The time I got outsmarted by a turkey

  A time when I had an inability to laugh at a failure is when I was turkey hunting last year and was so close to getting the biggest tom I have ever seen in my life.

  Last year around the spring time my dad and I were out turkey hunting. It was towards the end of the season for hunting turkey and my dad and I were trying out a new spot that has been having a lot of turkey in the area. So when we got out there we called out a couple of times to see how close they were. After we did that we went to set up a couple of hens, a Jake, and a tom decoy, then we went to sit in our spot. Our secret weapon to making them real was putting a waterproof speaker in one of the turkeys that could make their calls. When it comes to sitting my dad and I are normally not together since i’m old enough and have the knowledge to hunt on my own. But since dad and I like to go out hunting together we just sit in different spots. So for me I went to find my spot closer to the decoys as for dad he sat way farther back in the woods where the turkeys would be coming through.

  My dad and I sat out there for awhile waiting for them to come through. After a half hour to a hour they started coming, but it was the hens and a Jake or two who were coming out first near the decoys which you can’t shoot the hens, as for the Jake’s they were really small. So I waited and waited then I started to notice some movement in the edge of the woods towards the field, I grabbed my binoculars and looked to see a tail that was fanned out, which was a tom. As I waited for him to get closer in my range of shooting I noticed that the other rafter of turkeys were starting to move up another little trail to a bigger field which is probably where the tom was going to go also.

  So I texted my dad telling him I was going to move to the smaller strip of woods where the other turkeys were going to that other field. My dad replied back that he was going to meet there eventually but was going to try to get the tom to come to the other field where I would be waiting. After I went to go sit for awhile I noticed the tom was coming on the edge of the field heading for the trail the other rafter of turkeys were coming up. So I got ready to find a clear shooting path for when the tom came but then he went towards the tree line and went to the field through there. Then my dad showed up and sat behind me against the tree I was leaning against but the thing is he was facing towards the field the rafter the turkeys were in but the thing is I couldn’t move without making too much noise so when the tom came out my dad told me to stand up and just turn myself to i was againt the tree and looking out towards the tree. Now I am use to shooting in different posistions but when I went to put my gun up the turkey was facing towards me so he could easily see my every movement. Turkeys might seem dumb but a full grown tom who is use to being shot at, are very smart.

  As I was trying to get a clear shot of this tom he kept moving around too much and all I wanted was a clear head shot. After a few minutes I started getting antsy and a little bit nervous of how big the tom was. My dad just kept telling me like he always said when were hunting “just take deep breath and just lightly squeeze the trigger, and let it surprise you”. I think what made me nervous was that I have never have been able to get a turkey and I was worried I would miss. As i was trying to get a shot the tom started to notice us and was slowly moving away and as I was about to shoot he ran and I knew I screwed up.

  After that happened and the other rafter of turkey went off too. My dad and I got up and the first thing he said was why i didn’t shoot it. I told him that I chickened out and felt like I was going to pee myself. Which my dad and I still laugh about and still do to this day. Every time he brings it up to someone he says “My daughter pretty much peed herself over a dumb bird who was able to outsmart her by making her chicken out” Now thinking back to that day I still don’t know why I just pushed those nerves away and just took the shot whether I missed the tom or not, or I would of just took a shot at one of the Jake’s but that is what happens when your nerves get the best of you.