According to Greek mythology, Thetis dipped her newborn son, Achilles, into the River Styx, which connects earth and the underworld. This rendered him invulnerable, except for the location on the back of his heel where she held him.

I won’t give away the ending, in case you decide to watch the movie, Troy, but most folks are familiar with the idiom of Achilles’ heel.

That’s particularly true of hunters who pursue game that sometimes seems invulnerable. In order to be successful, the hunter must sometimes find and exploit the Achilles’ heel of the game they pursue.

Wild turkeys can be a formidable opponent and it’s sometimes said, “If they could smell us, we’d never harvest one.” They may seem doltish diddling around our back yards, but step into their woods and they become a different creature. They’re eyesight is extremely keen, capable of recognizing all colors in the visible spectrum, detecting and processing any movement more acutely and rapidly than humans, and encompassing a 180-degree field of view with the slightest turn of their head. Their hearing is just as good, and though their brain is no bigger than the meat of a walnut, their instincts are honed for survival.

However, they are quite social when they choose to be. Using decoys and calls to imitate others of their kind, hunters can sometimes lure wily wild turkeys within range. It helps if you know how to speak their language and your decoys are at least a reasonable facsimile of the real thing. There are some pretty realistic ones on the market, and some hunters even go so far as to use taxidermy turkeys or “stuffers.”

Much the same is true for waterfowl. Decoys and calls can coax them closer but anything out of place will cause them to flare away, an experience that becomes more common as the hunting season progresses. Hunters have learned that adding motion to their decoy spread makes it seem more enticing and realistic than a flock of stationary blocks. Numerous contraptions have been developed including flapping-wing decoys and devices designed to make ripples on the water. Camouflage is key here as well.

In order to outwit whitetails you have to beat their eyes, ears and noses. Camo, stealth and sitting still help with the eyes and ears. Proper scent control – which includes washing body and clothes in scent-free soap – helps with their noses, but no solution completely eliminates odor.

Scent communication is far more important to deer than it is to humans and occasionally, hunters can exploit this to their benefit. One way is applying cover scents so the hunter smells more like the natural surroundings. Another is using natural or synthetic deer lures to attract them. Like turkeys, deer are social animals and may be attracted to another of their kind strictly by scent, especially during the fall breeding season.

Those who hunt grouse in southern Maine know how notoriously wary they can be, flushing at the first sight or sound of potential danger. Far more often their flight-or-fright response results in the former, though on rare occasions they will “hold” for a well-trained dog.

However, grouse are gallinaceous birds. At first light they feed feverishly, stuffing their crops with leaves, bugs, seeds and berries. Then they pick gravel, which they ingest to help grind up hard-to-digest food. The road system created by Maine’s logging industry has created a limitless supply, which the birds eagerly seek out, making them vulnerable to late risers who don’t care to venture too far from the road.

Game laws are implemented to ensure fair chase. That means the odds lie clearly in favor of the game rather than those who pursue them. Luck always plays a role but if your goals is to prevail against a seemingly invincible opponent, it helps to know their Achilles’ heel.

Bob Humphrey is a freelance writer and Registered Maine Guide who lives in Pownal. He can be reached at: bob@bobhumphrey.com