It was a misty, damp morning. I had heard the turkeys gobbling off in the distance quite a few times in the past few weeks and saw several scratching areas, too. I was excited as we walked out into the pre-dawn darkness. The "hoo-hoo-huhoooo" of our owl call echoed into the stillness of the foggy mist, signaling that it was time for the woodland animals to awake. Some little birds had already decided it was time to be awake and they were singing their hearts out as we made our way through the grassy fields towards the swampy area where the turkeys were roosting.

The decoys were arranged a short distance off from the tree I would be leaning against this particular morning. The turkey, which seemed our best choice, was off several hundred yards beyond thick tree and brush coverage. There was no way possible he had seen us as we walked in.

It was a comfortable temperature sitting in just a camouflage sweatshirt and pants. The mist had begun to lift and the dusty rays of the rising sun were just lighting the lowlands where we sat. My excitement grew as our call was answered by a crisp clear gobble – much louder than I remembered from last season. (Or maybe it was only because that was the first "real" sound I had heard since waking up.) I could sense the gobbler’s urgency in the tree, as the calls were answered with him facing us (louder), then facing away (slightly quieter), then back towards us (louder again).

More than an hour elapsed and still the gobbler remained in the tree. As I waited, I remembered a story a friend had told me about a turkey, which never got out of the tree although he patiently waited and called until noon. I realized hopelessly, that this could be the very same turkey. It was almost in this very same spot two seasons earlier! As I began to get discouraged, I looked towards the decoys, imagining the gobbler coming through the brush, but there wasn’t a sound. Then, WHAM! Out of nowhere – a big flash of grayish red pounced on the decoy and bounced off! I just stared. As the coyote trotted away, obviously stunned that his breakfast was not edible, I just tried not to chuckle too loud and shook my head. Today was not my day for turkeys – the decoy lay deflated as if dead, next to the other. (A deflated decoy foiled my attempts last year, too, when my young horse picked up the decoy and shook it in her mouth, popping it, leaving it for "dead", too! I laughed out loud then!)

We kept calling – maybe the turkey didn’t know that the coyote had been there. Another half hour passed, with the turkey still in the tree, gobbling back and forth with us. Then there was no reply for a brief period. The next call was answered immediately to my right – very close! I switched to shoot left-handed (I am a righty!) because I was leaning against the tree with my right side. I had miscalculated which direction the turkey would approach. I sat, holding my breath, waiting….and waiting, wondering if I could make the shot left-handed.

I didn’t have to wonder too long…..the next gobbled response was way off in the distance. The gobbler must have seen the deflated decoy…he ran for his life! Oh well, chalk it up to a nice day in the woods with an up-close sighting of a beautiful coyote!! There will be other days and I’ll keep you posted!