Decision Time: The Curious Matter of the Calamitous Creek

[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 Curious Matter of the Calamitous Creek

When Steve Stoltz ripped through a series of world-class yelps, so many good things came together. The sun broke free of the morning clouds, illuminating some of the prettiest northern Missouri timber you'll ever see, and a turkey responded with a furious gobble. It was going to be a hunt for the history books.

Well, not so fast there, buckaroo. It had rained quite a bit before our hunt, and the creeks in that area were flooded. In fact, one such creek -- essentially a raging river -- ran between the aforementioned gobbler and us.

But the turkey had responded, so we sat and hoped for the best. The bird never really got hot, but he gobbled at every fourth or fifth series of calls and eventually moved down from a bluff, past our position and into a large, open flat about 100 yards away but across the creek. And that's where he drew his line in the sand.

For the next hour, the longbeard stood in place, gobbling occasionally and probably looking through the flat and past the creek at our decoy in the adjoining field. After a while, my confidence waned, and my posterior screamed for relief.

Waiting still seemed like the prudent play. After all, the gobbler had initially moved toward us. If he got hot enough, he might fly the creek. Of course, the hunt had started two hours earlier, and the bird didn't seem any too anxious to come to our side. Perhaps a sneak to the creek was in order.

Oh, and it was almost noon. Missouri's 1 p.m. closing time -- and the conclusion of the hunt -- loomed.

What would you have done? Post your decision below.

Click here for Lovett's decision.

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[WillowRidgeCalls]

Since there are two of you there, I would leave one guy with the decoy set up, and have the other guy move to the creek above the bird. With both of you calling and from two different areas might get that bird fired up enough to cross that creek and come looking?