I'll say one thing about hunting whitetail bucks – their mental abilities, especially the bucks that have survived a couple of hunting seasons, can make a hunter look downright foolish. I guess I'd have to say the same thing about spring gobblers, but not because of the mental workings of their pea-sized brain. Rather, spring gobblers survive solely on instincts, which can also make a hunter look downright foolish.

We're now into the second week of our month-long spring gobbler season, and if you talk to the hunters who've been out there yelping and cackling, you'll hear some very entertaining stories. Some end with a tom being taken, while most will be about how gobblers seldom do exactly what the hunter expects them to. Intelligence? No, not with a brain that would easily fit two in a teaspoon. It's those darn instincts. I don't think a turkey knows what it will do a minute from now, say nothing of contriving a plan to avoid the hunter. But this ability to do the unexpected is what makes spring gobbler hunting such a hoot.