The first day of turkey season came on
April 14th in 2012. Even though I woke up 39 minutes
after my alarm was supposed to go off, when I parked my car I was
only 15 minutes later then I had wanted to be. I quickly gathered my
stuff and took off walking.
I noticed a strip of trees had been clear
cut on the way and the closer I got I saw that where I was headed was
also clear cut. It looked like some trees may have been left in the
distance and without a back up plan, I continued on my way to the
tree I had planned to sit below. I didn’t find the tree, but it
seemed the timber harvest stopped just past where the tree would have
been.
I then went a short distance into the timber that was left and
there was a familiar saddle that I new turkeys like to visit and set
up in this location while waiting for daylight. I didn’t put on all
of my gear, because I thought I was going to have to move after I
heard a bird. Hooting on my owl call didn’t produce a response.
As it got light I tree yelped a little. My second series got a hen
to yelp in response and it was quickly followed by a gobble within a
good range. I put my gloves and facemask on and then my mouth call
in. I had a camera mounted to my shotgun to record the whole thing
and just after I got it turned on the hen flew out of the tree. A
few yelps later and I had called her in. She didn’t really like
the way I looked, but she didn’t get too alarmed.
After she walked
off the gobbler pitched down and a hen to my right pitched down.
Shortly, I called up the second hen. She was a little more
alarmed at my appearance then the first, but still not enough to
leave the entire area. They moved to me left and feed just out of
sight. I knew the gobbler had to be with them, even though I didn’t
hear another sound from him. I needed to shift around the tree,
because I was not in any position to shoot that direction.
I moved
around the tree and it didn’t take me long to see a fan moving
around in the clear-cut as the gobbler showed off trying to bring in
the fake hen out of the woods and up to join him. I watched for
awhile and he moved a little further away. A couple yelps later
brought him back to the first place I saw him. I knew this probably
wouldn’t last too long since he already had two hens feeding close
by and he didn’t see a third turkey where the yelps were coming
from. He was within range, but all of the leaf cover and saplings
didn’t allow for a good shot. I thought, “The only chance I have
is to stand up and take the first shot opportunity”. I stood half
way up to run my head into the branches of the sapling I was sitting
beside of, so with a half squat position I aimed at the white head of
the gobbler and shot. He got air born and I threw another 2 ¼ oz of
shot his direction. I aimed and led the bird and let another 3 ½”
shot shell fly. That third one felt good and there was a loud thump
as the gobbler slammed into the ground.
I shed my gloves, hat and
friction calls as I ran toward the noise, reaching the bottom of the
hill thinking I had run too far, but I continued to scan the area
and listen for wing beats of a dying bird. I searched the entire
adjacent hillside, in every crevasse and behind every log. I didn’t
find even a feather.
After about an hour I made it back toward where
it all began. I saw a feather which led me to the crash site and
then I followed it back up the trail of feathers and slightly up
hill. I was thinking the bird must have gotten turned around after
the impact.
I went back to where I shot and
gathered up my stuff before I started to look again. I heard a
couple of turkeys, but without a response from my yelping I assumed
they were the hens returning to where they were scattered from. I
ate a couple packs of crackers and thought about the events. “Lord,
if that bird is dead please let me find him”, I prayed.
Now, I
looked on the hillside where the feather had led, but soon realized
the feather trail was more likely from him going down and not from
him running after hitting the ground. “How many articles have been
written about recovering wounded turkeys”, I wondered. I thought
about all of the time I have spent in search of a dove that I would
see fall out of the sky. I went the opposite direction of the
feather trail and began my search again scouring the hillside for a
bird. On my way back I saw some more feathers, which told me I was
on the right path, but also that the bird didn’t die instantly. I
drew an imaginary line with feathers and started to look again.
This
would be the third hillside I would examine for the bird. I thought
that I would give it a really good look, but if I didn’t find him
or more evidence I was going to assume he was walking around. I went
out the ridge and dropped down toward the lake to search every spot.
I saw a black object near the water and as I looked harder I saw that
it was the bird. His head was up and he was alive. It was a
horrible shot angle which would result in ruining some meat and I
really didn’t want to expend another “high dollar” shell as a
finishing shot. I ejected the shell and looked for a cheaper one in
my vest. “Lord, please let me recover this bird”, I prayed. I
have been very close to recovering an animal on several occasions
only to have change of events and they escape once again. As I
looked for a shell the shotgun slammed shut with a loud metallic,
“Cling”. The bird attempted an escape flight, only to find he
was sitting on the water and about 25 yards from me. I put a shell
in, quickly seeing that his head was stretched out and I had a much
better shot opportunity, but not knowing how long this window would
last. As I started to aim the shotgun, I wondered if there were any
laws about shooting turkeys on the water. The shot dropped his head
into the water and the flopping began.
I looked for a long stick and I saw a
tree lying in the water toward were the bird was drifting. With a
stick in hand, I was inching out on the dead tree over the water and
I thought, “Lord, You really have me on an adventure this morning”.
The stick fell way short of reaching the bird and I looked across
the water for a bass boat to help with the recovery. I didn’t see
a boat close by, so I felt the water and surprisingly it wasn’t as
bad as I imagined it would be. I went back the bank and looked at
the bird. Now it wasn’t drifting at all and it was in the middle
of this little inlet. Below the water was a muddy bottom, but the
water was clear. “I could swim out there”, I thought. Even if
it is cold, it is supposed to be 80 degrees today, which would
quickly warm me up. I took of my boots, socks and shirt and went in.
I got in quickly to get it over with and the water was a little
colder then it originally felt. I made it to the bird quickly and
tried to get back just as fast. Once on shore, I brought the bird
and my dry clothes up on the bank to where the finishing shot had
taken place and I took a couple of pictures. This is my most
memorable turkey hunt yet and I didn’t want to forget it.
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