Turkey season ended yesterday in our area. The traditional three-day bear season starts Monday.

I managed to get out for turkey one afternoon this past week, and a long walk through very crunchy leaves produced nothing. I decided to sit down and wait at a field edge that has produced action over the years. The day was winding down and I stood up to start the long walk back before darkness set in.

I took a couple of steps, then decided to take one last long look and listen. I thought I heard a distant cluck of a turkey, but sometimes a distant crow call or dog bark can fool you. I concentrated on listening for a while and heard it again. That was one of a flock of turkeys, and they were coming fast. I dropped down to one knee and raised Old Betsy. It was a little late in the day to try to break them up, and they were headed right for me. As they closed the distance, my heart somehow got up in my throat.

They were very close now, but just over a rise at the edge of the field. I thought they were going to come up over the edge and into the field, and I slowly twisted and turned, following the sound of crunching leaves. It sounded like a herd of elephants. In a few moments, it dawned on me that they were going parallel to the field, and I had to make a move. I gathered my feet under me and charged over the rise, fully expecting to see turkeys fly in every direction. Not.

They were moving faster than I realized and had worked their way well past me. I adjusted my attack angle and charged on, but I was too far away. They ran out of sight, my bust was a bust. I stopped, disgusted at my failure, when a straggler came running up the hill, trying to catch up with the flock. I thought the bird was in range, so I picked a spot and fired. That bird took to flight, apparently unharmed, except for the fact that he would have to find his buddies in the morning.

I stomped back to the truck. The turkeys won that round. I thought they were coming into the field or I would have busted them up when they were right on top of me. A bird in the hand is worth 25 in the bush.

Turkey hunting is fun simply because we have a good population of them. They are very sharp and you don’t get away with much.

The regular firearms deer season is just around the corner. I look for some very big bucks to be taken again this year. In my turkey-hunting travels, I have wandered upon posters in areas I’ve never seen posters before. Open hunting ground is becoming more and more scarce. We do have a lot of public ground in the form of game lands and state forests. Much of that territory is barren when it comes to deer. There is good deer hunting available on public ground, you just have to do a lot of legwork to find the deer. In some areas of the north woods, there are some big bucks.

There is nothing quite like the smell of the autumn forest. Add to it the crunch, crunch of deer coming toward you, and the heft of a faithful rifle in your hands, and you have what many of us look forward to each year. Get ready, deer season is almost here.

-- Ken Maurer, Herndon, is a licensed fishing guide and a regular contributor to the Outdoors section. Email comments to kenrose@tds.net