Spring turkey hunters should be extra careful how they sit in the woods and make sounds that mimic a hen turkey. People are not the only predators who relish a wild turkey dinner.

Harold Marshall, a Dallas oral surgeon, was accosted by a bobcat last season while turkey hunting with his son, Sam, a sophomore at Southwestern University. They were hunting in mid-April on their lease near Megargal.

The Marshalls decided the best strategy would be to sit as still as possible in a place where turkeys were commonly seen and call periodically. A three-hour calling session tempted three mature gobblers into range of Sam’s shotgun.

The hunters were calling in tandem when Harold Marshall got blindsided by the bobcat. The small predator crashed into Marshall from behind, knocking him off balance.

Sam fired a shot in front of the bobcat. When the animal turned, he managed to shoot it in the shoulder. The two men followed the injured bobcat and dispatched it with another shot.

A big bobcat weighs 25 to 30 pounds and never would attack a human unless cornered.