A great turkey hunt
The Pennsylvania Game Commission this morning issued the following release:
SPRING GOBBLER HUNTERS REMINDED TO REPORT HARVESTS
Pennsylvania Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management Director Calvin W. DuBrock today reminded successful spring gobbler hunters to submit their harvest report card, as required by law. If hunters can’t find one of the pre-addressed and postage paid harvest report cards that came with their license, they can use the harvest report card found on page 33 of the 2007-08 Pennsylvania Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations to report their kill.
The good news for me, I had a reason to send one in.
I shot a nice tom last Friday morning. It had a 9-inch beard and 1-1/8th inch spurs. You can see a picture of it and me on the trophy board at Gander Mountain.
I don’t often hunt before work — and certainly am not a fan of getting up at 3:45 a.m. on a Friday, when I know I will be in the office until 8 p.m.
But I really wanted to get a bird in Pennsylvania.
So, when a friend offered to take me out I jumped at the chance. He’s a world-class caller and had scouted a few different birds.
We were set up by 5 a.m. in one of his favorite late-season spots.
Unfortunately, the next hour revealed there were no birds in the general area. We heard one gobbler in the distance, and then a gunshot.
“So much for that one,” my buddy said.
So we picked up and moved to another spot and then another. We spotted birds in a field, but the field was on posted property.
I needed to cut the hunt short at 8 a.m. so I could get to work. Around 7:30 we tried one last spot. A bird gobbled within 200 yards of us at our first call.
We set up quickly in the trees just off a trail. He gobbled and gobbled. With each one you could tell he was moving in on us.
Finally, I caught sight of his shadow on the forest floor. Then he stepped into view, stuck his head up and I squeezed the trigger.
“What time is it?” my buddy asked, looking down at his watch. “Let’s see, 7:59. How’s that make you feel?”
Pretty good.
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