I put off turkey hunting out of stubbornness.  Too many people told me I HAD to try it, that it was WAY better than any other hunting.  I loved hunting ducks and geese, enjoyed hunting doves, rabbits, and squirrels too.  I was starting to get into deer hunting, but had a hard time sitting still.  I refused to go turkey hunting because no-one was “gonna tell me what I had to do.” 

The only reason I decided to give it a try was because my new co-workers were getting so excited.  Reggie and Buck would start talking about “gobblers” and their hands would start flying, they would pace, crouch, and imitate their adventures (miss-adventures).  I’d never seen two grown men act so silly.  I still might not have gone, but instead of telling me I HAD to go, they invited me to go.  They started teaching me about turkeys and how to hunt them.  Reggie loaned me one of his extra calls, an H.S.S. Strut “Field Champion” box call and I started practicing every day.  I would perform my new techniques and my two teachers would laugh and tell me to keep practicing.  Then they would work with me to improve.

Right before season opened, I attended the First Annual Talkhunting Campout in Alabama.  We were lucky that weekend to have Don and his guys from Straight Creek Calls put on a turkey calling seminar and demonstration.  I bought my first turkey call that weekend and my second, third, and fourth.  Now, with a Slate call and three diaphragm mouth calls, I felt like I had an arsenal to work with.

It was the third weekend of the season before Reggie finally took me and he was recovering from a cold.  We would be hunting my lease, where I’d had several encounters with large broods of hens and a few sightings of large Toms.  My deer hunting lease was made up of ten year old pines on rolling hills with a hardwood bottom to the north, a cut-over to the south and mature pines on the east side.  The turkeys were unfamiliar with hunters and were often seen out in the cut-over.  We set up on the Southeast corner of the property in a blind we had constructed from branches and grass.

Prior to our arrival, the last two months actually, Reggie and Buck had been giving me tips and background on what to expect.  Both had slightly varied opinions on a few techniques, but agreed on most major points.  I was told we wouldn’t be calling much in the first minutes of light.  The gobblers would still be on their roosts and we needed to wait for them to fly down.  I was told that if we called too much before fly-down time, the Toms would expect the hens to come to them and wouldn’t work for us.  Instead we would be patient and listen.  True to his word, Reggie had us sit quietly, listening for any gobbling, calling only sparingly.  Early on we discovered a problem.  With his head cold, Reggie wasn’t hearing the toms responding to his calling.  I was forced to tell Reggie when I heard a gobble and point out the direction.  Roughly 30 minutes after daylight, a bearded hen worked in close from our left and pecked around our decoy for a few minutes.  She didn’t stay long, and we didn’t pay her much attention other than to oogle at her beard.

Then the gobbling started.  It was my first hunt and I was as green as could be, but I’m pretty sure we had at least six turkeys gobbling in response to Reggie’s calling.  I was fired up, ready to go.  I sat in front with the shot gun with Reggie sitting about ten feet behind me.  Just when I thought things were about to explode around us, a coyote burst out of the underbrush, in a full sprint, and attacked the decoy.  I was so stunned, we sat in silence for almost a minute before I looked back to see if he had just seen that.

Needless to say, our morning was over.  We tried a little longer in that spot, but the woods were quiet.  We loaded up and headed home for lunch.  My first turkey hunt was unsuccessful, but I’d experienced two sightings that few could share.  I saw a bearded hen and a dumb coyote.

I went back to that same spot the next morning.  I was alone and I forgot my decoy.  I figured I’d try to make the most of it though, so I set up on the side of a gentle slope and tried to call like the hen was behind me on the other side of the hill.  I decided to use my turkey call like I do my duck calls, minimally.  I would cluck and purr, purr and cluck.  I heard a couple of gobbles off in the distance, but nothing close and it didn’t sound like they were getting any closer.  I did that for over an hour, just enjoying the sights and sounds.  I was surprised when a red head appeared suddenly a little over 75 yards away.  I actually got a little jittery.  It had been a long time since the last time a hunt got me that excited.  I froze and watched him bob his head and look around.  I remembered my two mentors telling me that sometimes it helped to scratch the ground like a turkey looking for bugs and seeds.  I used my right hand, the one furthest from the turkey, to scratch in the leaves.  Then I purred on my slate call.  I can’t properly describe exactly how it went down, it happened so fast.  When I purred, that bird turned and ran straight for me.  I shot him at 17 steps.  He was still running, but I didn’t want him to run into me. 

