Many of us, as sportsmen, realize that the experience that we gain with each adventure is priceless. It is not just merely about harvesting an animal, however, it does add to the enjoyment of the hunt. There has not been any hunting, fishing, camping, canoeing, or backpacking trip, that I have taken, which has not given me some education on how to do something different next time.

I am happy to report this year's spring turkey hunting adventure has met the same educational requirements for me. Since January 1st, when the application period for our 2004 Spring Turkey season here in Michigan started, I have been thinking, watching, scouting, and dreaming of shooting a turkey. One of my goals this year was to call in a turkey to my decoy and kill it. This is no easy task, as many turkey hunters whom have tried can attest to. I have been watching several flocks of turkeys over quite a large area since the loss of our dear friend, sometime enemy, and playmate, SNOW. As of the first day of the first hunt period, the turkeys had done what most of the animal kingdom do when the hunting season starts, disappear. I had struggled to find more turkeys. Then all of a sudden, the evening before my hunt period was to start, my best friend had located a flock of turkeys in a field that we had permission to hunt from the previous hunting season. I now had made preparations to be where the birds are the next morning. I made contact with the landowner that evening and cleared the way for the kill zone. I showed up a little early, expecting the bird's to come off roost early, which they didn't. I made a few mistakes which eventually led to blowing the spot for the morning. So after about an hour and a half, I made my way to another spot for another chance at a bird. After setting up for this bird, calling him in close, and making a few more mistakes, I was unsuccessful.

It was now about mid-morning, and I had a meeting to attend to at work. I had left the turkey woods for now with the expectation to return early afternoon. I returned to the field soon after lunch, to again give it another try. I set up in a different spot in the same field that I had been in earlier that morning. I called sparingly, but loud, with the anticipation of hearing a tom gobble. After patiently waiting, from the wood line emerged a bright red and blue turkey head. The young turkey stepped out in the open and headed for the decoy. He used caution as he eyeballed my decoy and whispered in its ear. He was leery of the situation, and proceeded to head back to the woods. I took my aim carefully, and knew at this point, it is time to pull the trigger if I am going to have any chance of harvesting this bird. I took the shot, which was about 25 yards, and that turkey fell like a big sack of taters. No movement came from the pile of lunchmeat covered in feathers. I bundled up my equipment and headed back to the truck with a great big smile.

This experience pasted a smile on my soul for quite some time and embedded memories that will last forever. Try spring turkey hunting, it's fun and it is an excellent way to gather food for lunch.