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Quite Tight Like That

by Brian Lovett, editor

The Missouri portion of our hunt started well but fizzled. One bird gobbled
twice behind us but then went silent. Another hot-gobbling turkey across a
flooded creek drew a line in the sand and refused to move ‹- at least until
four hens ran to him.

But the day was young, so we hit another spot to strike a gobbler. And five
minutes into the walk, that’s what we did. The bird was in a timbered creek
bottom bordered on two sides by massive fields. With the creek being so
high, we’d have to get close to the longbeard to call him in.

That’s when Mike Miller went to work. He led me as close as we dared on foot and then started crawling to slip into position. Meanwhile, Larry Shockey stayed back to keep the bird gobbling. Miller and I weaved through the thick underbrush and crossed the creek twice until we couldn’t go any farther. Then Miller motioned for Shockey to yelp.

The gobbler responded immediately, but he’d faded away a bit. No matter. We were in good position, so we let Shockey’s calling work its magic.

Before long, the turkey was 50-some steps away, blowing our hats off and drumming loudly. Soon, he ducked under a deadfall and eased to the right. When the longbeard reached an opening, he periscoped his head and ran smack into 2 ounces of Hevi-Shot No. 6s.

It had been a classic hunt of locating a bird, moving into position and
letting him work to the call. Sure, we had a long walk back to the truck,
but even while carrying a heavy Missouri turkey, it was easier than
crawling.

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