Box Family Website

Hunting - 2004 and Previous

Getting Info on my Remington 742 Woodmaster

Awake at 3am. Clothes and gear already in the truck.

There I was eating a bowl of cereal, reflecting on the week before when that big ole' tom behind my house just would not step out of the woodline. That day it was Dad's turn to drive over and we spent the later morning (8am) calling in the wily bird after a 5 minute walk into our spot. Smarter than we were, he choose the safe route and spend the rest of the day basking in the fun.

Now a week later it is my turn, and I head out to get to my parents house by 4am.

Arriving early (excited hunters drive faster it seems), I grab another snack at 'the house' (as we call my parents). Dad just got up and he is slowly warming up to it being so early. I guess people in their 50's need more sleep .
He tells me about this great spot that he has called in a few over the last few years and that it will be about a 1/2 hour walk. This of course means ME hauling the trap basket with decoys, rest, etc. To be honest, this desk jockey was not looking fwd to humping all the equipment.

So we make it all the way in, predator calling as we go.
Nothing. We sit for a bit, Nothing. We head back out, switching to box call through a couple fields.

How can a guy almost deaf in one ear hear a turkey gobble so faint it sounds like rustling leaves? I dont know, but I think my father has Hunters ESP. About midway through a field he stops cold. 'TURKEY'. He calls again and this time I hear something that sounds like a chipmunk farting from a mile away (that is how quiet it was). I shrug. Yep, could be a turkey gobble. But knowing about Dad's Hunters ESP, I nod my head yes and we set-up.

The week before, we had been a little more aggressive in our calling and we thought it might have spooked the bird. this week, we took it slow and easy. After about a 1/2 hour of subtle calling the toms start to get more aggressive.

They had circled all the way around us and were now on the other side of the hill. Completely OPPOSITE of where we thought they would come out, but still would present a good (if not a little long) shot. We waited.
Dad whispered a reminder. "Remember, if there are two. I'll count down from 3 and we take them at same time. Left to Left, Right to Right." No need to remind me, but I let him be fatherly. They need that sometimes *wink*.

After a few more minutes two small jakes come running over the hill. "3". They are postureing and we can just see the tops of their heads and thier fans. "2". Rushing fwd now, they are in full strut and circling the hen decoy to face up on the rubberized jake. WAIT, what's that! The BIG TOM is coming in behind. I hesitate for millisecond to see if Dad will call off the count and re-align our shots. Head down, I am all lined up with no change to switch over. "1" Ok, there was the last count. Dad is committed. *breathe*, exhhhhhaaaa *BOOOOOOM* llleeeee.

Nothing like the sound of two Hevi-Shot #5's going off at the same time. My bird drops like a rock, no flap, no quiver.
Dad's just a little flapping while the big Tom dances on his head and leaves a little gift on his newly fallen travel companion. Turkey's certainly show no remorse or compassion for their pals. We stand up and walk forward to check out our bag, and the big tom reluctantly and defiantly walks off.

A great mornings hunt. Two down at the same time. All tagged out, and home for breakfast at 8am. A wonderful day to be a hunter.

My Set-up:
Remington 870 SPS 12G 3.5 in 26" MOBU
Primos JellyHead Choke
Hi-Viz 2 piece sight
Hevi-Shot 1-7/8 #5

Dad's
Remington 870 Xpress 12G 3.5 in 24"
Remington Turkey Choke
Military Sights (like Fire Sights)
Hevi-Shot 1-7/8 #5

New Addition:
Sorry about the quality, but we dont have 'dem fancy cameras.

I also received my Remington 870 SPS, and it sure does cycle smmmmoooooooth. I shot about 50 clays (missed about 30) for the first time in about 15 years. But at the end I scored 10 of 10 and called it a day.

I've decided to chronicle my return to Hunting.

Growing up, my siblings and I were introduced to hunting and trapping at an early age. My father hunted and trapped as a means to generate additional income, provide food for the family, and because it was a tradition. For me, it meant time with my dad, something to learn and be proud of being good at, and gaining a sense of satisfaction at being able to help provide for my family.

