Post by mrode363 on Feb 6, 2016 1:40:03 GMT
Imagine yourself on an early morning walk; you can be biking or running if you are that ambitious. You are strolling through Schmeeckle Reserve and are taking in all the scenery. That fresh morning smell fills the air as you journey across the many paths the Reserve has to offer. You are winding down your early morning workout and just have to turn one last corner. As you turn the corner, you see a blur in the corner of your eyes; it’s a turkey, out to find himself an early morning meal. You stop in your tracks, taking in the beautiful nature scene this morning has blessed you with. Who doesn’t enjoy a nice encounter with wildlife?
You are motionless, trying not to spook the turkey while letting the large bird enjoy its meal in peace. Must have been a few minutes now, surely the turkey has seen you… Why is he not spooked at all? How much would it take to scare him? Let’s find out! You take a small step forward; the tom stays where he is, not even looking up at you. Another step forward, you are now only 10 feet from the turkey. Is he ever gonna get scared? It must be because it’s accustomed to people around him on a daily basis? Regardless, a wild animal shouldn’t be letting a human get this close… It doesn’t know what you’re capable of. You take another step forward, this time kicking the mulch-covered pathway, trying to scare the big bird away. The tom only looks up and shakes his body to discard the woodchip that landed on its back. Okay this is crazy, but this has to end. You sprint towards the bird, hoping to see the turkey flustered and maybe have it even fly off to a nearby tree. Instead, the tom calmly jogs away, slows down and starts pecking away at the ground only 30 feet from you. How dumb are these birds?
Unfortunately, this is how most people encounter a wild turkey. It’s not the same out in a rural area… the turkeys that see me probably see a few people every week, not a few people every couple of hours. The turkeys that I see are much smarter than the one you just met for the first time. Oh and the ones I see are afraid of me, probably because I’m holding a shotgun, trying to tag them up.
You may be wondering who I am… Well let me give you the quick run-down. My name is Morgan and I’m a professional hunter from the great state of Wisconsin. Been into the whole huntin’ thing since I was five years old. Followed my dad around til’ I was 12, then carried a gun for the first time. Started my own television show straight outta high school and never looked back. It’s now year 3 of The Ultimate Challenge and the show has its highest rating of all times. That’s thrilling to me but I tend to question why I have so many viewers. The show is real professional and all; The Ultimate Challenge crew is superb… The reason why I question the viewership is because of the lack of animals harvested on my part. I mean, there’s more than just me hunting on the show, but I was the founder of the show and don’t even hold the highest “kill count” on the show. A little embarrassing, I know, but the show is a blast to shoot and the fans are great! I guess that didn’t exactly tell you who I was but all you need to know is that I am an avid hunter living the dream with his own television show.
With the popularity comes some trolling as well. I like to keep in touch with fans and try to interact via Twitter and Facebook. Let me tell ya’, the whole social media thing is not for me. It’s great to read all the comments fans leave, but at the same time, I receive some pretty harsh Twitters… or is it tweets? Regardless, I keep a list of the “hate” comments with me at all times. I guess the insults and hurtful comments really make me love my job of hunting that much more; as the one saying goes, “I let my haters be my motivators”… I’m off track again aren’t I? Sorry.
But in all seriousness, I don’t think all of my fans have tried to go hunt a wild turkey. It isn’t exactly a walk in the park. I think episode 3 of season 2 portrayed that out pretty well… You haven’t seen that episode? Well, let’s play it then.
(Play) The episode begins with the sound of an alarm; it’s 3:00 A.M on the dot. The lights in the room turn on to see host and the spotlighted hunter of the day, Morgan, lying in bed. His eyes slowly open and he turns to the camera.
“It’s time man! Let’s go get us that thunder chicken!” Morgan exclaimed loudly.
The show picks up with Morgan and the cameraman, James, sitting at the kitchen table.
Both of them are decked out in camouflage from head to toe and both are finishing up their bowls of cereal.
“Wheaties are the breakfast of champions.” Morgan said. “Hopefully I will become the champion today and lay the hammer down on my first ever long beard. Let’s go get em’!”
