Hunter Captures His Bad Luck In Pictures

Last weekend I was talking to a buddy of mine about an interesting situation he found himself in during the spring turkey hunt this year in Wisconsin.   Seems he had told his wife he would go to church one Sunday morning with her which forced him to delay his venture out into the woods by several hours.

As Jerome approached a brushy fence line where he intended to sit, he could see that standing near his decoy was this large tom all fanned out.   Certainly, this made his approach more difficult if he expected to score any action on that day…but he belly crawled in an attempt to close the distance between him and the turkey.   Eventually, he needed to get up from his prone position and stand in order to get off a shot.

That’s when all hell broke loose.

You see, this wasn’t a game just between Jerome and his turkey.   Nope, as so many sportsmen have learned when out hunting there are always other factors at play.   Today, it happened to be a deer.   That’s right, either the buck caught wind of Jerome or heard the slight noise associated with his approach…but in any case the deer got spooked.

Worse yet…the deer spooked and created a so-called domino-effect by scaring the turkey, as well.   What had seemed like a well laid out plan to score on a turkey turned out to be a disastrous result.   There would be no turkey that day.   In fact, the only thing that could make this story any better would be to have a visual or what happened.

Cdy00029_1

Trail camera picture showing the action described in this blog post. Note the turkey decoy between the deer and the tom. Also, the arrow denotes where in the woods the hunter was in the process of standing to shoot.

Well, guess what Jerome started thinking.   He had placed his trail camera up a short distance away so he thought I might as well check it to see what it contains.   Just what he thought.   The camera contained evidence of his hunting attempt gone awry.   It’s tough enough to outwit a turkey alone, but when they team up with deer…even the best of hunters are often disappointed.

Now, you might think Jerome was frustrated and upset that he didn’t get his turkey.   Truth is, nothing could be further from the truth.   What happened on this particular April afternoon is what memories in the outdoors are made of.   Oh, sure, when you pose with a turkey, tail all fanned out for pictures, those are happy times in the woods.   But even the days when things just don’t go as planned…well, as Jerome stated, “This made my hunting season.   That is what hunting is all about.   Some days are just better than others.”

Indeed, Jerome…no matter what happens to a person out in the woods it’s usually good times.   It takes the right attitude and it certainly helps to laugh at your own misfortune.   And thanks to a well-placed trail camera…we all get to visualize what could have been for you on this Sunday afternoon.

©2012 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.