• FREE Video Tip: How to make initial contact   In the Heat of
Battle  (Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from Brian
Lovett's new book, Hunting Pressured Turkeys. The 196-page book
offers a concise, in-depth explanation of how to scout for, set
up on, and kill wary longbeards. For more information, contact
the author at bl_lovett@hotmail.com.)  Our hunt had started so
well. After hearing little before flydown, my friend Dan Barden
and I had trekked across a pasture and up a small ridge before
stopping to call. At the first cluck, a gobbler hammered back 75
yards away. Barden and I exchanged wide-eyed looks as we
scrambled for cover.  The bird was just over a crest in the
woods at the field edge, so I anticipated a quick hunt. I yelped
softly, and the bird double-gobbled. Man, it was going to be
textbook. I switched to soft clucking and purring, scratching
occasionally in the leaves. And the turkey gobbled at
everything-even on his own. But then, reality set in. After five
minutes, the bird hadn't mov