First Turkey! by Craig Combs 4-11-2011

I met Eric late Monday afternoon at the hotel. We were going to try an get a quick hunt in before the storms hit. We headed out to our farm in Kelso; as we topped the hill we saw two strutter's in the corner of the field. We drove down to an old farm house, put the truck in park, grabbed our stuff, and bailed off in the creek. It wasn't long till we were doin the low crawl. We eased up to the fence and peeked over the rise and there they were in full strut. I threw everything I knew at them but they wouldn't come out from behind the ceder trees. I just needed one of them to take a few steps toward us and he would be taken a ride home. I started hearing thunder in the distance. I was getting kind of worried that we would get caught in the storms and the birds started moving away from us(I thought), so I made a move to try to cut them off but when I looked up all I saw was a white head moving back an forth as it ran away! I just sat there in disbelief; about ten minutes later a hen fed within forty yards of us(insult to injury). The next morning I picked him up and we headed back to the scene of my latest embarrassment. This time we headed up the hill to where I had my blind. It wasn't long till we had one gobbling just 80 yds away from us. He pitched away from us but he quickly started headed our way. He entered the field and ran back an forth gobbling his head off. He got within 60 or 70 yds of us but never came any closer. Next thing we know he's at the bottom of the hill with his hens:(. We made our way through our Mimosa farm then it was off to the store to get a biscuit and a new game plan. We met up with Chris and Scott at the farm on Shelbyville hwy. They got on one but couldn't close the deal so me and Eric took off on a marathon hunt. After about an hour and two hills later; we got within 60 yds of him and that was all he needed to bust us... again(story of my life). Eric and I had a lot to talk about on the long walk back to the truck and I do mean a long ,long, long,walk. We get to the truck and decided to make one last round through Mimosa before we break for lunch. We top the hill and round the corner and there they are in the corner of the field next to the barn. I about run the gate over trying to get in the drive I was in such a hurry. The land owner had seen them too and had pulled up the drive. I pulled up beside him to make sure he wasn't going to go after them. We bailed out of the truck and put the low crawl on them. Finally we get within range and I start cuttin they raise there heads and BOOM! Dead Bird Ridin!!! We have been hunting these weary ole birds for what seem liked days but when it all comes together it sure is worth ever minute. It was Eric's first turkey and I'm glad I was part of it.