Story of the Hunt

We got in the woods early and started calling as soon as the sun came up. There were hens all around us and we started to hear gobbling off in the distance. The gobbles got louder and the next thing I knew they were right behind me. Two gobblers walked 60+ yards in front of my grandpa and collected all the hens and they were on their way. We kept calling but didn't hear many more gobbles so we got up and started walking around.

It was about 8:00 am now and we hadn't seen any more turkeys. As we walked, my uncle and I caught movement about 200 yards to our right. It was the gobblers and the group of hens and they were running into a field. We quickly got out of the woods so we wouldn't spook them too far off.

We entered the woods about an hour later and set up on the fence row that the turkeys followed into the field. We saw the group of turkeys about 600 yard away on the edge of a woods. We sat down and softly called. Slowly the group headed toward us. As they got closer we started to hear them gobble more and more. I waited and waited just waiting for one of the red heads to poke up over the hill.

Finally, the group appeared about 50 yards away. They walked closer until they got to a fence that was about 40 yards away. They walked back and forth beside the fence but they wouldn't cross it. They walked farther and farther to the left until I couldn't see them anymore. I thought they were gone but then I heard this slapping sound and it was a jake flogging our decoy. They walked back out to the right along the fence and one gobbled. I put my sights on him waited for him to stick his head up and pulled the trigger.

The bird hit the ground and started to flop around. The other gobblers started kicking the dying bird and I got up and started running toward the downed bird. The other two gobblers flew away and mine stuck his head up and got up and flew away. I felt sick!

We started walking to where we saw him fly. We searched and searched but didn't see anything. I walked to a high spot and started looking for any sign of the bird. I looked for about 5 minutes and then I saw a red blob sticking up over some high grass. I yelled for my uncle and grandpa and I started to walk towed the high grass. When I got to the grass I saw feathers but no bird! I was disgusted and very upset. But the next step I took the bird ran right in frount of us!

I shot him before he took off. The turkey ended up having a 10 3/4 inch beard and 1 1/8 inch spurs. It was the second largest turkey taken in my area for the youth division. I am 14 years old and this was my second gobbler of 3 turkeys I have shot. I killed a jake at the same spot I killed this bird just one week before. I thank my uncle and grandpa very much for taking me hunting and this was one of my most memorable hunts and I will never forget it.