After finishing their respective bowls of cereal, the two finish up their game planning for the day and head out the door and into the hunting truck, a Ford F-150. The drive is a short one and the hunting tandem arrives at their destination at 4:15 A.M. After nestling into the hardwoods of their favorite hunting ground in Wisconsin, Morgan turned to the camera to set up the hunt for the viewers…
“It’s May 23rd. Our season is coming to a close tonight so we gotta’ make things happen today. We have been right there all season, just haven’t been able to seal the deal and bag a bird. Don’t worry though; I can feel it in the air. Today is our day. Stay with us”
With that the hunt began; the sky was beginning to brighten and the toms were beginning to gobble. 5:00 A.M now and the birds should be coming off the roost any second. But instead of seeing turkeys fly down, the crew saw a mixture of rain and snow.
“Not exactly what we were expecting today. It started to rain and snow on us in late May. We are gonna’ stick it out a lil’ longer and see if we can catch one of these long beards walking the woods.”
The crew continued to sit as the time clock in the corner of the screen kept on ticking. 6, 7, 8 A.Malready and still no sign of a gobbler. You could see the expression on Morgan’s face changing; he was beginning to lose hope and another turkey-less season was in the rear-view mirror.
“Okay, this morning has been an absolute bust. It’s 9 A.M now and I think its time to pack err’ up and call it a day.” Morgan was clearly upset and disappointed as another turkey season had ended without a turkey in the back of the truck.
Cameraman James tried to do his best to cheer him up. “Hey man, lets give it 30 more minutes. We can’t hunt later today cause’ the ground will be too slick to get the truck in. 30 more minutes. Like you said before, today is the day; you can feel it in the air.”
Morgan turned to James and gave a slight grin. He nodded and settled back into his position and got his game face back on. He struck his turkey call every few minutes, trying desperately to shake up the woods and get a bird to respond; it had been nearly 3 hours since the last gobble.
The clock showed in the upper left of the screen as the episode went on; it was 9:25 A.M. Morgan turned to James and gave him the nod. Morgan began packing his hunting bag as the camera caught the last scenes of the 2014 spring turkey season.
“Morgan. Morgan.” James whispered as softly as possible.
Morgan stopped putting his turkey call away and seemed to freeze up. He knew what had happened. He slowly turned and then froze up again as he looked behind his cameraman. The camera slowly turned as well and showed a gobbler slowly working his way down the small hill behind James’s location. The tom was a mere 10 feet from James and just 30 feet from Morgan.
The episode then switched to the GoPro atop Morgan’s head; a camera-view that gave viewers an inside look into what Morgan was looking at. This was the first time all episode the view was shown. The view from the GoPro was an intimidating one too; the camcorder showed Morgan peering to his side, staring at his gun. Morgan had laid the gun down as he was packing up and was now in a predicament as a tom was fast approaching.
The show switched to James’s camera view and showed the tom closer than before. The tom was right alongside of James and was curiously looking for the hen he had heard clucking just a few minutes ago.
Back to the GoPro view, where Morgan had successfully picked up his gun and began to slowly turn towards his potential trophy bird. The GoPro was now directed at the turkey and its every step. The turkey kept right on coming, almost like he had not seen James or Morgan and their obvious movements. Morgan raised his gun and slowly brought it up to his shoulder.
(Pause) “Wait, wait, wait. I thought you said wild turkeys were smart? He walked right into your lap basically! You could probably make the shot blindfolded. Just watch the end of the episode.”
(Play) The shotgun continued to be brought up. It was almost to shoulder level now. The camera view switched back to James’s camera. The turkey and Morgan were so close that both were shown on the screen. The gun now rested on Morgan’s shoulder and he was reaching for the safety, grinning as he did so.
This was it, the turkey was dead to rights and Morgan just had to execute a clean shot; not a hard task when the bird was just a few steps from Morgan…
Suddenly, the turkey began to cluck anxiously. He started looking around and soon started to walk away. It was do or die time for the hunting crew. Morgan finally clicked the safety off and the turkey took off, sprinting as fast as it could to evade the hunting duo that was so perfectly hidden under the rain and snow soaked forest. Morgan fired; the turkey started to rise up off the ground and fly to stay alive. Another shot fired by Morgan, smoke filled the air like the fog of an early morning. The smoke began to clear and soon the camera showed a beautiful early-morning forest.
