The Bad Bird Bible Chapter 4, Verse 3- Preston Pittman

"A bad bird everyone in my home county already had hunted on public lands in the DeSoto National Forest in South Mississippi that nobody could kill would gobble from a ridgetop close to a road where he could hear every vehicle going down that road," Preston Pittman, the creator of Preston Pittman Game Calls, a division of Highlanders Sports in Huntsville, Alabama, and winner of many turkey-calling championships, explained. "That bird was so sharp that he knew if he heard a vehicle and then heard a hen calling from that direction that more than likely that was a hunter calling to him instead of a hen. This bird would gobble good until he heard a hunter call, and then he'd shut up.

"This turkey had whipped every hunter who had come after him for two years. Once I decided I was going to kill that turkey, I found where he was roosting, carried a camo sleeping bag into the woods at 12:00 midnight and took a stand about 60 yards from where I knew the bird was in the tree. I slept in that sleeping bag until the turkey started to gobble, then woke up and gave a few really soft tree calls.

"Next I began to lightly thump the ground like a hen's going to the bathroom from up in the trees and her droppings were hitting the ground. Then I used a turkey wing to make a fly-down sound. I gave a few clucks and purrs and scratched in the leaves like a hen's feeding. When the bird flew down, he came straight to me.

"I believe I was able to take that turkey because I got behind him, I called from a direction he'd never been called to before, and he didn't hear a vehicle on the road before I started calling to him.

"When you're hunting a bird that's close to a road, and you know he can hear cars when someone comes to hunt him, consider using a mountain bike to go to that gobbler. The bicycle doesn't sound like an automobile, and often you can get in and call to a bird without spooking him."

To learn more about hunting turkeys, go to Night Hawk's homepage and click on hunting books.

For more information on Preston Pittman Calls, call 601-859-8313.

TOMORROW: THE BAD BIRD BIBLE CHAPTER 5, VERSE 1- WILL PRIMOS

Check back each day this week for more about The Bad Bird Bible ...

Day 1 -The Bad Bird Bible Chapter 4, Verse 1- Preston Pittman
Day 2 -The Bad Bird Bible Chapter 4, Verse 2- Preston Pittman
Day 3 -The Bad Bird Bible Chapter 4, Verse 3- Preston Pittman
Day 4 -The Bad Bird Bible Chapter 5, Verse 1- Will Primos
Day 5 -The Bad Bird Bible Chapter 6, Verse 1- Steve Stoltz

John's Journal