Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

   Turkey season...Hunter's absolute favorite time of year! Seriously, the night before season starts, he gets his turkey vest out & puts each turkey hunting gadget in a specific pocket. He's really like a kid on Christmas Eve...so excited, he barely sleeps. His vest is about 15 years old, weighs as much as a small human & has 12 pockets. In those pockets, you can find slate calls, mouth calls, owl calls, crow calls, trumpet yelping calls, a thermocell, binoculars, camo face mask, camo gloves, limb shears, a range finder & shotgun shells, just to name a few things. How he finds everything in there, I'll never know. Season starts on March 15th every year, no matter what day of the week it falls on, and goes out April 30th. So, for the sake of this blog, we'll break it down by weeks. This is how our season played out...

Week 1

   Season came in on a Friday this year. As usual, Hunter took off of work that day. I had to work opening weekend. Hunter went to Range, AL to hunt with Chris at weekend. No luck.

Week 2

  

   On Tuesday, March 19, we got to hunt at my Uncle Clem's house. Daddy has always said it's like a zoo out there...buuuuuuut we yelped & yelped & never heard a gobble. On the way back to the truck, we saw 2 huge gobblers in their back yard. I guess we could have shot them but that would have taken away the thrill of the hunt. No luck that day with the turkeys but in other news, we went to Birmingham that afternoon & I got a new car!!!

   On Thursday of that week, Hunter went hunting with Brian Espy (our fellow Boykin parent) off of Woodley Road. He got his first gobbler of the season. It had 1 inch spurs & a 9 1/8 in beard. Madeline was his side kick!

Week 3

   On Sunday, March 24, Hunter got his 2nd gobbler. I was in Maplesville that weekend for Jessica White Smith's baby shower (welcome to the world, Maci Ann!!!!!!). It had 1 5/16 inch & 1 3/8 in spurs & a 10 3/4 inch beard. A rather nice one!

  

Week 4

  On Sunday, April 6th, Hunter got his last gobbler of the season (probably because the rest of the season was devoted to calling up a turkey for me!). It had 1 1/8 & 1 1/16 inch spurs & a 10 inch beard.

Week 5

   No luck this week :(

Week 6

   Daddy came to Montgomery to stay with us on Friday, the 19th, & we hunted all weekend with no luck!! On Sunday, Hunter came down with the stomach virus. Boo. Although we didn't kill a turkey, there was  no where that I would have rather been than with the 2 men that I love the most!

Week 7

   No luck :(

Week 8

   On Tuesday, April 30th, we gave it one last shot. Season ends on the 31st & I couldn't stand the thought of not killing a turkey all year. It was pouring rain, I was a nervous wreck because I'm scared of snakes & I was sleepy! Hunter spotted a gobbler strutting on the other side of the power line. So there we go, running through the woods like little indians with our guns across our backs (I know indians didn't have guns but you get the point). The whole time I was loudly whispering to Hunter to watch for snakes because I have yet to purchase snake proof boots & the whole time he was giving me the "stank eye" & motioning for me to hush. We got to where he was & Hunter spent at least 20 minutes trying to help me spot the dang thing. I can't hear already & apparently my vision is going, too! I finally found him & since Hunter left his calls in his vest, he had to call with just his mouth. The turkey gobbled & I shot. Rather than doing a celebration dance, I said, "OUCH! MY LIP!"...3 1/2 shells in a 12 gauge shotgun seem to kick quite a bit! I'm still sitting on the ground, soaking wet, with a swollen lip, while Hunter runs out to get my turkey. It ended up having 1 1/16 in spurs & a 10 3/4 inch beard.

   Although we didn't get to hunt together much, we had a good season!!! As much as I hate waking up early, there is no bigger rush than a turkey gobbling, drumming & spitting just a few feet away from you. While I love deer hunting, being able to call the tukey to you & kind of play hide & seek is far more entertaining!

   Tom Kelly's 'Tenth Legion' is Hunter's current read....check it out!



"I do not hunt turkeys because I want to, I hunt them because I have to. I would, really, rather not. I am helpless in the grip of my compulsion." -Tom Kelly