I try to think about the lessons learned when I do stupid things, such as . . . always turn off the truck before using it as a shooting rest, or make sure your finger is out of the way before swinging the knife, or always keep track of where you are and where you've been when in the woods.

I've spent a lot of time in the woods from the time I was pretty young. Even though I haven't always carried a compass and/or GPS, I've always been very aware of the consequences of NOT keeping track of my whereabouts. But for some reason, on this particular turkey hunting trip several years ago, I just didn't pay attention to the rules. After all, I was just going to make a fairly short half-circle loop back into the woods off this straight piece of road. We were looking for turkey "sign" - on the ground. Well there's part of the problem. I found I just couldn't keep track of myself while doing all three of these things at the same time: looking down at the ground for turkey sign while looking up infrequently at fairly dense trees in an unfamiliar area while continuously walking. My normal MO is to walk a few steps, stop and make mental note and repeat until "home". Just continually walking with my head down for several minutes at a time in unfamiliar territory is not the smartest thing I've ever done.

So, what were the lessons learned? In order (1) never ever go turkey hunting. If you do go turkey hunting (2) be sure and carry enough money cuz you WILL be buying beer for your buddies after they've spent 3 or 4 hours looking all over you know where. And last but certainly not least (3) you know the rules . . . JUST FOLLOW THEM . . . ALWAYS.