“Told you it’s not that easy. That’s why the show is called, The Ultimate Challenge.”
You are motionless, trying not to spook the turkey while letting the large bird enjoy its meal in peace. Must have been a few minutes now, surely the turkey has seen you… Why is he not spooked at all? How much would it take to scare him? Let’s find out! You take a small step forward; the tom stays where he is, not even looking up at you. Another step forward, you are now only 10 feet from the turkey. Is he ever gonna get scared? It must be because it’s accustomed to people around him on a daily basis? Regardless, a wild animal shouldn’t be letting a human get this close… It doesn’t know what you’re capable of. You take another step forward, this time kicking the mulch-covered pathway, trying to scare the big bird away. The tom only looks up and shakes his body to discard the woodchip that landed on its back. Okay this is crazy, but this has to end. You sprint towards the bird, hoping to see the turkey flustered and maybe have it even fly off to a nearby tree. Instead, the tom calmly jogs away, slows down and starts pecking away at the ground only 30 feet from you. How dumb are these birds?
Unfortunately, this is how most people encounter a wild turkey. It’s not the same out in a rural area… the turkeys that see me probably see a few people every week, not a few people every couple of hours. The turkeys that I see are much smarter than the one you just met for the first time. Oh and the ones I see are afraid of me, probably because I’m holding a shotgun, trying to tag them up.
You may be wondering who I am… Well let me give you the quick run-down. My name is Morgan and I’m a professional hunter from the great state of Wisconsin. Been into the whole huntin’ thing since I was five years old. Followed my dad around til’ I was 12, then carried a gun for the first time. Started my own television show straight outta high school and never looked back. It’s now year 3 of The Ultimate Challenge and the show has its highest rating of all times. That’s thrilling to me but I tend to question why I have so many viewers. The show is real professional and all; The Ultimate Challenge crew is superb… The reason why I question the viewership is because of the lack of animals harvested on my part. I mean, there’s more than just me hunting on the show, but I was the founder of the show and don’t even hold the highest “kill count” on the show. A little embarrassing, I know, but the show is a blast to shoot and the fans are great! I guess that didn’t exactly tell you who I was but all you need to know is that I am an avid hunter living the dream with his own television show.
With the popularity comes some trolling as well. I like to keep in touch with fans and try to interact via Twitter and Facebook. Let me tell ya’, the whole social media thing is not for me. It’s great to read all the comments fans leave, but at the same time, I receive some pretty harsh Twitters… or is it tweets? Regardless, I keep a list of the “hate” comments with me at all times. I guess the insults and hurtful comments really make me love my job of hunting that much more; as the one saying goes, “I let my haters be my motivators”… I’m off track again aren’t I? Sorry.
But in all seriousness, I don’t think all of my fans have tried to go hunt a wild turkey. It isn’t exactly a walk in the park. I think episode 3 of season 2 portrayed that out pretty well… You haven’t seen that episode? Well, let’s play it then.
(Play) The episode begins with the sound of an alarm; it’s 3:00 A.M on the dot. The lights in the room turn on to see host and the spotlighted hunter of the day, Morgan, lying in bed. His eyes slowly open and he turns to the camera.
“It’s time man! Let’s go get us that thunder chicken!” Morgan exclaimed loudly.
The show picks up with Morgan and the cameraman, James, sitting at the kitchen table.
Both of them are decked out in camouflage from head to toe and both are finishing up their bowls of cereal.
“Wheaties are the breakfast of champions.” Morgan said. “Hopefully I will become the champion today and lay the hammer down on my first ever long beard. Let’s go get em’!”