I called everyone and told my story a dozen and a half times that night.  When I showed Reggie and Buck pictures the next day, their eyes bugged out and they asked me if I’d cleaned it yet.  I, of course, had.  It turns out, my first gobbler would have scored high enough to make Louisiana’s record book.  His beard measured out at 10.5 inches and he had 1.24 inch spurs.  I didn’t win the Talkhunting Turkey Championship, but I was in the top ten.  I like to think I’m a turkey hunter now.  Not because I HAVE to be, but because I LOVE to be.

By Brent Sawyer

TalkHunting Pro Staffer, Brent "Cobrican" Sawyer, was born into a sporting family.  His first couple years of life were spent on the banks of Lake Arthur and around his grandfather's farm in Jennings, La.  Even when his family moved to the city, they visited the farm often.  Brent's parents and Pawpaw spent as many hours as they could find taking him outside to learn how to care for and survive on the land around him.  They camped and hiked.  They gardened.  Brent joined the Boy Scouts as a Bobcat and continued to be involved through his High School days.  There, he learned many new skills to help him belong out of doors.  Brent and his cousins would often sleep out under the stars with only a blanket.  

At the age of 8 he was given his first BB gun.  At 10 he was allowed to hunt with a shotgun.  The family had a lease where they hunted, predominantly, Speckle-belly geese with the occasional snow or duck.  They also hunted doves and rabbits.  Brent learned how to call specks well enough to hunt on his own in only a short time.  About the time Brent went to college, his grandfather dropped the hunting lease.  Fortunately, North Louisiana offers some great opportunities for hunting on public lands.  He spent many hours duck hunting as well as hunting small game.  In 2000 Brent was invited to his first deer hunt.  Since then he has been fully involved in the deer hunting experience.  He also loves to fish.  Lately he has made more opportunities to fish salt water than freshwater but he enjoys both.

Brent Graduated with a degree in Forest Technology and has used his degree as a basis for hunting and recreation properties management.  He joined Talkhunting.com in 2008 and has attended gatherings in Louisiana and Alabama.  He also works for Breathe Safe Environmental Services as a third party monitor for lead and asbestos abatement.  He loves his job but hopes to be able to one day move exclusively to property management and consulting.

Comments(7):

1. Similar start

   You almost told my same story. Once I went though.... I was hooked!

   Saturday, March 05, 2011 Robert

2. Great article Brent

   It brings me back to when I started after getting out of the Navy in 1972 once you here them gobbles.....your hooked and every turkey hunter knows that

   Saturday, March 05, 2011 David

3. Awesome story...

   Now aren't you glad you didn't hold out any longer?? Great story and an awesome first bird to boot!

   Sunday, March 06, 2011 Duane

4. i don't have to be a turkey hunter...but i am

   was always a deer hunter until turkeys were introduced to my state and now to be honest, being in the spring woods hearing those booming gobbles has got me addicted too. well done brent. a great read.

   Sunday, March 06, 2011 brad

5. Turkey hunter

   Great job Brent ... I refused to go Turkey hunting for years because I thought you had to be old and rich to Turkey hunt. I got hooked watching upward to 30 Birds at a time while up a tree Deer hunting... When I won a NWTF Turkey vest full of calls and used those to calls to bag my first shotgun Bird I was hook...

   Monday, March 07, 2011 Dennis

6. Great Story! Makes me want to get out there and start Turkey calling!

   Monday, March 07, 2011 Anthony

7. Great Article

   I hope I have similar results, Brent. Good job on the article. Felt like I was there with you.

   Thursday, March 17, 2011 Scott