I just returned from a very memorable hunt in Missouri. I had been invited to call for a hunter at the Peterson Outdoor Ministries 1st Chaplains Turkey Hunt. The weekend was set aside to honor military chaplains and give them a break from the stresses associated with active duty and ministry to many with PTSD and other battle and stress related issues. The time spent with these 4 gentlemen was well worth the trip. Friendships were made over the weekend that will be developed in the days and years to come.
About a week before the trip, I found out my assignment for the weekend... one I couldn't have been more happy with! Also hunting for the weekend was a young lady that I had known about for the past 4-5 years. If you watch the HS Strut turkey hunting videos, you might be familiar with this young lady. Her name is Tori McAffee. She has hunted with Alex Rutledge on 2 of the Cuttin and Struttin videos. I was scheduled to call for Tori on her hunts. I got to meet her and her parents on Friday night and didn't get much sleep anticipating the Saturday AM hunt.
Some great folks had volunteered their land, time and a couple of area hunting lodges to make the event possible. We headed out on Saturday AM and arrived as the sun was peeking over the horizon. The hunting party consisted of Tori with her mom and dad in one blind. I was in a blind next to them with a gentleman by the name of Tom with Adventure Bound Outdoors, who filmed the hunt and a Missouri DNR officer named Adam. (These guys made the hunt that much more enjoyable with conversation and commentary.
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After getting our decoys out and getting settled, we checked to see if Tori was ready to go:
There was no doubt that the turkeys were in trouble! I started calling on my slate call with some soft clucks and purrs. We waited. I later switched to my anodized aluminum call and got a little more mouthy. Within the first hour, this little lady showed up.
We've all heard it said that it never hurts to have a live decoy. This hen stayed within 50 yards of our setup for at least 30-40 minutes. She fed in the freshly planted soybean field and preened in the morning sun.
She got to know our decoys and socialized with them a bit. Here and there I would cluck and purr to her just to make her comfortable.
The hen worked back to our right, away from Tori's blind. She continued to preen and feed.
This whole time, the hen had not moved more than about 5 yards at a time before stopping to feed or make herself more presentable. She even settled down and dusted once. Although we didn't think about it until later, we realized that she went from the farthest point behind our blinds to the opposite end of the field beyond Tori's blind with little stopping... a detail that now makes sense. As we watched to our left as the hen stayed at the end of the field, Adam, the DNR officer said "birds to the right". A quick peek out the side of the Double Bull got our blood pumping. We had been focussed on the hen, but she knew company was coming.
These two suitors showed up with a jake to their left out of the picture. Even from 70-80 yards, it was clear that both of these birds were shooters... but one... oh my...
CHECK OUT THE BEARD ON THAT HOSS!
We later found out that when Tori laid eyes on this bird she said, "Dad, he's got a paintbrush!" The big boy made a detour to chase off the jake that was coming in with them as they headed to the decoys. The 2 mature birds stayed within a couple of steps of each other all the way in. One more look at him had us all in anticipation of what was about to happen.
Tom gave the instructions to make sure that the birds got separated enough to take only one bird. He went on to instruct Tori to take the bird in back... the strutter. Although I was focused on the bird... I have no doubt that Tori already had a bead on this monster! The final o.k. to shoot had barely left his lips when - BOOM!
That bird folded like a cheap suit! There was no need to run and get on him... old paintbrush beard was going NOWHERE!
By 8:15 the celebration had begun. The bird tipped the scales at 22 1/2lbs. with a 10 1/2" paintbrush beard and 1 3/8" spurs.
Tori's dad Troy said this was Tori's 6th bird and her biggest to date. It was great to listen to her call her grandparents and text a host of folks and retell the scenes as they had unfolded for the morning.
The smile said it all.
I consider it an honor and a pleasure to have been a part of such a great hunt and a great weekend. This is what it's all about.
