Donna Givens,A Turkey Hunter’s Dream

ATurkey Hunter’s Dream

By Donna Given

The morning sky was just turning pink. I’d put “Bubba Jake and Henny Penny” (my favorite turkey decoy couple) about 25 yards from me, out in a disked corn field. I was set up at the edge of the field, leaning against a big white oak that sat atop a high ridge that drops down to the Mighty Spoon River. The turkeys like to roost in the trees along the river banks that were just behind and below me. I’d been successful here before.

As I sat waiting, a Barred Owl gave his wake-up call, “Who-cooks-for-you... who-cooks-for-you-a-l-l-l” Then I heard it. The music I’d come here for: GOBBLE-GOBBLE-GOBBLE!! I love it! The sound has become addictive. I may be the only known “Gobbla-holic”. When there’s no gobbling going on, I feel let down...cheated...empty...unfulfilled and flat-out disappointed. If you’ve ever

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heard a turkey roar back at your hen yelp, you know what I’m talking about. It gets your heart pumpin’like a jack hammer. If it doesn’t, either your startle point is blunted or you’re dead!

Tucked inside my “hide-out”, I answered the robust gobble with a quiet hen call made on my slate. BOOM! He immediately hammered back at me and was joined by three more of his buddies. Now, all this high-powered conversation was taking place behind me, when — all of a sudden — the field and woods in front of me just EXPLODES with GOBBLES. I’m loving it. I’m in a great position — right in the middle of the competition. I just knew there’d be some action soon.

Then — silence. “The birds are on the ground now,” I said to myself. “Better get my gun up.” I reached over to get my 870 Remington ready and ITWASN’TTHERE!! Frantically, I looked around but could not find it.

All of a sudden, gobblers were coming into the field from all sides. They were heading straight for “Bubba and Henny Penny” like they were running an allyou-can-eat cracked corn buffet!

I stared in disbelief!! There...lying in the field right next to the decoys...was my Remington. I’d set it down when I set out the decoys and forgotten to pick it up!!! I know! It sounds like a nightmare, right?

About that time, the alarm went off and my husband nudged me. “You gotta get up,” he said. Whew! Was I ever glad it was only a dream.

And I know the “real-life” experience that prompted it.

Just a couple of days before, I’d gone out...getting to my “turkey spot” well before daylight, just the way I like. I’d laid my 870 down while I was setting out my decoys: 2 hens and a jake. I put Bubba Jake and Henny Penny together. Then I took several steps and placed the hen. When I turned around to walk back and pick up my gun, I realized that it was still dark as a dungeon out...and I was hunting - in the dark - for a gun that was perfectly camouflaged to boot! Sheer panic set in before I was able to locate it.

After that episode, I’m very careful to lay my gun down right next to the first decoy I set out. Also, now, no matter what happens — whether it’s nature calling or getting up to clip a branch out of the way, my gun goes with me.

I know the minute I have my gun out of my reach, that’s the precise moment I’ll see that trophy buck or long-bearded gobbler. And I speak from experience on that. (But, of course, that’s another story.)

As I write this, turkey season is fast approaching. My wish is that you all have a safe, fun, and gobble-filled hunt this year.

And even though I’ve got my latest issue of “Turkey and Turkey Hunting Magazine”...I no longer read it just before bed. Can’t risk it triggering another turkey nightmare!! Sweet Dreams Everybody!!