Decision Time: The Shining Path

[Brian Lovett]

In "Decision Time," Editor Brian Lovett will share a scenario from his 20-plus years hunting turkeys. Each hinges on a critical decision. Post what choice you would have made, and then see how things actually turned out.

The Shining Path

If you’re like me, you check the weather every morning in spring. Ever see one of those big low-pressure systems come up from the Gulf of Mexico and hover over the Southeast, sucking all that Gulf moisture along with it? I was there, friend.

Well, more specifically, I was in L.A. (Lower Alabama) when one of those babies dropped several inches of rain one night. And because our cabin had a metal roof, I had plenty of time to lie awake and fret about what to do the next morning.

The rain and wind were supposed to continue most of the day, so I doubted we’d hear much roost gobbling. I wondered if a handy pine tree near a field edge — this was before pop-up blinds became prevalent — would offer some cover and the chance at a decent hunt. However, a buddy had seen two longbeards in some big timber the previous day, and he was anxious to get on them.

Hmm. If we didn’t hear the timber gobblers at daybreak, we could always slip into a field-edge setup, but we might risk spooking turkeys in the open. If we started at the field, we could always chase any gobbling we heard elsewhere, even though that scenario seemed unlikely.

I figured we had to pick one plan and stick with it — even if failure seemed almost guaranteed.

What would you have done? Post your decision below.

Click here for Lovett's decision.

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[Cut N Run]

Heavy low pressure front rains from the Gulf are seldom your friend, but if you have a field opening and a break in those rains that allows turkeys to get down into the fields, you'd better be there if you plan on using a tag.

Several years ago, we had a similar scenario, but that front met another and we ended up getting a serious rain & hail storm on opening day. As the rain started letting up, it was like a track meet to get to the openings around the property. The turkeys beat us back to one field and there was no way to get close without being seen, so we moved to the next closest series of openings. My buddy E.P. notched a tag on a nice gobbler that morning. All I did was test my goretex rainsuit.

I'd probably head towards the field to hunt and hang in there as long as I could.

Jim