Crunch Time

So, it's now about a week away from Spring Gobbler season and the tension is starting to build. What is the right spot for opening day? Will there be any birds talkin'? Looking back on the numerous years of Turkey hunting that I've been through, it's so tough to predict what will happen. Some years, opening day can produce an abundance of different birds responding to the call. Other years, it seems like it's still January and the birds aren't even interested in a hen. Hopefully this year turns out to be a successful one. But the whole point of this blog post is to address one question: Are you ready for opening day? Whether or not opening day has started in your state or not, do you prepare for opening day? I sure have changed my ways.

I used to not get ready for the Spring season at all. I would pretty much throw a bunch of stuff in the back of the truck and then head up to camp for the hunt. But the past few years, I've changed my ways. Starting about 3 weeks before the start of my season, I get all of my gear together and boy it's amazing how much stuff we can accumulate over the years! This year I finally brought myself to buying myself a new vest. I had an LLBean Plenty O' Pockets vest from about 7 years ago(which of course is not made anymore), and I got stuck crawling under a barbed-wire fence. That in itself is a longer story that I won't touch on...

Anyway, I prep my calls, sand down my slate and attempt to use my mouth calls for the first time each year(each year's first time is always a good laugh). Like any sport, practice makes perfect and practicing with all of your calls is a way to eliminate those slight imperfections that can get you busted in the woods. Having played around with the calls and tweaked some things allows me to feel a lot more at ease on opening morning when my back is against the tree.