Like most of us, I have a handful of people who have been instrumental in helping me develop as a turkey hunter. One of those is my friend Mike. Early in my career, as I was trying to learn to hunt, Mike agreed to go a few times with me to show me the ropes. He taught me a lot about learning the land you hunt on to understand what the turkeys would do and where they would go. He was with me when I finally killed my first spring gobbler. Mike has had both knees replaced and a hip replacement the past couple of years and when we spoke last fall about his retirement in December, we decided that he would come to North MS to hunt with me this week. Monday we hunted most of the day and enjoyed a real show from a group of jakes but spent most of the day dodging rain. Tuesday found us hunting with one of co-workers in NW AL in some beautiful hardwoods but the gobblers weren't in the mood to play. Today was our last chance and I decided to try our family farm again as I had seen a few longbeards on my cameras the past few days. The morning was absolutely perfect, clear blue skies and low 50s temps. We heard 3 different birds in creek bottom behind us fire off after daylight but it grew quiet after fly down. I kept my calling sequences up every 10 minutes or so, with no response, until around 7:15. I ran a couple of soft clucks on my Lonzo glass and one fired off directly behind us, less than 50 yards away. We looked at each other and Mike got ready. After what seemed like forever, the gobbler finally came cautiously in from our left. Mike waited for him to clear some brush and the edge of the blind and made a great shot at 18 yards. We shook hands and I told him I owed him that bird. He said the student has become the teacher. One of my proudest moments helping my friend get his first gobbler in years.
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