WEBVTT - Ep. 319: This Country Life - Down in the South and Up on a Mountain 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.640 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 --> 0:00:13.880 I want you to stay a. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:17.799 While as I share my experiences in life lessons. This 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.240 Country Life is presented by Case Knives on Meat Eaters 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:25.480 Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast. 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:26.280 The airwaves have to offer. 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.880 All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tail gate. 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:39.840 I've got some stories to share down in the South 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:44.519 and up on a mountain. Turkeys in the morning, turkeys 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:48.320 in the evening, Turkeys at supper time. I got turkeys 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:50.360 on the brain, and I hope y'all are out getting 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.559 after them your own self. This time of year, I 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.639 can't think about much else, So let's get to it 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.280 with a listener story that I think y'all are really 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:03.160 going to enjoy, Boy, followed by my favorite kind of turkey, 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:14.840 story of first timers turkey. This story is from Tobin Mitz. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.039 Tobin is from the great state of Michigan, home to 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.600 several of my good friends that I work with here 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:24.440 at Meat Eater. Tobin has a story about accents, and 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.080 since the folks I know from Michigan all have them, 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:31.600 I figured Tobin's story was worthy of a share. So, 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:38.440 in Tobin's words, in my voice, here we go. Before 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:40.120 we get to the hunt. I'd like to set the 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:44.880 tone with a little backstory. In twenty seventeen, my wife 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:47.760 and I relocated from Michigan to a little town in 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:52.400 the mountains of North Georgia called Eli jan Now. She 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.000 had been awarded a new field service position for her 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:59.040 medical equipment company, and we soon found ourselves hundreds of 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:03.360 miles from home, family and friends. I worked from home 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:05.680 most of the time except for when I was traveling, 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.680 and it was a struggle. Even though the people we 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.200 met were very gracious, I still felt very out of place. 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.680 On one occasion, a woman asked me where I was from, 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.720 and I replied, Ella j. She paused for a moment 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:25.240 and finally responded, now, huh further north. Well, I laughed, 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:29.639 and I proudly responded, we just moved here from Kalamu Zoo, Michigan, 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:34.280 birthplace of gifts and guitars and Shakespeare fishing. 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:35.720 And we both had a good laugh. 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:38.440 Weeks went by, and I was starting to feel more 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:40.919 at home. I could make it around town through the 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:44.080 winding mountain roads without getting lost, and had made a 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:48.880 few acquaintances that made life more interesting. I was feeling 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:52.000 particularly good about myself one day and decided to go 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:56.360 to the local hardware store. Our house had very tall 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:58.799 ceilings and I needed a way to get to the 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.760 light fixtures to chat. He's the bubbs. I walked inside 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:05.600 and was promptly greeted by an older, gray haired gentlemen. 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:09.800 Can I help y'all find something? He inquired? Yes, sir, 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:13.880 where you keep your ladders? They're right over here. I 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.440 know just what you need. Follow me. The man grinned 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.160 and emotion for me to fall in step behind him. 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:22.760 I'd never been to the store before, but as we 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.280 passed the ale where the step ladders were neatly displayed, 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:30.920 I got confused. My guide was very excited to be 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.160 helping me, and we were moving quickly. My mind couldn't 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:36.960 quite put the clues together fast enough to formulate the 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.160 question that needed to be asked, and we rounded the 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:43.320 next corner. Before I could speak, he said, here they are, sir, 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.920 right next to the numbers. You got all the ladders 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:48.720 of the alphabet A through Z. 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:49.960 Now. 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:53.520 I was laughing hysterically inside, but I didn't want to 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:58.040 embarrass either one of us. My accent had failed me again, 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:02.160 and I was mortified. Is there anything else I can 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:02.839 help you with? 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:03.760 He asked. 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:06.440 He was so excited to have helped me that I 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:10.000 couldn't break his bubble. No, sir, that's fine, thank you 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:13.560 so much. As he walked away and round at the corner, 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:17.400 I contemplated what to do next. After some deliberation, I 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.800 did what any self respected Yankee would do in this situation. 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.680 I bought a package of three inch mailbox letters and 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:33.120 I headed home. When I wasn't changing light bubbs, I 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:36.200 like to hike the nearby WMA's looking for good spots 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:39.240 to try deer hunting or some other type of adventure, 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:42.240 and thanks to the good folks at own As, I 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:46.359 found plenty of places to explore. The previous fall, I 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:48.560 had found a spot that had more turkey sign than 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:51.320 deer signs, so I decided to break out the old 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:55.599 turkey vest and give it a whirl. I killed a 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.600 few back home in Michigan, but springtime was usually spent 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:02.600 fishing more than than hunting, and opening the morning of 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.400 the twenty eighteen turkey season found me headed out making 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:09.279 the forty five minute run to the spot I had marked. 