Thanks to GLS for posting the pictures 67galaxie took this morning. Here's what happened yesterday and this morning:

"Homeric Fail"
Last week we had 88 degree afternoons. Weather reported cold front coming through yesterday but a cool clear morning today. Then in the dark of night they changed that to rain all morning and low forties with "feel like" thirties.



Anyhow, I got up and went. The rain started on the way down to the farm I was hunting. No problem, I wore my long johns and my milsurp rain parka. How rainy could it be. Pretty rainy and cold it turned out. Miserable in fact.



No matter because I could hear the gobbler I knew was there at daylight. He responded to may calls and came in at about 8:00. Him and two other longbeards plus a jake, followed up by about nine hens. Four gobblers twenty feet in front of me before I knew it with evil intentions about my jake and hen decoy.



I've been excited all year about my 1928 Ithaca/Lefever game and trap single shot which my friend GLS converted into a dedicated turkey gun for me. The conversion included a Sumtoy turkey choke and installation of a Burris Fast Fire red dot scope. I had checked the "zero" on the red dot last week and it was dead on with hand loaded TSS #8's. The pattern at 40 yards would fit on a volleyball, so you have to hold tight on'em when you shoot.



Well, these gobblers were less than ten yards out, so I waited until they'd moved off about thirty feet to try to shoot. UhOh, I had taken the scope cover off because I thought I could hold the scope under my jacket so it wouldn't get wet. Except it did; it was soaked and I had the red dot on high so all I could see through the blur was the refracted light of the red dot all over the biggest gobbler. It was like aiming straight into the sun. I tried to rub the rain off the scope but it just smeared and got worse.



I hoped I had the bird sighted right and took the shot but missed. I guess in the rain they must have thought it was just thunder because they all just sort of walked off. A few minutes later I chirped a few clucks at them and the whole bunch returned, but led by the hens this time. The dominant big gobbler returned with them though, this time at the perfect 40 yard distance for the TSS.



And I repeated my first fail as I tried again to aim through the wet blurred scope lenses. I've missed a lot of turkeys over the years but never two in one morning. Moral is Keep Your Scope Cover On in the Rain Until you are ready to shoot.



"Rapid Redemption"


Fast Track Redemption. Yesterday's bad luck turned sweet this morning. Doubleguner 67galaxie and I returned to the scene of my disaster this morning and sat together where I set up yesterday. I figured I could use somebody who can shoot.



The birds were still there and we called the whole bunch in again. My sight was not wet this morning and we doubled on the two biggest gobblers in the group of four from yesterday. Mine was the strutter because I shot first and 67galaxie followed up with another big guy. Biggest was twenty pounds, big for around here...Geo