The morning started out as most, a 430 am journey across a dew ridden field with a half crested moon among clear skies shedding a glimmer of light throughout the woodlot. As I neared closer to entering the leak covered floor of the turkey hunters arena my thoughts began to race. Don’t drag your feet, stop occasionally to mimic a deer, how close should I try to get to the roost?, should I use a decoy?, what calls should I use today?, find a setup that provides optimal chance for harvest, pick up your feet your making too much noise, is this spot too close?, too far?, go with the gut feeling, say a prayer to holy spirit to make a clean kill, let the fun begin. A few locater calls with an owl hooter resulted in dead silence and brief anxiety. Are the birds here or have they moved? Stay patient, listen, and above all remain confident. The birds were here opening day, this is their comfort zone. I decide to set out a hen decoy and quietly return to my tree. First light illuminates the wood lot and is accompanied by an orchestra of song birds and then the first gobble…Yea!!! Sounds like an adult, unsure of the distance due to dampening of early leaf out. Another gobble further away causes an eruption of jakes and long beards, can’t fully see the green dots of the true glow ghost ring site. Stay patient, continue to listen and attempt to pinpoint location of the birds. A light yelp of a hen causes another eruption. I generally want to be the first hen the birds here, but had to wait to see the sites. The birds are really putting on a show; a deep chest rattle is cut off by the uncoordinated vocals of what appears to be a group of jakes. I can now see my sights well enough to shoot, time let em’ have it. I have a Sadler McGraw mouth call, cherry classic slate, and the real hen box. I started with soft tree calls on the diaphragm and am immediately answered by yet another eruption of what seems to total 7 or 8 toms of different age class. I grab my wing out of my vest and rub it against the bark to add realism and decide to throw in a couple light clucks which results in the deep chest rattle of an adult bird about 100 yards away. I continue with soft calling and there is now adequate light to safely shoot. I beat the wing against my chest to mimic a fly down as I am just out of view of the roost. I began a calling sequence with yelps and a few cuts on the diaphragm, and an almost anticipated eruption again takes place. I am in a good area, know where the birds are, and feel confident to really let the birds have it. I continue with yelping and cutting interrupting the gobbles making the birds more and more excited. The birds are gobbling hard and on their own, and now the most difficult part…go cold turkey. Making the birds gobble is fun, but successful requires patience, self control, and the presence of mind to realize that just because a bird gobbles doesn’t indicate he will come the distance. The birds remain hot and I track the long beard with my gun by positioning myself in a manner that my barrel is pointed at where I hear the last gobble. Then I catch a glimpse of a relatively dark object about a hundred yards away. The excitement begins to build as the full fan of a long beard is exposed. I do a few soft clucks on the cherry classic slate and the birds’ hammers. The bird remained in full strut from a hundred in. Each step the swaying, full strutted bird took was accompanied by either a gobble or spitting and drumming. One soft yelp on the diaphragm was made to keep the bird interested and on track. As the bird neared my heart rate became uncontrollable until a cluck on the mouth call, the reveal of a white cue ball periscope, and a shot from my 12 gauge capped off the incredible experience. This was a fantastic hunt, and both the turkeys and I seemed to appreciate the Woodhaven experience. I have used the real hen box for the last two years with almost guaranteed success and decided to give the mouth and friction calls a shot. These calls, similar to the box, have not disappointed. The break and pitch are excellent and the realism in performing tree calls, yelps, kee-kee’s, clucks, and purrs are second to none. Thanks Sadler for the opportunity to use one of the best mouth calls on the market, and thank you Woodhaven for helping me start my season out right.

s.e.