Help from Above

Probably my earliest and definitely one of my most fond hunting memories was that of Spring Turkey Season 2007. This was my first turkey hunting experience and what a great one it was. I, along with my dad and Craig (a long time friend of my late Uncle Charlie) made the trip up to camp hopeful for a nice weekend in the woods. Now, my Uncle Charlie was an avid hunter like the rest of us. However, he had a special love for turkey hunting in particular. Being as though he had just recently passed away, this was special and emotional trip for all of us. We woke up late on a crystal clear Saturday morning. We did some rushing around and grabbed a bite to eat and quickly we were off.

To my surprise, we weren’t in the woods more than 10 minutes before we heard gobbling. Craig was doing the calling, and he was immediately getting answers. Craig continued to call for an hour or so and while the turkeys were happy to play, they weren’t getting any closer. We decided to quickly move uphill to where we thought they were headed. My dad and I set up on a large boulder with Craig directly behind us, hoping to bring them into our laps. Minutes later, a Tom and Jake appeared. Just as we’d hoped, they were headed our way. Craig’s calling enticed the two turkey’s, but the older and wiser Tom sensed danger. He quickly decided to retreat the way he came. The Jake however, stuck around, intrigued by the calls we let out. Slowly but surely he was coming to us.

My dad had coached me for this moment for quite some time. I was used to practicing for sports as I was avidly involved in soccer, basketball, and other popular sports at the time. We had gone out to the shooting range where I practiced shooting my youth model Remington 870 Express 20 gauge shotgun at cardboard boxes. My dad taught me to aim for the head so that the dispersion of the lead would would ethically hit the turkey.

With this in mind, I watched as the Jake came inside of 50 yards. As he tucked behind a tree, my dad whispered that this was my shot and to hold steady when the turkey reappeared. I did just that, and as the Jake took 2 more steps, I set my sights on his head and slowly pulled. Then: chaos. I watched as the turkey flapped and my dad ran down to ensure it was fatal and the turkey did not suffer. I turned to Craig, not quite sure what to do. “Well go get him!” he said. Beaming with a smile I ran down to put my hands on my first big game animal: a gorgeous spring gobbler from the Alleghenies.

As I sat looking down at my bird, my dad recounted Uncle Charlie’s love for turkey hunting. As he squeezed my shoulder he said, “Uncle Charlie is smiling down on us.” Looking back on the picture perfect day I knew I had gotten some help from above. If this was Uncle Charlie’s way of passing on his love for turkey hunting and the outdoors to the next generation, it sure worked.