Sunday, October 08, 2006

you're not gonna believe this one . . .

that's right. you are NEVER going to believe this one. i'm not sure i would believe it if i hadn't heard it for myself. it's a typical hunter's tale, but i feel it carries more weight coming from me since i'm not a hunter and i usually have to be the referee/judge/jury on these situations.

yesterday was the first saturday of turkey season (10/07/06), and jerry headed out hunting early to get to his spot. i was still at work at the hotel, but he called me as he was walking out to his location not too far from the house. he got hidden in his spot, just waiting on the right time and the right turkey (or any turkey) to show up.

i got home around 7:20 and wasn't ready to go to sleep yet, so i decided to mess around on the computer for a while. scott was still asleep and jacob hadn't come over to hunt today as he was coaching soccer for the boys and they had an early game. that left the timber and the turkey all for jerry . . . and whatever poachers decided to show up out in our neck of the woods today.

around 8:10-ish, as i was still at the computer, i heard a gunshot from the direction that jerry was hunting. i thought, "oh good. at least maybe he's seeing some today." it wasn't but a minute before the phone started ringing. i was rather surprised at that, b/c if i had been sleeping the phone would've been off the hook -- but i guess jerry thought it was worth a try.

he said, "you're never going to guess what happened . . . . " as i could hear the excitement in his voice.

i said, "uhm, you, uh, shot yourself in the foot?"

he said, "no. i shot 1 time -- and i killed 2 birds!"

i said, "you're kidding me!?! i heard your shot. what did you get?"

he said, "no, i'm not kidding. i got a tom and a hen."

it was a short conversation as he was trying to talk while he carried/balanced all his stuff. he started walking home w/ his 2 birds, his gun, and his seat (bucket) -- the phone rang again. "can you come over to get me? these birds are heavy as i'm trying to carry them and everything else."

so, scott was rudely awakened at a terribly unreasonable hour (in his mind) to go pick jerry and his birds up and bring them home. he was driving around the area trying to find jerry, all the while some other person is on the other side of the section honking his horn -- leading us to believe that scott was off in the wrong area.

of course he didn't have his cell phone with him, either. so i went looking for scott thinking he was looking for jerry in the wrong spot, but scott wasn't the horn-honker and i was on a wild-goose-chase looking for scott while scott was picking jerry up and heading to the house!

anyway, we all got back to the house and "the mighty hunter" got his birds unloaded for display and pictures. fortunately he had 2 turkey tags! especially since i know how my family is AND with since i have a game warden in the family . . . . .

the first picture is jerry and his 2 birds - tom on the left and hen on the right.


here is a close-up of the 2 birds killed with the same shot.
jerry showing off his tom turkey, 17 pounds w/ a 7.5" beard. not bad for a first year turkey hunter -- especially since he knocked down 2 birds w/ 1 shot!


now he just has to sit back and watch "the pup" try and top that, as jacob is the only other turkey hunter here this season. scott has chosen not to turkey hunt for the fall season b/c he doesn't have time between school and work, plus he would rather wait and spend his money and time on deer season.

h-m-m-m-m, when does it all end?

1 comment:

Warren Bunch said...

Do you believe him? Maybe he hit one with his car!!! Or maybe he scared one to death!!! Or, I guess, maybe the Great White Hunter really did shoot 2 of them at the same time! Did you buy him a lotto ticket, too?