JF Griffin - Index

JF Griffin - magazine - Index

out of the swamps and start buzzing
around my ears. I quickly applied an
ample dose of bug spray around my
ankles and neck.
While carrying two hen decoys and
a jake in one hand, I toted my shotgun,
camo seat cushion and small fl ashlight
in the other and made my way in the
dark down a trail that weaved through
the patchwork of saw-palmettos toward
a spot where I often saw turkeys.
The setup was near one of my favorite
deer stands, on a ridge that jutted out
between the creek and a ravine. It
was where turkeys roosted most every
evening amid juniper and cypress trees
over the water.
Before I could even fi nish setting
up my decoys, the sounds of gobbling
echoed in the darkness from the creek
bottom below. The strange vocalization
of three, maybe four, birds was something
I’d never heard, and it fascinated me.
I picked out a large pine tree to lean
back against to hide my silhouette. With
a borrowed pair of hand pruners, I began
to snip some of the surrounding native
vegetation of galberry and titi and used
Photo by: Jamie Adams
the clippings to construct my make-shift
blind.
I settled in against the tree – my gun
across my legs and my box call in my lap
– and the sound of gobbling continued
to fi ll the otherwise quiet pre-dawn.
At 7 a.m. it started to get just light
enough to see. As I sat facing the
hardwoods of the ravine and creek
swamp, I could make out my decoys 15
steps in front of me.
About 15 minutes later when the
visibility was noticeably better, I picked
up my box call and made my fi rst yelp to
make those gobblers think there was an
interested hen nearby.
A reassuring gobble answered me
right away!
I was so excited I couldn’t believe it
– a gobbler actually had responded, just
like on those hunting shows.
“What am I supposed to do now,” I
wondered? I remembered Todd telling
me not to call any less than 15 minutes
apart. So I sat quiet in anticipation
for what seemed to be the longest 15
minutes of my life, but when I glanced
down at my watch, only fi ve minutes had
Gobbler, continued on page 23
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 2008-2009 21