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:12.719 The previous year, I'd been out of town, and I 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:16.000 hadn't had much time to do any spring scouting, and 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:18.280 I figured there was no time like the present, and 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.880 no better way to learn than to get my boots 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:25.080 on the ground. I parked the truck in the corner 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.760 of a dirt road that transsected the section of the WMA. 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:31.960 I had passed a few others in parking spots, but 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:34.760 all in all, there didn't seem to be many hunters 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:38.039 out this morning. I walked the three quarters of a 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.160 mile back to the clearing in the woods near a 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:43.279 small pond, and I sat down, and I waited patiently 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:47.600 for the sun and hopefully Old Tom Turkey to show himself. 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:52.200 Sunrise came and went, and the woods seemed pretty quiet. 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.680 I ain't heard much at all, and no gobbles for sure. 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:58.479 I decided to give a few soft yelps on my 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.120 mouth call into my I was answered by a pair 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:06.159 of toms a few hundred yards away. I called and 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.960 waited and they'd reply, but they seemed to be moving off, 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.960 not directly away, but certainly not coming towards me. It 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.559 seemed like it seemed like they were headed back towards 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.239 my truck. As I listened to their gobbles get further 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:22.520 away from me and closer to where I figured the 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:26.640 truck was, I decided to make a move. I headed 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.839 back in that direction as quietly and quickly as I could. 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:32.640 I tried setting up two more times, and each time 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:35.799 the birds just passed a hundred yards or so, still 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.080 heading toward the truck I was trying to get ahead 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:41.120 of him. I wasn't sure what I was going to 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:43.560 do or if I was able to pull it off, 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.440 but I figured i'd cross that road when I got there. 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:49.320 And as I crested the next ridge, I could see 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.760 the road. It was the service road for the logging trucks, 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.320 so you didn't have to worry about the safety zone 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:59.719 or any traffic. But there was another problem. Two hundred 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:01.680 yards to the other side of that road was the 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:05.599 boundary between public and private land, and I knew then 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.039 those gobblers were headed for a horse pasture to do 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.920 some mid morning strutting out in the sun, so it 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:16.200 was now or never. I hoped it across that old 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:18.600 dirt to track and found a small clearing on top 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.360 of the ridge about one hundred yards in. I got 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:24.000 sat down next to a medium sized oak tree that 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:26.720 struggled to conceal my shape. 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:28.480 A few soft clucks on the. 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:31.880 Red and it was confirmed they were coming and right now. 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:37.600 Then something happened that caused my stomach to turn sideways, 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:40.440 and not the usual I'm about to lay the smack 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:41.640 down on that old tom. 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.720 Turning sideways. Now the turning. 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.960 Sideways you feel when you hear the cracking of a 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.080 limb underneath your feet when you're. 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:50.320 Climbing a tree. 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.960 I glanced over my shoulder and I could see the 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:58.280 road back. About one hundred yards down that road. 0:07:58.040 --> 0:07:59.679 Came a red pickup truck. 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.040 The engine had been turned off and the driver was 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:07.360 coasting the vehicle slowly and silently into another parking spot 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:09.880 on the other side of the road from where my 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.920 truck had been. Here, Lord, please don't let this guy 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:15.640 spook these turkeys, I prayed. 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:17.920 Just a few more seconds. 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.600 Then, as if he was the second and my two 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:25.600 man turkey team, he reaches outside window and scratched down 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:29.640 a few yips on his pot collar. When those toms 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.160 heard that, they thundered off with a set of triple 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:35.320 gobbles that made my hair stand up. And as the 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:39.080 last of the gobble faded away. The first bird creshed 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:41.880 the ridge and walked right in front of where I 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:47.079 was sitting, and bout he met his maker. I hopped 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:49.280 up to make sure there were no questions as to 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:53.080 his demise, and I collected my prize and I walked 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.600 one hundred yards or so back to my truck. And 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.520 as I was opening the back, the little red truck 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:01.600 round the corner and coast to a stop next to mine, 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:05.559 with his engine running this time, I sure am sorry, 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.400 said the driver. I had no idea you were there. 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.640 I was around the corner and I couldn't see your truck. 