Turkey of a tale.

This was from friday at Roper Hollow area gamelands. It included a safety lesson to abide by: I heard a turkey calling off and on but it didn't sound quite right. I held back from returning the call as I can do a decent vocal. Finally it was really close so I switched to my zoom lens and waited...shortly there after I heard a car door.
Boy am I glad I didn't call back-in the fog-on gamelands during hunting season! I would have been the biggest turkey on record!
Canon 400D,28-135mm,1.3 sec @F11

Man, hunting freaks me out.

That's scary Leann! To close an encounter for me! :)

Being an avid turkey hunter and former game warden myself, I have run into this situation many times before! Most of the time I am running into another turkey hunter thought....not many photographers around these parts. The main thing to remember is 99% of turkey hunters are going to understand that they are on public land and they are going to make sure of their target way before they take aim. But there are a few exceptions, as with any situation where you are dealing with people. It is of up-most importance that you wear blaze orange in the woods. A few of my hunting partners and I have discussed this before. Now that blaze orange has been required for so long, some "careless" hunters have become desensitized to the "identify your target" rule. They look, see no blaze orange, then shoot. The premise is, that if there is no blaze orange over there, then it must not be a person.
Hunting shouldn't freak anyone out!! You are far more likely to be killed when you fall in your bathroom this morning getting out of the shower!! There are just a few precautions you should consider when going afield this time of year. As with any other situation where more than one person is involved, there are going to be a few that act then think! Or should I remind you of your morning commute?

Wow Leann. At least you were savvy enough to know the difference. If I could make animal noises, I'd have likely been shot. When I was living in KY, I'd be looking up trail info and was surprised to find certain trails would be closed to non-hunters during certain parts of the year. That was a foreign concept to me, as hunting is not legal in most areas of California.

great shot by the way. definetely gallery quality.

Hey guys,
Nice to hear from ya.
Darrin-great points. I do keep a bright burnt orange colored t-shirt in my vehicle just for such occassions. I was commenting more on listening to what past experience was saying than being in the line of fire. Along with the too abrupt calls being made I also noticed that when I rearranged my tripod -the legs made a "clack" and there was no knee jerk "gobble gobble gobble" response call that usually makes me giggle a bit. All little "not set in stone" but common reactions that made me think-Hmm maybe it's not what it seems. I just think it's good to always listen to that inner voice. Hunting really doesn't freak me out at all. I share my animal sightings/stories with hunter friends and visa versa

Richard,
Wow are you saying there aren't any designated hunting seasons? That's wild!

Weird story. Like the image, though.