SOME DAYS GOD KNOWS JUST WHAT YOU NEED

Turkey hunting for me is something you do before the fishing gets good.  It’s something to do when a friend doesn’t need your help, or you just don’t feel like working the extra hours this time.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy when a big gobbler lights up the woods as much as anyone.  But if I don’t go turkey hunting every day of the season, I don’t feel the anxiety that some of my buddies do.

The last few months, like life usually is, have been full of great blessings and great stress.  As I continue to try and rebuild my life from the disaster of my divorce, what I have noticed is that the more I come alive, the more intense everything in my life is becoming.  I am starting to really find out who my friends are, and I am re-learning the balance of work and play, and I am looking at my bad choices and decisions and wiping the slate clean.

Turkey hunting is very much the same as every time out is a clean slate.  Gobblers don’t have the memory of a whitetail, and so yesterday’s mistake means nothing.  It’s all about finding a gobbler who is looking for a mate, and having to compete for her.  This makes everything more intense for the gobbler, and just like in life, when our passions and obsessions take over our minds and hearts, mistakes get made.  I was praying for a big mistake to be made on this last day of my hunt.

I almost didn’t go out today, because my friend Jason and I have a mid-day hunt planned on Monday, and so I thought I would get some work done.  But then I went to put my license back in my wallet for that hunt, and realized that this was the last day of the season, not Monday.  That is how important turkey hunting is to me.  But, it was a nice day out, and to be honest, the morning had not gone so hot, and so getting out on the last day of the hunt, getting some sun and fresh air, and maybe seeing a turkey or two didn’t sound half bad.  So I packed up my gear and headed out into the woods for my last chance in 2008.

As an avid whitetail hunter, I have learned the importance of planning your hunt, but being adaptable to the conditions once you get in the woods.  So as I drove to my hunting spot I began to formulate the best plan possible to give me a shot at a quality turkey.  I decided that I would set up my pop up blind along the edge of the farm field, make a few calls to locate where the birds where hanging out, and then proceed to stalk in from the east until about 6pm, when I would retreat back the way I came in and set up on the pop up blind for the last hours of the hunt.  I was certain this would be the right plan, and the rest would be up to God.  Well, as I have learned many times in my life already, I should have left it all for God because he had a better plan for me than I could have dreamed of.

I set up the Matrix blind that Jason had gotten me for Christmas.  What a great gift and a superior blind.  I opened my chair up that had been given to me in Martin for being the guest speaker at the big game night.  I was pulling out all the gifts and all the stops.  I loaded my Remington 1187 Premier with the Turkey Slayer Barrel, grabbed my box call, and proceeded to initiate my plan.  I had only stroked the call twice when all of a sudden the woods lit up from several directions.  THIS WOOD LOT WAS LOADED WITH TURKEYS !!!!  My heart began to race as I knew that moving was no longer an option.  Fortunately I had placed a Jake/Hen combination in the field for later that night, and a lone hen further down the tree row as a distraction from my blind and an attractant in case a turkey snuck in from the North.  I hit the call again, and was immediately interrupted by several calls…again….the responses were getting more aggressive and louder, they were coming in already.  I had only been sitting for 5 minutes !!!  I began to rock the Quaker Boy Call and urgently as I could, they were in a frenzy now and if I could keep them coming I would be getting the opportunity I had been working for over the past two weeks.

You see, my season started out with a huge blessing but no turkey.  The landowners who are allowing me the honor of hunting over 1200 acres of their properties gave me permission to hunt Deer Forest.  This is a piece of property in the Mentha area that I grew up hunting at.  When the farmers purchased the land, I lost my hunting rights,  but because we had maintained a good relationship over the years, and not let the land issue get in the way, I truly believe I am now “reaping” what I “sowed” for the five years away from Deer Forest and the Mentha area hunting.  I stopped by to say hi during coyote season this year, and from that was blessed with the privilege of hunting my old stomping grounds.  I called in 6 birds that opening day, but none special enough to take the claim of my trophy.  But now I’m at “The Pit”, and it looks like things are going my way.

Seven toms came flying out into the field, fighting and strutting and racing toward the decoys.  They began to get aggressive with my Jake decoy, and they tried to get him away from the hen decoy.  I have never heard so much noise from turkeys.  I called my buddies and was leaving messages hoping that they would be able to share what I was hearing. 

It became time to finish the hunt, even though I was only about 10 minutes into it.  I began surveying the birds and was down to two, which one did I want to take.  Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw another head pop above the grass, THIS WAS A HUGE BIRD, much bigger than any of the others in the field.  I couldn’t see his beard yet but he was walking RIGHT AT ME !!!  I moved my gun to the other window of the Matrix, with the white bead of the barrel right on the head of the bird.  He revealed his beard, I knew it was at least 10”, and I gave myself the green light to shoot.  The bird kept coming, and coming, and coming, finally, he was less than 10 yards away when I dropped the hammer on the Federal Turkey Magnum Load and took this amazing bird. 

With all the noise in the woods from the pack of toms, this bird never made a sound.  I believe he was trying to slip past the pack and get to the lone hen decoy down the way without having to compete with the mob.  But his decision to try to get by his mates led him right into my trap.

The bird was a true 10 ¾” beard with a few strands touching the 11” mark.  His spurs were 1 ¼” and he weighed almost 24lbs.  This is a solid bird anywhere in the country, and I was blessed with the opportunity to hunt it.

This week was kind of tough for me.  A lot of work to do, a lack of sleep for sure, and with the events of the morning I was feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders.  Life has been really hard for me for the last couple of years, and so moments like this mean a lot more than spur length, beard thickness, or the kill.  I shot this bird on the last afternoon of the last day of the year to hunt.  Even though I was busy and things got in the way, even though I wasn’t all jazzed about hunting every day, and even though I almost missed my last chance to hunt, I DIDN’T…I never gave up.

It’s not often enough when you hear God speaking clearly to you in life, mostly because we don’t take the time to listen.  But today I heard it loud and clear, my hunt was a reminder of all the great things God has done for me during this impossible time.  He doesn’t want me to give up, and I won’t.  But the reminder was much needed after a long hard week. 

God has a plan for you, and he knows just what you need…….

Be blessed,

Jerry Bastian

National Director, Outdoor Alliance

turkey.