By Mac Arnold
MAHFS Editor

As much as it pains me to say so, I blew a nice opportunity Tuesday.

I had a decent looking tom slip into what I thought may have been a doomed setup and predicted correctly when he stepped around the brush jutting out into the field and pretty much made me. He saw the ever-so slight tipping of the the shotgun barrel, knew something was up, started putting and then high stepped in an about-face while I hurriedly clicked off a shot to no avail.

In addition, I lost a split second playing the "safety game." (For those who may not know what the safety game is, it is where you go to fire and the safety is still on, .)

Damn, I hate that.

And also thinking I should move, then don't and get burned.

I learned long ago from an old timer in West Virginia that you don't want the setup to be one in which the bird either comes up a hill or around a corner (like Tuesday) and then boom -- he is able to see you first and you have to be quick to the draw. 

But I'm staying positive here.

What I liked was how I still called in a cagey ole boy late in the season and during the midmorning no less.

Also the determination is starting to boil inside me and I'm getting out much more than usual. This week -- third one in May -- has typically been a very hot one in my past experiences in Michigan.

Now is the time and I am making it out into the woods. In the past few years I thought maybe I was turning soft and opting for the rack more instead of dealing with a little sleep deprivation.

I'm fixed on blasting this spring gobbler slump into the past.