My Turkey Hunting Story. . .
tnbowhunter was kind enough to take me under his wing for a hunt on his property. I had accompanied him twice last season but all we saw was one hen who was just there to tease.
Being a city boy transplant from California, my hunting experience was limited to say the least. I last "hunted" squirrels when I was 14 back in 196x.
Yesterday, TNBH, put me in a blind and was kind enough to loan me his own shotgun that he used to take down that turkey at the start of this thread at 45 yards.
We set up at about 3:30, me at one end of his feed plot in the blind and he at the other in the shooting house. We were far enough apart from each other to keep from sending shot into each other's "personal space."
No sooner did I get comfy, then I heard a racket in the leaves sounding like a herd of deer or water buffalo coming from behind me. As the sound neared I looked over my left shoulder and a hen appeared not 15 yards from where I was set up. I could not believe the noise this "bird" was making as it passed by and went up over the nearby ridge and down towards TNBH.
We watched her for a good hour, off and on, as she, warily approached the feed plot and then retreated into the nearby woods only to reappear later with another hen, who we never saw until that very moment. Those two hens hung around the plot for a good 30 minutes before they left and went over the ridge and out of sight.
We sat and heard nothing except a mower where a neighbor must have been mowing half of the continent. Ordinarily this would not have irritated me so, but just sitting in the woods, it is amazing how much you hear and interpret, that you would ignore in the everyday hustle of your non-hunting life. Hunting is so much more then just shooting. More on this thought to come.
We sat and listened for what seemed like hours but in reality was really, hours.
Then the radio clicked. I couldn't hear what TNBH was saying as he was whispering but I looked in his direction and I could see a Tom coming out of the brush to TNBH's right (my left). He wandered very close to TNBH's location and he could have taken him with no problem but he didn't on the hope that Mr. Tom would head up in my direction so I could get a shot.
What can you say about a guy like that, huh?
Tom scratched around close to where the two hens had been and was gradually working away from TNBH and towards me.
All of a sudden there was clucking sound followed by two hens flying in from the ridge on my right and landing right next to Tom. What an unexpected sight that was! Just like that, there were three birds hanging out and making themselves at home about equidistant between our two positions.
It was getting late in the day, the sun was setting but the birds were just going about their business, getting a snack before roosting for the evening. For no apparent reason that I could see, the Tom started heading directly for my position and the hens headed off towards the ridge closer to TNBH.
Tom kept on coming but was still out of range but I was preparing myself just in case.
I had my "kill zone" set, dictated by the blind's window, the surrounding brush and trees and mentally went through my check list to ensure I would be ready. Round in chamber? Check. Field of view clear? Check. Safety on? Check. Controlled breathing and emotions? Uhh, check. Trigger control, mind set, etc.? Check.
Tom stopped for a second. Scratched and pecked, looked up and then headed out towards my left. Now he was making a bee line along side the plot and next to the ridge. He was fast approaching my "kill zone."
More internal dialog. "Remember shoot for the head and neck." "OK, that means he's got to stretch out and I'm not going to take a shot if he doesn't give a good target for me to shoot at."
50 yards, 40 yards. He stops. Safety off, sighting in. "Come on, look up, come on."
Head down, Tom heads up the plot making straight for the draw behind me. At 30 yards he's still moving, head down but neck stretched, my window of opportunity will soon close.
I take the shot,
blam! Smoke and flash from the barrel, I see Tom squat and then launch into flight and lose sight of him as he soars over the nearby ridge. Then reality sinks in.
My very first shot at a turkey was a clean miss. I had to have shot high.
I get on the radio and tell TNBH, "That didn't turn out so well." I couldn't believe that I missed at that range and was going through all the feelings that one would go through when he misses a pitch that comes right down the middle of the plate.
TNBH said he heard Tom land hard and thought that I may have still hit him. So in the rapidly expanding dusk we started the search that deep down I knew would be fruitless. I had to console myself that a clean miss was infinitely better than a bad hit. Which is true but not much solace.
Every time I go out in the woods I learn something. Today was humility, a good thing. But I also learned what a turkey sounds like when it walks through leaves, what one sounds like when it calls to another and what it looks and sounds like in flight. I also learned that it ain't as easy as some of you good hunters make it seem. I have to pay my dues and I'm learning.
But you know what? I'm still satisfied. And best of all, it leaves me with the desire to return.
Somehow after all that, I was in a very good mood. This feeling and experience I received while hunting are the kind of things that helps us deal with the petty things in our daily lives and puts them in their proper perspective.
I'll get you next time Tom!
04-22-2008, 05:45 PM
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