We've all been there! We've taken off from work. We've gotten enough of the "honey do's" out of the way, and it is turkey season so we feel compelled to go. The first thing we do when we put our feet on the floor is open the back door and look at the sky to see what the weather has in store. Before we even have time to test the wind or look at the thermometer, we feel that gale-force wind and hear it rattling the trees.

We have been turkey hunting for six days straight. The boss was not happy about it, but he had agreed to let us come in at 10:00 each morning and make it up later. What can we say? It is turkey season and we have to go.

We have seen a couple of buddies on the way to the woods. We stopped to get that cup of coffee where we saw a couple more hunters who looked like they could use some sleep. Thirty minutes later, we arrived at our parking spot to take the 15-minute hike to that vantage point where we always like to listen. It is there that we realize we can't hear a darned thing for the wind. We thought, "I ain't killed a turkey in six days, so maybe this will change my luck. I'm going down to the bottom in that little green field and I'm going to sit there and call every time the wind dies down enough, hoping a turkey can hear me."

What do I do? Sometimes these bad weather days have been my most eventful and successful days. It seems like when I get a lull in the wind and get on a loud tube call or really loud, sharp, and piercing on a box call, a gobbler has a good chance of hearing me. Maybe the weather has confused them too. It seems like when the weather changes like this and the days that are not perfect, they do not seem to be as cautious. Maybe the wind is blowing so hard when they go down in the hollow that they get separated from their hens as the hens go off to nest and all they want to do is find another hen. The wind has to die down just enough so I can let out those loud, locating cuts to find a gobbler who is willing to commit.

The photo that I have enclosed with this story is of some of my friends and me on a Kansas trip last year (spring 2001). We joked as we left our hotel rooms that morning that the wind was blowing so hard it was blowing the paint off the parking lot. As it turned out, the Wichita radio station that we were listening to, reported that there were gusts up to 75 mph with sustained winds at 30 mph.

Regardless, we had been hunting for quite a few days. We were there and we were going hunting. Everyone changed tactics a little bit and that morning it was amazing how many of us were successful. We just had to wait for a little lull in the gale-force wind and cut hard enough for a gobbler to hear us. Then we had to sit down quickly because we had no idea how far he was from us.

So, take advantage of the bad weather. Think about what you would do if you were a turkey. Use your calls extra loud (like extra loud cutting) when you catch a lull in the wind. Who knows, he might just commit.

See Ya at Mark's February 28th.