Hey Look, A Turkey!

 

Or two turkeys.  Or four, depending on who you count.  

Captain Y took me on a new adventure called turkey hunting.  He hunted turkey for the first time last year when a friend came down from Nebraska.  Turns out turkey hunting is really pretty fun.  There is some sitting and waiting (like deer hunting) but you get to use crazy contraptions that make turkey noises and call to the turkeys and they actually come!  In the spring only Tom’s are in season, and they are looking for hens to mate.  So, you can call them in with a hen call and make them jealous with a gobble call.  Really, it’s pretty impressive to sit in the woods and hear them calling; coming closer and closer until they peak their head around a grove of trees.  Then they strut their stuff for the ladies, booming and spitting to impress the girls. 

I’m actually a pretty decent shot with a 12 gauge, but Captain Y had me practice shooting from the sitting position, which was a good thing.  And yet, I still missed. Not once, but twice!  Yes, Captain Y called in a gobbler on two different occasions only to have me miss.  But he got wise after the first time and brought his own gun to shoot clean up.  And cleanup he did.  My second miss was a big Rio Grande Tom that weighed over 21lbs and had an 8.5 inch beard, which I know because about 2 seconds after I missed, Captain Y got it.

  

After Captain Y got his bird we changed locations and ran across several young Tom’s.  One peaked his head around the trees where we were waiting and bang, Plant Girl became a turkey slayer.  My Tom only weighed about 13lbs and had about a 2 inch beard – or soul patch as Captain Y likes to tease.  But at the end of the day, there are two turkeys in the freezer waiting to fill our bellies!  

 

Dude, I look totally legit in this shot!