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:15.920 I hope I didn't mess you up. Absolutely not. I 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:20.040 grinned your timing could not have been any better. I've 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:22.800 been chasing those birds for two hours, and your calling 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:26.360 helped bring them in right to my lap. We shook hands, 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.560 and he helped me take a few pictures before we 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.800 went our separate ways. I'm not sure if I could 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.720 have closed that deal without his help. It seems that 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:40.040 even my Turkey calling comes with a Northern accent. Now, 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:43.040 as fate would have it, six years or so later, 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:46.320 life brought me back to my home state of Michigan, 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.120 and that was the only hunt where I was able 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:52.559 to bring something home in Georgia thanks to a little 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:57.079 help from an unwary hunting partner who seemed genuinely happy 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:02.199 that things worked out. And according to that's just how 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:10.400 that happened. Well, Tobin Mitz, repatriated resident of the Great 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:12.920 Lake State, I want to thank you for sharing a 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:18.600 great story and another fine example of Southern hospitality. I 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:20.720 also want you to know that you're the kind of 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:24.320 Yankee all of us down south like more than any other, 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:30.720 the ones that visit and then go back home. I'm kidding, 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:36.640 not really kidding, not kidding, Stop it, Brent, I'm really kidding. 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.760 He's a not kidd. 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.720 Two years ago, my friend Michael Roseman, my cone hunting 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:55.840 compadre and CEO of sun Spot Hunting Lights, solicited my 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.440 turkey calling services to allow him to shoot his first 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:02.559 Turkeykeel hunts in the Boston Mountains of Arkansas. And if 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:05.880 you know anything about me, or have paid attention, even 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:10.120 remote attention, you'll know that I'm a flat lander by 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:16.000 grace and by preference. The mountains are pretty to look at. However, 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:20.160 given a choice, I usually lean toward not galivanting around 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:24.000 in them. Unfortunately, there's a lot of good hunting in them, 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:28.080 and bears and turkeys are just two examples. So when 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:31.360 Mikey invited me, I agreed, because if there's nothing better 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:34.920 than shooting a turkey myself, it's calling the first one 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:38.000 up for a friend or a young'in, or in this case, 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:42.320 a friend that acts like a youngin. Rohnda, Michael's wife 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:44.920 will back me up on that one. 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:45.440 Anyway. 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.480 After stomping around and following up and down the non 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:52.400 flat topography of Michael's turkey woods, we finally got in 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:55.319 front of a gobbler, only to have him cruise through 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:58.480 and struct mode just out of range of michael shotgun 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:01.960 to you. Years later, as I sit here reliving that 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:06.440 hunt while telling the story, I realized I may have aired. 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:07.280 On the side of caution. 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:10.880 I actually thought about it when that turkey walked off 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:12.880 and I stepped it off to where he passed us. 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.760 But being a terrible friend I am, I never fessed 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:20.920 up until now. Sorry, Mikey, but you should have shot 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:24.120 that turkey. But hey, who's really a fault here? He 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:28.240 was the one holding the shotgun. Fast forward to last year, 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.480 we talked about it all year leading up to a 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.520 turkey season, and then about a month before season started, 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.800 I had abandon my old power for work and film 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:40.520 a hunt out of state, leaving him to fend for himself. 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.440 He's zeroed. But while he was doing that, I was 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:48.040 off in Turkey Heaven, calling up three turkeys for three 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.680 different folks in an eighteen hour period. Rubbing salt in 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.680 the wound of my old coon hunting buddy and mentor 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:59.640 who was striking out. We made plans again all summer 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:01.679 fall in the winter for us to hunt the hills 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:03.760 and hollers at his camp, and this time I was 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.599 gonna do my dead level best. 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:08.199 To be there for my old partner. 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:12.959 Opening the day of Arkansas's twenty twenty five spring season 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.680 had me driving to clay Bows to record a podcast 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:21.000 while Michael soloed yet again in search of his first turkey. 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:26.400 Some friend I am to add even more calamity. It 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.040 would be Thursday of the first week before I could 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:34.160 even go doue to deadlines and other podcast related activity. Now, 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:37.720 during that time, Michael had gone every day and had 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.640 a lot of luck, but none of it had been good. 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:45.280 The turkeys just weren't doing much, so, with low expectations 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:47.920 already simmering in the back of my mind, I crawled 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:50.120 out of his side by side. It are jumping off 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:54.720 point on the fourth day of the season, forty five 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:56.200 minutes before daylight. 0:13:57.880 --> 0:13:58.760 It was hot and. 