Hunt Smart — Fish Hard

Many years ago I had a part time job at Kroger working in the deli. My wife and I watched the ads in the paper every Sunday for Dick’s ad. I would hurry and look for the ads on the camouflage blinds. I didn’t want those huge blinds; Dick’s ad showed a one man chair blind. That Sunday after church services, we went to Dick’s Sporting Goods Store and checked out the blind. I went inside and sat down on the chair; I had to have this.

After looking around from inside the blind I finally came out and told my wife I wanted it. She told me that I had that part time job and if I wanted it to go ahead and buy it. That is what I wanted and I bought it. It even had the shoot through windows on the side of it.

We get home and I had to set the blind up, like a trial run. What I loved about it was all you had to do was unfold it and it would unfold into place. I didn’t have to run cables/stakes through it to hold it up. Then I thought about setting up the blind up in the dark. This chair blind was the perfect blind for me.

It was time to go turkey hunting in the morning. I loaded the two decoys “Jake and Henrietta,” the blind in the back of my truck. Now it’s a waiting game for the alarm to go off early in the morning. The alarm rings out and I got ready. I was heading down the road and all I can think of was hunting out of the blind. I pull into my hunting place and wait for Ole Tom to sing out.

It’s just starting to get daylight out and four Toms belt out. I have two close by and I’m ready. I have a short distance to go down the hill to get set up. I set Jake and Henrietta up looking down to the big open field. One of the gobblers is across the field in the small patch of woods. I hurry and set the blind up as that gobbler belts out another yell. I give a call back to the gobbler and he answers back. I’m watching the field and don’t see him. He knows where I am now. I give one more yelping call.

There he is! I see him on the other side of the field. It looks like he is looking right at me. Ole Tom has his eyes glued on Jake and Henrietta. It took him a few minutes to come across the field as he gobbles and fans out. He is now at the bottom of the hill and he is putting on one heck of a show as he struts back and forth gobbling.

As he is coming up to the decoys I slip the end of my shotgun out the blind. I have the gun resting on a tripod. He is within 20 yards. He is strutting big time. He is so focus on the decoys. He is between 15-10 yards away. He is close enough now. I put the bead on his head and squeezed the trigger.

I walked over to the gobbler and saw he had a nice long beard and long spurs. I loaded him in the truck with the rest of my stuff. I like that little blind, I still use it to turkey and deer hunt out of it. Good luck to everyone that turkey hunts.

Until next week — H.S.F.H.-L.M.

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