Pennsylvania Game News - April 2014 - 20

turkey finally appeared within range
in a clearing about 40 yards away and
perfectly positioned just uphill to my
left, the long beard on its chest clearly
identified it as a mature gobbler. With
the bronze bomber dead in my sights,
I didn't hesitate. One shot from the
Benelli Super Vinci 12-gauge loaded
with No. 4 shot proved deadly and a
few minutes later I tagged my third
lifetime gobbler. I checked the battered
Timex on my wrist. It was just 6:10. I
had bagged this bird pretty much at the
earliest possible moment.
"He saw that hen decoy and was
heading right to it," an elated Tyler
noted. "One reason we like to use
decoys is that once the gobbler sees it,
he's distracted and less likely to spot
the hunter."
A week earlier, Tyler and Troy
had both filled their first tags on the
opening morning, scoring a double
when they called in two gobblers and
simultaneously dropped the birds with
well-placed shots. My gobbler was respectable, weighing about 17 pounds
with a 10-inch beard and ¾-inch spurs.
If anything, the Starrs made this
turkey hunt look too easy. My time
hunting that morning was less than
half an hour. If it had been my first-ever
outing for spring gobbler, I would have
wondered what all the fuss was about.
Fortunately, I know better. For 20 years,
I had suffered an enduring "turkey
jinx," a phenomenon I documented
in Game News a few years back. I
never came close to bagging - or even
glimpsing - our elusive quarry.
Charlie hadn't fared as well that
morning. He saw a pair of hen turkeys,
but had no gobbler action. Around
9:30 we converged at the local diner
for breakfast and compared notes. My
20

success with Dennis
and Tyler had made
the competitive Troy
that much more determined to get Charlie a
gobbler.
We p l o t t e d o u r
post-breakfast strategies. Troy believed the
thick, overcast skies
that morning had hurt
our chances. "If the
sun breaks through,"
Troy said, "the birds
should start gobbling
again." After a hearty
breakfast we headed
back out. Legal hunting hours ended at
noon, so time was of
the essence.
We w e n t t o a
reclaimed coal stripmine, where Tyler and Dennis worked
their calls, hoping to rouse an unseen
gobbler. Somewhere from the valley
below we heard the honking of Canada
geese. "Swamp turkeys," Dennis said.
Soon after the sun broke through
the cloudy sky, a sudden burst of far-off
gobbles erupted from deep within the
woods. Tyler wheeled toward me, eyes
ablaze with excitement and told me,
"There are five gobblers back there!"
With the noon deadline approaching, Tyler summoned his father, who
surveyed the scene and devised a strategy. He directed Dennis and Harris to
set up off to our right while Charlie
and Tyler took their posts on the left
and a little deeper into the woods. A
pair of decoys was placed in a clearing
behind the two pairs of hunters. Troy
and I moved back another 30 yards.
Troy began to chatter on his turkey call.
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Pennsylvania Game News - April 2014

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