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:03.640 Muggy, and mosquitoes buzzed my ears in the mountains. Now 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:05.400 that's not how that works. That's supposed to be in 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.400 the lowlands. Whatever. This is going to be terrible, but 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.440 who knows. It was my first hunt of the season 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:13.920 in Arkansas, and I owed it to my friend to try, 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.240 regardless of how futile I thought it was going to be. 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:20.520 We went to a new spot and split up to 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:23.560 listen on different ridges with the plan of meeting back 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:27.720 in the middle. We heard one and discussed where we'd 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.560 heard it and come up with a plan of attack 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.040 and how to really put it together to get after 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:38.400 that turkey. Perfect plan if a turkey gobbles it did not. 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.680 I covered the two hundred yards pretty quietly, walking down 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:44.960 a dozed road that followed along the top of the 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:47.920 ridge to where Michael was listening from and hearing nothing 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:48.480 as well. 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:50.920 Michael asked, well, what do you do when you. 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:53.440 Don't hear anything right off, I said, well, the only 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:55.480 thing we can do is walk and call a little 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.760 bit here and there and hope the fire one up. 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:00.240 But man, I'm telling you, I'm not seeing it any 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.400 turkey sign and I didn't, but hey, I wasn't leaving 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.480 any tracks either. But the lack of scratching is what 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:10.160 had me feeling like we'd gar hold ourselves. We were 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.960 pretty much limited to where we were because our buddy 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.240 Josh was hunting the spot where we'd hunted two years ago, 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.960 which was the only spot I had ever turkey hunted 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:21.960 with Michael and the one I thought we were going 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.760 to this morning, and when we didn't, I assumed that 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.280 was just another nail in the coffin of this hunt 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.400 that I'd buried really before it had time to get 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:35.360 started good. We walked and called a couple of times 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.920 and had no response. The area was thick and muggy 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:40.720 and still, and you really couldn't hear that far away. 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:43.920 We were a quarter of a mile from where we'd started. 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.479 Michael said, I'm going to owl and just see what happens. 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:52.160 He did, and what happened was a turkey gobble back 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.000 at him. No more than one hundred and fifty yards away. 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.960 There was no one in the Boston Mountains on April 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:02.520 the twenty fourth, twenty twenty five, any more surprised to 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:06.840 hear a turkey gobble than my dad's baby boy. That's 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:10.440 the great thing about turkey hunting. Expectations can they can 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.800 go from famine to feast in a matter of moments. 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:16.640 And we were plenty close to call to him, and 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:18.920 the woods were pretty open, meaning we needed to get 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.920 sat down pretty quick and get ready. This might not 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.120 take long. The biggest red oak I think I've ever 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:27.280 seen in the hills was right in front of us, 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:29.840 and I put Michael on the twelve o'clock side facing 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:34.080 the turkey, and I sat down on the nine o'clock side. Now, 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:37.320 believe it or not, kids watches used to have hands 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.040 on them that pointed at numbers, and people could call 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.760 out possessions of things they wanted others to see by 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.920 imagining the face of a clock and then referencing the 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:51.000 numbers as to the direction they were talking about. Something 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:54.640 straight ahead was at twelve, over to the right was three, 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:58.160 straight behind us was six, and to the left it 0:16:58.200 --> 0:16:58.920 was nine. 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.200 It was simple and very effective. 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.399 Michael got comfortable and propped a shotgun up on his knee. 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.560 I grabbed my slate and let out the most seductive, 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:13.400 soft yelps and cluts I may have ever done. 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.679 Not to get any response. I wasn't expecting that. 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:21.040 But this is turkey hunting, and anyone that's done it 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:23.440 knows there are a number of things that can happen 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:25.680 when you call it a goblin turkey, and only one 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:29.000 of them is good. It's like Vince Lombardi, the Hall 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.760 of Fame football coach of the Green Bay Packers, talking 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:36.000 about football by passing the football, he said, there's three 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.879 things that can happen when you throw the ball, and 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.680 two of them are bad. Well, the same thing kind 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:45.600 of applies to throwing calls at turkeys, and in our case, 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:49.359 nothing happened. As far as we knew, nothing happened because 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:52.200 he didn't answer, and after ten minutes we didn't see 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:55.880 him walking up towards us. Now, Michael is known for patience, 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:57.840 as as a matter of fact, he's famous for not 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.040 having any He ain't coming. 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:02.600 Out area even whispering shut up. You don't know that. 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:07.159 But after another fifteen minutes, another series of calls chunked 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:10.760 in his general direction. I was thinking to myself, he 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:14.359 ain't coming, But I was trying to keep Mikey in 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:17.960 the game by not getting discouraged. Patience is a virtue. 