Saturday morning opening day. I'm walking a firebreak about forty-five minutes before daylight. I walk a little and then hoot. I walk a little and hoot. Then I hear a real owl hoot back! I immediately start patting myself on the back. I walk a little more and hear a gobble from what sounds like the adjacent property. I plop down with my back to a pine tree and I use the firebreak as my main shooting alley.
Nice set up all way around. Then I felt a drop of water, followed by a steady rain. Not too heavy but I know its useless to call. So I figure to wait it out, and just sit and let the rain come down. I close my eyes and start to get sleepy.
You know that feeling you get just before you nod off? Well, I start getting in that state. So it's still raining but not much. Next thing I hear is what sounds like an a gobbler screaming in my ear.
I must have jumped ten feet, but the next thing I see is a gobbler in the firebreak about 30 yards away. Without even thinking, up came the 10 gauge and fired one shot. One dead gobbler. Just a hair under 19 pounds and a 6 inch beard and spurs that I can only guess at. But the spurs were more like nubs.
Took it to my deer processor and for $40.00 had it plucked and smoked. If BC had been here,I could have gotten him to do it and saved all that money!
This is the first year Georgia hunters must call in their deer and turkey kills and of course being the upstanding lawman and conscientious hunter I followed the rules and called. The system was down. Called again and lost the connection. On the third try got through and did my civic duty. I still say it sucks and good looking upstanding lawmen like me should be exempt.
Of course had I been hunting at BCs place I could have killed about 40 birds and never left his front porch!
Later that same day I hit the local PFA, and caught 4 largemouth with a 5 inch crazy worm. All in all not a bad day.
