Turkey hunting with a bow is an awesome challenge, and a blast besides. I've had more fun going after these crazy birds, than even bugling elk in the fall. Each year I'm also reminded of the physical demands of pursuing game with a bow. I'm always exhausted at the end of a day hunting, much more so than even going for a 6 hour mountain bike ride.

Saturday morning I arrived at my hunt spot and quickly got ready for the pre-dawn hike up to a high ridge. It was actually a bit humid and overcast and I noticed a lot of fresh bird tracks as I made my way up the ridge. Peering over the ridge, the outline of southern rockies was just becoming visible, when I let out a few hen calls. Silence. I worked further down the ridge to the edge of a secluded basin and let out a few more hen calls. Gobble, gobble, bingo! Not one, but at least 3 different gobblers answered my call. I quickly made my way down into the basin to set up. I was able to get a decoy set up in a small clearing, and then conceal myself between some trees with some blind material. I continued to call and kept getting responses, and after about 30 minutes, I got my first glimpse of not one, but two gobblers coming at full strut, gobbling and drumming the whole time with a hen in tow. They came in to my right while my decoy and my shooting lane were to my left. They strutted around, showing off for the hen, and trying to lure more hens for 10 minutes or so, never seeing my decoy (or me), and thus never presenting me with a shot opportunity. My heart was pounding, and my quads were burning from squatting, dead still the whole time. What a fun rush seeing wildlife so close and trying to control your nerves. It's really something that has to be experienced to understand. Man, those birds are just so cool and fun to watch.

I stumbled across some ancient pottery shards, perhaps an old canteen, in this same area, reminding me that these were someone elses hunting grounds long before mine. Perhaps 600 to 800 years ago, based on archeological literature for this area. I can clearly imagine some young aboriginal men, silently stalking through the woods, stickbows in hand, ready to launch a wooden arrow, tipped with obsidian point at their quarry. Respectfully, I'll return, ever more appreciative of the opportunity to experience those things that God spoke into existence.