Gobble !! Gobble !!

Two weeks from today (April 3) at dawn, the 2010 spring turkey season will open here in Tennessee. It's a time that myself and thousands of other Tennessee turkey hunters look forward to every year. Reports are that birds are plentiful this year. Hopefully, that will equate to fresh turkey in the freezer.

Last year, Knight and Hale released the Smok'N Fire diaphragm mouth call. I've tried similar calls made by H.S. Strut, Primos, and Quaker Boy at different times through the years without ever really finding one that produced the life-like turkey sounds I was looking for. Therefore, I decided to give the Smok'N Fire a try. The first time I put one of these in my mouth and blew on it, I knew it was a turkey killer. For me, it produces the most life-like yelps, clucks, and cackles of any turkey call I've ever used. If you like to cut, then this is the call for you, too.

Last year was my 14th turkey season, and I had never killed a bird. I had called birds in only to have them hang up out of shotgun range, or see me and spook, and I've shot at and missed a few, too. These TV hunting shows have you to believe that they will always come in, stop, pose, and stand still for you to shoot at them. Unfortunately, it seldom happens that way.

I did not hunt opening day last year. However, I did the Saturday after and tried out the Smok'N Fire for the first time. At high noon, three jakes came out of the woods into the field I was sitting alongside of about 75 yards away from me. There was a cedar tree between me and them that I had ranged earlier at 40 yards. I had decided that once they got to that tree - one of them was TOAST. Forty-five minutes after first appearing, then going back in the woods, and then coming back out, one of them finally got to that tree. After 14 unsuccessful years, I did not hesitate. I squeezed the trigger and dropped the 13 lb. jake like a bad habit.

Last spring was special. My first bird. Two years earlier, I was recovering from a life-saving heart transplant. Not only had I received a second chance at life from a caring organ donor, Kent, but I had received a second chance to get back into a hobby I loved - hunting. This spring I'll be using the Smok'N Fire exclusively hoping for more success. If you're a turkey hunter who's still looking for the right call. Pick up a pack of the Knight and Hale Smok'N Fire. They sound great and kill turkeys dead. Getcha some !!