Thanksgiving adventures

Early this morning I kept up a long family tradition of hunting for our annual Thanksgiving turkey. It's a long held tradition that goes back 3 generations in my family, and I hold that same tradition very near to my heart and will continue it as long as I am able to get out.

I woke early today, several hours before the sun. I sat down with a cup of coffee before I left, thinking about the hunt and thinking about the meal that will follow. I checked my boot laces, my knife, ammo, swallowed the last sip of coffee, and headed out the door in full camoflage from head to toe.

I soon got to the regular spot, and scanned the area before getting out of the car. "not too bad", I thought to myself, "I've only seen a few other vehicles, I should do just fine." I reached behind the seat, quietly loaded the 12 guage, and walked off in the darkness, walking carefully so I wouldn't be detected. Walking slowly, I looked around my surroundings, seeing familiar landmarks to mark my way in my head...I know exactly where I am going this morning....I know where they are.

I soon found a spot to sit, and hunkered down quietly, waiting to hear something off in the distance. After about 10 minutes or so, I hit the trusty slate call, hoping to hear that big tom off in the distance and call him toward me.....squak...squak....squak....nothing...dead silence. I waited another 10 minutes or so and tried it again...nothing. I was getting pretty frustrated when I saw something out of the corner of my eye....turkeys! There must be 50 of them over there to my right! Oooooo, out front! Look! That one's gotta be 20 pounds! I hit the slate call again and got no response at all, not even so much as a movement from them. I decided they were close enough, and slowly raised the shotgun to my shoulder, putting the bright orange front sight bead in the center of the larger one out front. I was pretty excited about the size of this bird, and had to take several deep breaths to steady my aim. Ever so quietly, I clicked off the safety and put my finger in the trigger....easy now....steady........ I squeezed the trigger and the roar of the 3" 12 guage magnum filled the air, rolling off into the distance like a mid-summer thunder.............................

I've never seen to many people in the meat department scatter before.



Haha, Happy Thanksgiving to one and all, I hope it's a great one for everyone, and thanks to Riverwalker over at Stealth Survival...I kinda borrowed your Thanksgiving post and ran with it, lol.
Chris