New Month

Into May, yet all is mostly the same around here.  Starting with a great picture of Shelly and I fresh from a day ago.  She was all gussied up and going out to a high school reunion and fundraiser of sorts.  She would meet up with her current core group of friends, also see lots of old friends, and of course plenty of teachers would be there too.  By all accounts it was a great night; so great she didn't even come home!  I say fantastic - I always welcome a night and event out with the friends.  Of all things, she bid and won a neat gift of sorts.  It is an hour of radio hosting on a station called AM 920 = Yes, AM radio still exists.  It is a local station of sorts that still airs programs that would have been popular in the 60s and 70s.  I believe there is still a noon hour In Memoriam slotting, I believe they still have a buy/sell broadcast where people call in to peddle their items, and of course they broadcast a Crime Stoppers announcement.  Evidently the managers of the station aren't aware of the internet and such 21 century forms of media....  I am sure Shelly will do great when she chooses her time slot.

Jeff and I went out turkey hunting this weekend.  I came back with a juvenile male.  Not a huge monster, but a worth while bird none the less.  We set up nice and early on Saturday morning.  We had 30 or 40 minutes of looking at the stars and moon before it got light.  Jupiter was at its finest in the southern sky.  It was very orangey/red, I wasn't sure what it was actually, but found out later in the day that it was the fifth planet.  It was a cloudless sky and just fantastic to be out enjoying it, and the day, so early.

We started to hear far-off gobbles after 6:00 am, by 6:30 they gobbles were closer, quite close actually, but the birds refused to investigate any closer.  They would not come out to the field and our assortment of decoys.  They would only respond to our calling.  That last for 20 minutes, and then slowly the gobbles got further and further away, but still within the vicinity.  At 7:30 I decided to abandon my field position, and take the hunt within the bush, where the birds were.

I told Jeff my plan, and said sit tight I will be back in 20 minutes.  Armed only with Ye Olde Raspy Hen caller and the Mossberg 930, I set off for the unknown.  I proceeded about 150 metres into a clearing of sorts in a cluster of hardwood trees.  This would be a fine position to advance my hunt.  I sat down and called.  An immediate response, and they were close.

I can't quite tell the difference between the size of the bird and how loud they gobble.  I find that it is all equally loud no matter the size of the bird.  I heard a number of loud gobbles from 2 different birds, and they were on a straight collision to my position.  Would they be big?  Would they have a beard dragging on the ground and a spur 2 inches long?  It would only be a matter of minutes until those questions were answered.  Too my surprise, three birds appeared about 20 yards away.  They were inching ever so closer.

It was quite a thrill they came to investigate.  I was only in that spot for less then 10 minutes.  They were now much more curious to investigate the location of the mating music, rather then ambling out into a field.  No matter.  As my excitement peaked, it almost immediate went down as these 3 were not the Moby Dicks of the ocean, or in this case the bush.  The triplets were jakes with 3.5 inch beards, maybe 4 inches if tugged.  I could see no spurs.  But jakes with beards they were, so they were officially in season and could be tagged if shot.

I stopped calling and just watched.  Watched them do that Egyptian type walk and poke with their heads and neck back and forth, back and forth.  I watched one triumphantly puff itself up and out to appease the female which wasn't even there.  I watched them walk a bit closer and get into a very good shooting spot.  One without trees in the way.....  At one point they three were so tightly grouped together, I thought 1 shot would quite easily hit all 3 with the scatter of a number 4 turkey shot - but immediately didn't think that was too ethical given I only had 1 tag.  I didn't know the legalities of such, but it didn't sound like a plan I wanted to execute. 

I did a lot of thinking as it were.  The last thing I thought about was how often I go out hunting and come back without seeing anything.  With nary a sighting of game.  I thought about all the tags I have bought that went into the recycling bin because of many factors....  But essentially not filled or used.  I thought about how I have a sure thing now, and the next time out I may not...  I had my gun up, the only thing I needed to do was decide on the bird, rest my head down and take aim, un-safety, and pull the trigger.  Having them only 15 yards away, it wasn't too difficult.  So I did. 

I am also on this big Rubik's Cube bit at the moment.   If you are familiar with it....  I can get the first 2 rows solved no problem.  It doesn't take me too long - I have the moves memorized, for the most part, and plow through the white face and then align red, green, blue, and orange appropriately.  Then I am doing okay getting my yellow cross on top, and ultimately I get the yellow face filled.  This is where I am having my problems....  I have the codes to finish off, but I can only get the middle rows successfully filled, leaving my corners off.  Luckily, and only by luck or happenstance, I have completed it twice, but have messed up over 20 times....  I think I am doing it all consistently, but evidently not.  However, I will continue to watch the tutorials, figure it out, and get it all memorized.