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.520 Mikey either he didn't he didn't hear me, or he 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:25.240 chose to ignore me something that he ain't vaccinated against. 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:27.080 For sure, if he don't listen to me, there's no 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:30.080 telling how smart he'd be by now. But anyway, I 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.120 had to come up with a plan. So I told 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:34.399 him I was going to slip back behind us, away 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:36.359 from the turkey and see if I could get a 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:38.440 gobble out of him to kind of see. 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:38.840 Where he was. 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:42.040 That joker wouldn't even give us a courtesy gobble. I 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.000 needed to move anyway. I know a lot of people 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.640 that have talent. My wife, for instance, has a beautiful 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:52.359 singing voice. Reed Bargaineer could show Billy Joel a thing 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.800 or two on the piano. Kelsey Morris can out paint 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.480 rem Brandt. And me, my talent is my legs, going 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.120 to sleep and finding sharp rocks with my behind when 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:06.560 I'm turkey hunting, I challenge anyone. I started to get up, 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:08.920 but had to wait for the sparkly alchies as they're 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:11.560 known at our home to leave, and some motor controller 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:14.680 returned to my right leg. And while I sat there 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:17.120 waiting for that to happen, I looked back to pick 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.080 out a spot where I was going to call from 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.320 back behind me, and that's where I saw the Jake 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:27.680 step out into the road seventy five yards away. Don't move, 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:31.520 Michael Jake at six o'clock, standing in the road. 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:34.879 He was looking directly at me. 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.360 I hadn't called it over fifteen minutes, but that rascal 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:41.320 knew exactly where that call had come from. And then 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:45.280 a gobbler stepped out behind him, Gobbler standing with him 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:48.919 now Michael. I could only assume Michael was hearing me. 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:52.040 I'm not sure he and I could have reached around 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:53.760 that tree we were sitting beside. 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:56.800 It was that big. I was facing away. 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:58.760 From him and trying not to spook the turkeys that 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:02.159 were looking directly at at me, so I was talking 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:06.359 extra quiet. I just kept repeating myself, hoping you'd hear me. 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:10.199 They started straight forced coming down that road just like 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:14.760 we had, and stopped at thirty five yards. My shotgun 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:18.160 was laying in my lap sorry, Michael, but as soon 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:20.840 as that jogger gives me an opportunity, I'm going to 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:24.159 karate chop in with this double barrel, because this is 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:26.560 fixing to get real western. 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:27.560 Here in just a minute. 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:30.560 The jake was leading the stroll, and at the last 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:33.119 moment they angled off to the right, which if they 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:36.800 kept that same track, would bring them directly in front 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:40.080 of me. But better yet, they'd passed behind the fallen 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:42.320 tree and I'd be able to get Michael lined up 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:46.080 on him. Michael, they're moving around in front. Get your 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:48.320 gun ready. They're going to be right in front of me. 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:51.240 I got my finger in my ear and you'll be 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:55.000 shooting safe. But you got to move right now. I 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:57.040 could see Michael getting ready out of the corner of 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.000 my eye. He was pointed just right, and I could 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:01.560 easily see it was gonna be plenty safe for him 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:05.199 to shoot. The turkeys took forever to come out from 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:07.760 behind that log, and when they did, they were still 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:10.440 in the same order that jake first, and then the gobbler. 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:14.880 Shoot the one on the left, the one on the left. Yes, 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:16.080 the first one was a jake. 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.679 Shoot the last one. Even though they kept coming, they 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:22.000 were starting to skirt us a little bit, and I'm 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:23.960 sure due to the fact that they couldn't see the 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:27.760 hen that was supposed to be there, that Jake finally 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:30.560 stopped and clucked a couple times in his body language 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:33.560 suggested he was about to blow out of there. I 0:21:33.640 --> 0:21:37.000 started purring with my mouth calling. They both stretched their 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:40.040 next sat looking like they'd just seen behind the curtain 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:44.560 as to how the magician was doing the trick, and bam, 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:49.240 Michael turned the lights out at Casa de Gobbler. It 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:52.840 was a pretty good poke too, but that joker never flopped. 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:55.880 Michael was standing on his head in a matter of moments, 0:21:55.880 --> 0:22:00.240 but his rush to pin him down was unnecessary. I 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:02.800 took out my range finder and measured from where I 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:05.760 stood to where Michael was eyeballing the first wild turkey 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:09.520 he'd ever sent across the river Jordan fifty one point 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:14.480 two yards with a four to ten. I wouldn't have 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:17.440 believed it, but I saw it with my old peepers. 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:21.159