I realize with the current aura around gun ownership that many people reading this may not understand at all what I am talking about. But for people in Rural USA with a family tradition of hunting and all the responsibility that it entails, it is not the evil activity that people make it out to be. I wont bother going into a political diatribe about the benefits of appropriate gun ownership, the environmental benefits of managed hunting, or the societal impact of peoples efforts to ban an activity that is integral to the make-up of many families and whole communities. If you disagree with this type of activity, you should click out now.

Having given that little disclaimer, let me start off by saying that I have not hunted in quite some time. After graduating High School, I went to college, then dived into starting my career. I was never a die-hard go out every day hunter, and with everything else going on it just fell on the back burner. But more recently, as Mandy and I have settled into our home and things have become more routine I have gotten back into it. The first step was just getting out my Uncles Remington 742 (.30-06/Auto-Loader) *funny how people refer to their gun by its previous owner - heritage means something afterall* . The first year back and nothing but cold and wet evening in the tree stand. I saw a nice buck, but no real shot presented itself. I dont believe in 'iffy' shots, and I do not need to try and make something happen that might result in less than excellent results. I dont have my ego all tied up into getting a deer every time I see one. I prefer to make the right shot over a poor one.

The same year my Dad has convinced me to get a Turkey permit and go hunting. Well, I pulled a permit in the Lotto the first year and we headed out. I did not have much for spring camo, did not have my own shotgun, and had not been upland hunting in a long long time. What an adventure though!! We entered the woods and after a couple uses of his predator call, we heard a host of Turkeys in roost. We quickly and quietly set-up with our friend Charlie and dad started coaxing them in. If you have never 'called' in an animal, you can not imagine the anticipation. It is MUCH different than silent hunting by stand or walking. In this case you KNOW that your quarry is there. It is you and your skill vs them and their natural wariness. It took almost 45 minutes for dad to convince those Toms to have a come-look-see. When they finally did those tricky Turkeys used every bit of cover and craftiness they had to check out the scene. I seriously thought they had supernatural powers of perception and they would never come into range. They finally did though and I took down my first Turkey. I was hooked. After so much time and 'education', I was really not sure how I would feel about it. To be honest though, it came back as naturally as if I had been hunting every year since the late 80's. Shallow breathing, steady hands, light and even pull, turkey taken with a nice clean shot.

The next year I headed back out to the tree stand behind my house (on my neighbors land - thanks Sheldon) and took a small buck. Then I headed back to the hospital to visit my wife and our new baby. *smile* Seriously. Our daughter was born and there was really nothing I could do to help out, so Mandy told me head out and take a breather. I figured I was so tired I would just fall alseep in the tree stand and at least get a nice nap in after a couple sleepless nights. Fate has it that pretty much the ONLY night I could get out to hunt, I bagged my deer. Thankfully Sheldon was able to gut it out for me, since I figured the hospital might be a bit suspicious to have me return with blood on my hands and hospital bracelet.
Really though, the story is not as callous and scary as it might seem. Everyone, including Mandy were happy. Sometimes things just have a way of working out.

So here I am this year (2004), ready to go Turkey hunting again after getting my second permit in three years. This year I decided to gear myself out and have ordered my own Remington 870 SPS in Camo Finish, and a host of accessories and clothing. I'll probably do some duck and goose hunting as well. So it is all money well spent. I am looking forward to getting out there and seeing what happends this year. Unfortunately I have had a very disappointing gun purchase experience with my local shop Kennebec Guns. After ordering my shotgun there has been a 6 week!!!! delay in getting it in. I sincerely want to support local business over Mall-Marts, but there are about a half dozen outdoor/gun shops within 45 minutes of my house. I am not married to this particular dealer. I am this close |--| to canceling my order and going somewhere else, but I will give him another week. If you want the whole story, feel free to e-mail and learn about my experience.

HOPEFULLY, I will soon be able to post some pics of my hunting gear and arms.
I might even be able to post a snippet of the video of my taking of my first turkey!

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