Turkey Day on Halloween?

This past Saturday was Halloween, but more importantly, it was the first day of Fall Turkey. It  felt more like Thanksgiving as Mike, Butch and I stepped into the woods around 7:15am; our minds focused on Turkey. We all set up in a line with about 30-40 yards between us. I was furthest left, Mike was to the right of me (in the middle) and Butch was holding down the right flank. Mike hit a few calls and the hunt was on! Instantly birds were responding; some talking to Mike’s mouth call and other conversing with each other. The trees were alive with surround-sound chatter. Then, as suddenly as it had all begun the birds began raining down from their tree-top roosts. Swooping in from the left, then the right, then from directly in front of me, then two at a time…maybe even three as they congregated a mere 20-25 yards to my left. My heart was racing, my legs and arms trembled. I blinked to make sure it was real. The minutes seemed like days as I waited for a bird to give me the shot I’d been dreaming of. Then it happend…the flock began to move away from my position. My heart sank as I saw my window of opportunity closing. But wait! a lone bird had separated slightly from the group. It was coming straight at me. Here was my chance. As it stepped into my shooting lane there was no time for debate…it was now or never. With movement ever so slight, I lined up the bead of my 12 gauge shotgun with this unfortunate turkey’s head, curled the end of my finger around the trigger and BOOM! This bird dropped instantly. The dream had become a reality and the clock hadn’t even struck 8am.

See pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/kevin.hackett/TurkeyHunter?authkey=Gv1sRgCP6c1t7kysPRJg&feat=directlink