Where It All Began

I started hunting at a young age and shot my first game bird, a hen mallard, with a Savage 410 when I was seven years old.  Through my younger years, I hunted deer, rabbits and small game birds. It wasn't until the late eighties and early nineties that I took an interest in turkey hunting. At that time, the turkey population was not abundant as it is today. 

I remember the first turkey I shot like it was yesterday.  I roosted the tom the night before with an old M.L. Lynch box call. It was a sleepless night as I was anticipating the next day.  May 16, 1991 was a cool crisp morning and as the sun was coming up over the horizon the gobbler announced his presence. The game was on! He gobbled from the roost high up on the oak ridge and after about twenty minutes, he flew down to the grassy field to find the "lonely hen." He would not stop gobbling.  He could not  resist the sounds of the Quaker Boy Pro Triple.  After a short time on the ground, I caught the tom's fan coming towards me at a brisk pace, and as he crested the hill, he stood in front of me at twenty yards.  I was shaking uncontrollably, my heart was racing and I told myself to calm down, take a deep breath and keep my cheek planted on the stock. As the front bead of the Remington 870 settled on the gobbler's head, I pulled the trigger. I couldn't believe my lifelong goal of shooting a wild turkey finally came to fruition.  From that day on, I was hooked with the incurable disease that I am proud to have... Gobbling Fever!