We all have made mistakes when it comes to hunting, where you say to yourself “I should have been here." or “If I would have known." Well I am going to share a little turkey hunting story with you. My husband probably will not like it too much, but it did actually teach me a lesson that I will never forget.

A few years ago for Christmas I had gotten my husband a GPS as a gift. He had been asking for a one for a couple of years and I finally broke down and got him one. He would take that thing everywhere and never leave the house without it, even if we were just going to the store or even the neighbor’s house. (I will say that it was pretty cool to have when we were on a plane.) Actually I am sharing two lessons in this article, if you buy your spouse a GPS make sure you are the designated driver for a couple of weeks. Makes traveling very interesting when your husband is trying to drive and play with the GPS that he has suctioned to the windshield, which is looking for a signal and has a low battery so he pulls out the cigarette adaptor, and then his phone rings, and, well I am sure you get the idea.

Spring turkey hunting is always something I look forward to every year. My husband and I normally hunt zone 15 where he has been successful, but my luck has not been so good. Well last year while spring turkey hunting, the hubby decides to take his GPS with, after all he might get lost if he doesn’t. It was kind of a crummy morning as it was cold and it was lightly raining on and off. We get out and set up in a spot that Mike had found the night before, thinking it would be a great place to possibly come across some turkeys. I am leaning up against a tree with a decoy in front of me, and Mike is off to my right sitting back just a little further so he can watch for turkeys in the valley. He was over there making calls and just waiting for any kind of response. Well with the rain, his call was not working so well so he decides to put it in his pocket and pull out the GPS, had to make sure he knew where he was and how far away he was from home. The rain is now coming down a little harder, so I decide to put my hood up to try to keep as dry as possible. I have not seen or heard anything all morning and decided to turn towards my husband, trying to get in a more comfortable position for a while, thinking maybe I will see something in the valley. Mike of course is still playing with the GPS, not paying any attention to anything else. I looked over towards my decoy a few times and nothing coming. Then I just happened to look over and see two turkey heads coming up the hill and right towards my decoy. I started to move very slowly, so not to spook them, and got into position. Then I see a third turkey head coming up quick right behind the other two. Now I am excited and think how great this is, we can both get our turkeys at the same time. So I look over to Mike, and he is clueless that there are three nice sized Tom’s coming right for my decoy, as he is still in GPS world. I realize that they are in shooting range and they are still moving in closer, I need to get his attention some how. I click my safety off, nope that did not do it. I just slightly move my foot in the leaves, nope not that either. I so very, very quietly psssssttttt, and with that I turn to see the turkey’s dashing off into the woods. Mike just looks at me and says “What?" He never even saw the turkeys.

So the lesson I learned from this hunting experience is that from now on, not to wait for the hubby to see the turkey you want to shoot. Just shoot, as long as you have that turkey in your site and you have a clear shot, just shoot. Before this hunting trip I always thought that we would work together as a team. I tried to be nice so we can both get our turkeys and have a successful hunting trip. Well, not anymore. So with this in mind, I am hoping that this spring I can come home with more than just the same turkey I left the house with.