After finishing their respective bowls of cereal, the two finish up their game planning for the day and head out the door and into the hunting truck, a Ford F-150. The drive is a short one and the hunting tandem arrives at their destination at 4:15 A.M. After nestling into the hardwoods of their favorite hunting ground in Wisconsin, Morgan turned to the camera to set up the hunt for the viewers…
“It’s May 23rd. Our season is coming to a close tonight so we gotta’ make things happen today. We have been right there all season, just haven’t been able to seal the deal and bag a bird. Don’t worry though; I can feel it in the air. Today is our day. Stay with us”
With that the hunt began; the sky was beginning to brighten and the toms were beginning to gobble. 5:00 A.M now and the birds should be coming off the roost any second. But instead of seeing turkeys fly down, the crew saw a mixture of rain and snow.
“Not exactly what we were expecting today. It started to rain and snow on us in late May. We are gonna’ stick it out a lil’ longer and see if we can catch one of these long beards walking the woods.”
The crew continued to sit as the time clock in the corner of the screen kept on ticking. 6, 7, 8 A.Malready and still no sign of a gobbler. You could see the expression on Morgan’s face changing; he was beginning to lose hope and another turkey-less season was in the rear-view mirror.
“Okay, this morning has been an absolute bust. It’s 9 A.M now and I think its time to pack err’ up and call it a day.” Morgan was clearly upset and disappointed as another turkey season had ended without a turkey in the back of the truck.
Cameraman James tried to do his best to cheer him up. “Hey man, lets give it 30 more minutes. We can’t hunt later today cause’ the ground will be too slick to get the truck in. 30 more minutes. Like you said before, today is the day; you can feel it in the air.”
Morgan turned to James and gave a slight grin. He nodded and settled back into his position and got his game face back on. He struck his turkey call every few minutes, trying desperately to shake up the woods and get a bird to respond; it had been nearly 3 hours since the last gobble.
The clock showed in the upper left of the screen as the episode went on; it was 9:25 A.M. Morgan turned to James and gave him the nod. Morgan began packing his hunting bag as the camera caught the last scenes of the 2014 spring turkey season.
“Morgan. Morgan.” James whispered as softly as possible.
Morgan stopped putting his turkey call away and seemed to freeze up. He knew what had happened. He slowly turned and then froze up again as he looked behind his cameraman. The camera slowly turned as well and showed a gobbler slowly working his way down the small hill behind James’s location. The tom was a mere 10 feet from James and just 30 feet from Morgan.
The episode then switched to the GoPro atop Morgan’s head; a camera-view that gave viewers an inside look into what Morgan was looking at. This was the first time all episode the view was shown. The view from the GoPro was an intimidating one too; the camcorder showed Morgan peering to his side, staring at his gun. Morgan had laid the gun down as he was packing up and was now in a predicament as a tom was fast approaching.
The show switched to James’s camera view and showed the tom closer than before. The tom was right alongside of James and was curiously looking for the hen he had heard clucking just a few minutes ago.
Back to the GoPro view, where Morgan had successfully picked up his gun and began to slowly turn towards his potential trophy bird. The GoPro was now directed at the turkey and its every step. The turkey kept right on coming, almost like he had not seen James or Morgan and their obvious movements. Morgan raised his gun and slowly brought it up to his shoulder.
(Pause) “Wait, wait, wait. I thought you said wild turkeys were smart? He walked right into your lap basically! You could probably make the shot blindfolded. Just watch the end of the episode.”
(Play) The shotgun continued to be brought up. It was almost to shoulder level now. The camera view switched back to James’s camera. The turkey and Morgan were so close that both were shown on the screen. The gun now rested on Morgan’s shoulder and he was reaching for the safety, grinning as he did so.
This was it, the turkey was dead to rights and Morgan just had to execute a clean shot; not a hard task when the bird was just a few steps from Morgan…
Suddenly, the turkey began to cluck anxiously. He started looking around and soon started to walk away. It was do or die time for the hunting crew. Morgan finally clicked the safety off and the turkey took off, sprinting as fast as it could to evade the hunting duo that was so perfectly hidden under the rain and snow soaked forest. Morgan fired; the turkey started to rise up off the ground and fly to stay alive. Another shot fired by Morgan, smoke filled the air like the fog of an early morning. The smoke began to clear and soon the camera showed a beautiful early-morning forest.
“Told you it’s not that easy. That’s why the show is called, The Ultimate Challenge.”