If your wondering what STAF stands for, it is short for Save
The Acorns Foundation. It was that
highly anticipated time of year again for the annual spring turkey camp. As usual Jason, Robert and I put the opening
date on our calendars, and adjusted our work schedules so we could arrive early
enough to do a little scouting. However,
this year our trip would be a little shorter than usual due to our different
family schedules and opening weekend being on Easter this year. What that meant for us was we would arrive at
camp the day before season, and only have time to hunt for about half a day
before we would have to head home.
This year we were fortunate enough to have an honorary Save
the Acorns Foundation member in camp with us.
It was none other than Hershel who is the father to Robert. He lives over 5 hours away so this was a
special treat for us. As much as we like
hunting, these hunting trips are more about the comradery, spending time with
friends, and getting away from the stresses of city life. Works like a reset button for sanity.
We arrived at camp Friday afternoon. We split into two groups of two to do some
scouting. Robert and Hershel went
together and Jason and I went together.
Jason and I decided to circle the hill on foot to see if we
could drum up any sign. It was about a
2-3 mile hike. About a quarter of the way
through we hadn’t seen much sign, but decided to take a short rest and sound
off some calls to see if we could get a response. Nothing answered us, but after a few minutes
a tom snuck in on us to see what the noise was about. We were surprised to say the least. Now we were excited. After the bird left the area we continued on,
and about half way around the hill we found a lot of sign. About three quarters around the mountain the
sign appeared to be not as fresh, and just as soon as I spoke those words we
walked up on a hen. This was probably
our most productive scouting trip ever.
We were confident that we knew where we needed to be for opening
morning.
Hershel and Robert used a different method of scouting. They drove to different areas trying to
locate birds by calling. Robert may not
agree, but he speaks turkey better than anyone I know. When we meet back at camp they told us about
all of the different birds they heard.
We all were excited with the amount of sign and number of birds we found
and heard.
I don’t think any of us slept much. I’m not sure if it was the excitement, the
coyotes, or the whippoorwills. Maybe a
little bit of everything.
Opening morning arrives and Jason and I are in the woods
before daylight to set up. Jason lets
out a hoot and the gobbling starts. We
set up as close as we dare get without risking getting busted. The sun comes up and the birds gobble mostly
unprovoked for an hour. We could tell
there was more than one. We decided to
split up and try to surround them because we didn’t think they were going to
come to us. Jason went down the hill
just a few yards and started around the hill.
I slowly started moving toward the birds. I made it about 40 yards and caught some movement. It was a Tom and a Jake. I hit my call quickly and they turned my
direction. As soon as the long beard was
clear I took a shoot. The bird rolled
over and I took off running. To my
surprise the long beard took off running also.
I blasted two more times at it and continued to chase it. Then I tripped and fell. When I fell I heard something to my
right. It was another long beard. It took to flight and flew directly over
me. Coincidently, Jason was directly
below us and the bird was flying low straight to him. Jason took aim, said "I hope he's legal". He buckled and Plinkoed through the trees and crashed about 30 yards from him. The woods rained hevi-shot and feathers for about 10 seconds. Talk about an
exciting chain of events. After waiting
all morning it all happened so fast.
Unfortunately, we were not able to find the bird I shot, and after a
recap it might have been just a little out of range. But that didn’t take away from the excitement
and memory we will have for the rest of our lives. We will always remember the day when Jason
shot a long beard out of the sky. I
can’t wait until next year. Who knows
what will happen? Whatever it is I bet
it will be another unforgettable memory and that is what this is all
about.
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