Turkey Hunting

 I absolutely love turkey hunting even though I only have been hunting for three years now.  I love going out and hearing an old tom gobbling and strutting through the trees.  I wake up at 4 am or earlier depending on how long the drive is.  I want to be in the timber by daylight, which is about 6:20 am.  I get up and put on my camouflage and round up my face mask and camo gloves, because turkeys can see very well.  After my camo is on, I eat breakfast and head out to the timber. I like to hunt on the ground instead of using a blind because it’s more comfortable. I sit and wait to hear a Tom, which is a mature male turkey and a Jake is a young male turkey. It doesn’t matter to me if I shoot one, because I still get to go out and learn more about nature and hear one of my favorite sounds, a turkey’s gobble.

                Also, some things I like about turkey hunting are the cold and quiet in the timber at 4:30 am.  Other than turkeys, coyotes and other animals, it is very quiet. I also like the sound of a turkey flying down from roost.  No matter if it’s 100 yards away it still sounds like a helicopter going over you. One thing I love more than hearing them gobble is knowing that a turkey is getting closer and closer and all of a sudden it seems to pop out of nowhere. It really is an adrenaline rush to see them closer than 60 yards strutting and gobbling. The only bad part with me and turkey hunting is that I get turkey fever and my finger starts to twitch, my arms start to shake, and I just want to kill the turkey.  But, once it sticks its head up, the shot is made, and the turkey is flopping all over the place, my heart settles.  It’s like taking a huge weight off my shoulders. I recommend turkey hunting to all of the other hunters that have never been turkey hunting.

Cody Bertelsen
May 24, 2011