Most of you don't know this, but my Pop isn't doing well at all. He has a terminal disease, and has been going downhill rapidly of late. Last night I found out that they had put him into hospice that day, and that the outlook is not good. This morning, I had my last Florida hunt of the season on a WMA that I love to hunt. I wanted to get a bird today, so I could spend a lot of time with Pop, instead of being in the turkey woods. I have more seasons to go, and more gobblers to kill, but Pop's time is growing short.
I hit the woods with Flhuntress this morning, hoping for the best. The birds didn't gobble much on the roost, but fired up pretty good after flying down. Soon, we had 2 gobblers within 100 yards. They answered my calls, and gobbled their butts off, but they also had hens and would not come in. Soon they started drifting off. Feeling the pressure to end the hunt early and go be with Pop, I opted to get up and go after the birds. I snuck through the woods until I spotted a strutter. I started to move in on him but before I could close the gap, a super jake that I called "Sentry" got between the gobbler and I. I had to back up and try another route to the strutter. By the time I got there, Sentry had moved and once again was between the gobbler and I.
Finally, they both started moving off. I glassed the rest of the field and spotted another strutter a ways off.
Once again I moved to the strutter, but by the time I snuck to where he was, he had disappeared.
I spotted him again, moving up towards the area that Sentry and the other strutter had been. So back on the move I went, closing the gap. When I got down to the area he had headed to, he had disappeared again. Feeling the pressure to end the hunt and go to Pop, I pushed my luck more than I should have.........and it cost me!
I snuck through the woods, closing the gap to where he should have been. I crept around a patch of head high palmettos, but so did the gobbler. He spotted me, turned tail and ran before I could get lined up for a shot.
A few minutes later, my phone started vibrating. It was Pop asking what I was doing. I told him I was turkey hunting, and that after the hunt I was coming to see him. He said to kill a bird for him since he wasn't able to be on the hunt with me. I told him I'd do my best, and that I'd call him after the hunt. After hanging up, I continued glassing the fields and spotted a group of birds. There were two hens and three larger, darker birds. I worked my way through the woods towards them, and set up in a spot where they would go right by me in range. As they approached, I glassed the group and found the 3 larger, darker birds were jakes. One of the jakes had a noticibly longer beard and was larger in size. They were going to pass by in range, so I had a decision to make. I didn't want to end my season by killing a jake.......
BUT, Pop had asked me to kill a bird for him, and I couldn't justify spending multiple days afield going after turkeys when Mom & Pop needed me. So the decision was made for me, it was a no brainer. I needed to end this and go be by my Pop's side. So I eased up over the bush I was hiding behind, and took aim at the jake with the longest beard. At the shot, the jake dropped and barely flopped. I went out and claimed my bird, thanked the Lord for the bird, and for the opportunity to end my season and be with Pop. The bird had a 5-1/2" beard, pretty good for a jake!! The spurs and weight were classic jake though.
I went home, cleaned my bird, showered, and Flhuntress and I went and spent the day with Mom & Pop at the hospice center. I told him about the hunt, and how after he asked me to shoot a bird for him, I was provided the opportunity to do so. I was at peace with the opportunity, and my decision to act on it. I have no regrets about ending my season, or shooting a jake to do so. I had a good hunt this morning, tangled with a few gobblers but they were better than I was today. I've killed my share of turkeys, and will have many years of turkey hunting left to come. What's important right now is time spent with my Pop. So its likely that my turkey season is over all together. Barring some miraculous turn around in Pop's health, I will have my hands full helping out for the rest of this season, and beyond.
So if any of you would like to send some positive thoughts and prayers my Pop's way, I would definitely appreciate it!!
Here's the pic of me and Pop's turkey.
