26.280 we find to crash this party. We're gonna slip down 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:28.320 this fence one hundred and fifty yards and try to 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.879 work this other turkey. Now the only bad thing, and 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:34.280 I told him when we were moving so we couldn't 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:37.120 get that decoy without spooking every bird on that age 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:40.840 acre field. My reasoning was we'd call to this turkey 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:43.040 that was at the west end but on the same 0:21:43.119 --> 0:21:45.720 side of the field as us, and the easiest way 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:47.840 for him to come to us was right down the 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:50.960 edge of the field where we'd be sitting. Then he'd 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:53.960 walk up the little rise between us and him see 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:56.879 that decoy that was way down back behind us to 0:21:56.920 --> 0:21:59.439 the left, and he'd walk within a few feet of 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:02.840 me and the killing end of my double barrel. We 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:05.119 stopped one hundred and fifty yards or so west of 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:08.520 the decoy. I sat down against a small tree, but 0:22:08.600 --> 0:22:10.440 in front of me on the fence row was a 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:13.960 cedar tree that I could see through but absolutely made 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:17.840 me disappear. Toby laid down to my left at the 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:20.520 ten o'clock position, his feet towards me and his head 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:22.760 right at the edge of the bottom strand of barbed wire. 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:25.800 Now I wouldn't have done that, and he was in 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:27.879 a terrible position to shoot a turkey, but at the 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:31.520 time I didn't think much about it, but I should have. 0:22:32.920 --> 0:22:34.960 I could hear the gobler to our immediate right at 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:38.399 the northeast corner, and see the other one strutting out 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:44.199 at the southwest corner. I watched him until they faded 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:47.160 out of sight, drifting away further and further, I assumed, 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:52.040 to the southwest, away from us and that field. Fifteen 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:54.720 minutes later, the gobler on our side of the field 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:58.240 down at that corner quit answering me, and he never 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:01.840 got any closer. I pulled out my phone to look 0:23:01.840 --> 0:23:04.280 it all next again and see about finding a way 0:23:04.320 --> 0:23:06.640 to loop around toward where he was if I could 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:09.920 get him to answer me one more time. That's when 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:13.479 I caught movement from Toby. I saw him frantically pointing 0:23:13.480 --> 0:23:16.360