Steph's very 1st turkey
Below the pictures is part of my journal entry of it (it's long, so you don't have to read it)
George and Steph
It was the morning of the 18th (our last day
there). We were in the right place at the right time. We had set up above the
road because we saw 2 toms. George
called to them and they were gobbling, but not getting any closer. So we kept coming down towards the road
to try to get closer. I spotted them walking down the road. George told me
where to stand and was yelling in my ear to “shoot it! Shoot it now!” I kept
calm considering I was being pressured hard to shoot. I couldn’t see the turkeys when he could and I told him I
couldn’t see them yet. But I took a moment when I could see them, and shot him.
I just thought, just keep calm, take a moment so that you don’t miss. I was
shooting George’s double barrel shot gun and pulled both triggers by accident.
Haha I didn’t mean to, but I blasted that turkey. My finger was weird on the triggers, so that’s why I think I
pulled both at once. It surprised me and nearly knocked me over. Then George
told me to go run down there and hold it down so it didn’t flop all the
feathers off. I was going as fast
as I could, but wasn’t very fast, so Justin ran down past me and held it down
for me. It was just a little jake, but I was so proud and glad I didn’t miss. My
heart was racing for a while afterwards. What a great memory. My very first official hunting
experience; I loved it!
We were down there right at the opening of the turkey
season, so the toms weren’t too excited about mating yet. We saw a lot of
turkeys and got a lot of them to gobble. It was exiting to hear them answer the
call. If they were with a hen, the hen would lead the toms away. We got 1 other turkey to come it and
get close enough for me to shoot. Unfortunately, we set up wrong and he came
from the opposite side we thought he would. So there was a tree in my way and I
couldn’t get a shot. It was fun watching him come in to our decoy and puff all
up and show off. Turkeys are very
smart; I had no idea. George said they are able to see 350 degrees and have
excellent vision and hearing. George had so much knowledge of turkeys and knew
what they would do and where they would go; it was incredible.
The first part of the week was rough because the weather
wasn’t really cooperating. The first day was too windy for the turkeys to hear
us. Then it was rainy. But the last morning was perfect. We slept in a little because
we were letting the trees drip off the water. Turkeys don’t like the wind because then everything is
moving and the water dripping off the trees makes it hard too. We were persistent
and it paid off. It was beautiful country and we saw a lot of deer.
