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Article Date: Saturday, June 05, 2010
   Turkey season is just a few short weeks away. Let me tell you what keeps you coming back after these crazy birds. I won a trip to White Oak Plantation last year at a charity auction. Myself and and three other turkey enthusiast went down south to one of the finer hunting establishments in the great state of Alabama. My hopes were high that I was going to start my season off with a bang. Little did I know I was going to be paired up with Sleepy the giant elf.

My guide was a burly turkey hunting veteran that knew where every roosting turkey was going to be perched just waiting on us to arrive. When the morning arrived I walked and walked and walked chasing gobbles from one part of the property to the other. For some reason though Sleepy did not use his call. By the time we got to a gobbling turkey they were paired up and walking away. We set up on a field the first evening where the turkeys come to strut their stuff and and show the world what they are made of. Well that is what I was told. As dusk worked its way closer and closer I looked over and decided it was time to wake up Sleepy. Now you know how he got his name. I got back to the camp and felt like I was paired with the worst guide on earth and had a little to say about it.

Morning came and Sleepy and I headed to the woods....chasing gobbles and having no luck getting on a turkey. Out of the blue we hear a turkey, a good four hundred yards double and triple gobbling. Sleepy yells out that is Bigfoot come on! I have not seen this kind of enthusiasm the whole time we had been in the woods.

We trot our way down an old logging road through the middle of the woods. We set up on an opening to a very large field with a high mix of something growing in it. Just around the corner is a brush and burn pile where Bigfoot proceeded to go bananas. So there we sit with Sleepy's eyes wide open and full intention of us getting this turkey. We set in this area well over an hour listening to Bigfoot gobble over and over again. We counted 104 gobbles in total.

I ask Sleepy if he had his call or did he want me to call up this turkey. Again I was told, just sit a minute he is coming our way. Now I am thinking this guy is out of his mind. You can not kill this turkey with out calling him up or at least letting him know you are here. No just sit here he stated two more times. Do you know what it feels like to have constant adrenaline, massive heart beats and goose bumps for an hour. I do......and I know another thing too. You do not need a turkey call to kill a turkey. You need to know where they are and where they are going. I learned a lesson that weekend and now I have to learn how to apply it to my hunting.

We will see in just a few weeks what kind of patience I have. I know where they are and I know the route they take to the fields. Stay tuned for an update in a few weeks.