My First Turkey Hunt

my first turkey hunt. March/April 2007

beep.. beep...beep the alarm screamed. tanner came into my bedroom and shook my shoulders. "get up! GET UP!!" slowly I pulled the world into focus. ... what the heck was i doing at 4:30 AM??? oh yeah ...my first turkey hunt!!! I jumped out of bed and was hit with a steely force of cold air. burr!!! I threw on several layers of clothes and bounded down the stairs in 3 steps. now wide awake we start getting ready. a check list ran through my mind that was as long as if I was getting ready to go to a horse show! sweatshirts, wool socks, mugs of coffee, and hot coco, hats, hand warmers, coveralls, shot guns, decoys, calls, permits, we load it all into the old red suburban and cranked’er up. a few nights earlier we seen some turkeys roosting in a grove of trees, so we drive to that area, park the suburban about a 1/2 mile away. loaded down with all sorts of "gear" we walk into the grassy meadow. It was still completely dark but as best as could be done we set up an arrangement of decoys and walked 20 yards off to a few trees. Tanner went and sat about 5-10 yds away from me and I seated my self and tried to get as comfortable as I could sitting at the base of a tree. wide awake I started into the lessening darkness. ever so slowly light seeped into the world. and that is when it got interesting. since we walked in when it was completely dark I had no clue as to what my surroundings looked like. As I started to make out faint outlines of the landscape my mind quickly assessed my position. there was a little ridge about 5 feet in front of me. And something was moving… im positive something was crawling in front of me… stark fear grabbed me… I held my breath and watched… I was sure I had seen the back of a mountain lion pass through the grass… the wind rustled the tall brush, and sent chills down my back. My mind started imagining all sorts of crazy wild things. But I calmed my self down, and told myself to rationalize the situation.. It was just my imagination right???……..I hope!
“deep breaths Lakota” I kept reminding myself! I shifted my thinking towards the big tom I was hoping to get. As it got lighter I was able to make out 3 turkeys not far away! I was so excited! But a minute later embarrassment bombarded my excitement… those were our decoys. Man how stupid can I get? I made a mental note NOT to tell tanner about my “embarrassing moment” he would be sure to laugh his head off. And well… I definitely didn’t want to be the laughing stock for the next week!

Higher and higher the son rose into the beautiful crisp morning. And no sign of any turkeys. Finally tanner got up and it was time to pack up and head out. I was quite disappointed that I didn’t return with a long beard, spurs and fan of a big ol tom. But it had been… very interesting to say in the least! So definitely worth it in the end.

And that is the story of my very first turkey hunt.

today im going out turkey hunting again with Brandon and Taylor. really hope i get one! (2 days ago i about hit several of them with the truck and trailer!!! lol)