I went out for my first turkey hunt this past May. My husband and I drove down the winding river road in search of Rio Grande turkeys. After about an hour of driving, we finally spotted one sitting in an opening just off a dirt road. Well, I say we, but I should say my husband spotted one, because I never actually saw the tom. We crawled on our bellies towards the bird. He was settled in a field of tall grass and all that was visible was the top of his head. After ten minutes of belly crawling, we crouched behind a fallen cottonwood and prepared. My husband kept explaining how the tom was out about twenty yard from us. He kept saying, “See the red? That is him.”

I kept saying, “No, I don’t see anything.”

He would then say “Okay, see the fallen tree about twenty yards from us?”  “Yes,” I would answer.  “He is right past there!”

I would try to lean up to look past the tree and he would say “No!  Don’t move!  Turkeys have excellent eyesight.  He can see you!”

“How am I supposed to see where he is if I don’t look?”  Finally, after a few minutes of the same conversation, I agreed, “Oh yes, I see him.” I didn’t see anything.

I pointed my shot gun in the general area of the tom and fired away. My husband said my barrel was actually pointed towards the sky when I pulled the trigger and that the tom ducked after the shot. I had missed. I wasn’t even sure what I had missed, since I had not actually seen anything the entire time. My husband was frustrated. I may or may not have cried a little.  I whined that the shotgun had kicked me too hard and swore I would never shoot it again.  We searched for a few minutes and decided to leave.

Lucky for me, on the way out of the area, the turkey was running down the middle of the road. I definitely saw him this time. I jumped out of our truck and landed myself a nice tom. I was elated.

The moment made me realize, I had a lot to learn. So, I am ready to learn.

Have a question or something you would like me learn more about? Leave a post on my blog, or you can email me at a12gaugegirl@huntingandcooking.com

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