It's all about the ??????????

[Crutch]

You hear them talk so much on the deer hunting shows about this, and I think they are full of it sometimes but with turkey hunting, what rings my bell and makes adreniline rush thru my veins is when I sit down and hit the call and a tunder gobble rings out from somewhere off in the woods. Killing is sort of anticlimatic but stil awesome.  On my second season which was last year, I determined that I was going to hear some gobbling and lots of it before he qualified for a ride in my chevy. I slipped into the woods and worked my way to the back. Crawled under a barbed wire fence and set up next to a huge oak. It was my first year using a box call and I was working the devil out of it. It was a windy day and hearing was limited but every once in a while I thought I heard a gobble. I would wait a few minutes and yelp again then strain to listen for a response, still thinking that I was imagining a gobble. There it was again! My heart started pounding. I stood up and peeked around the tree and out into the pasture. Nothing, so I hit the call again. There it was again. The wind was breezy but making a steady sound. I stood on my toes and spotted something. It was just a dark spot in the field just past a very slight rise. I stared at the spot and worked the paddle again. Thats when I saw him stick his neck out and heard the faint gobble. Adrenaline started rushing thru my body. Like a drug crazed addict, with a pounding heart, I ducked behind the tree but held the box out to the side and let go with another series of yelps. Wham, he was louder now that he knew which direction the call was coming from. Pandimonium started in when the second gobbler fell in beside him as they marched up the fencerow toward me. There was a pond between me and them with just a small gap between the pond and the fence/woods. Anxeity started in as they got closer. I didn't know which way they would go. Would they go around the pond to get to me or along the fence. By then I had heard enough gobbling to overdose on and put the box down, away from me so I wouldn't acccidently hit it and make some unwelcomed alarm. I decided to back away from the tree so I didn't have to stick the gun barrel around it to make a shot. I could hear the constant pounding of my pulse which by then had drowned out the constant ringing I usually hear. Which way would they go. My eyes darted back and forth, left then right. Finally I leaned to my left, but saw nothing. I leand futher and still nothing. Panic set in, where did they go. I leaned just a little more and saw the tail feathers moving to my right. OK, they commited and are in range. I move my trusty 1100 to the right. Only shooting 2 3/4 inch shell forces me make sure they are in range or the party would have already been over. I see a head and a beard. I turn my gun sideways a little (you know, gangster style) and ease over enough not to take the bark off the big oak and BOOMSHAKLAKA. 

My name is Tim Crutcher, and I'm an addict.  Its not about the meat and it's not about the beard or the length of the spurs. Maybe I can't explain it other than saying, It's all about that One on One battle and the thrill that comes from it.

[Cove]

All that sounds familiar! I think that's the reason most of us are here!

[Basser69]

Covehunter hit that on the head....That is the reason most of us are here.

[st4wheel]

I started sweatin readin it!! 

[VAHUNTER]

All that sounds familiar! I think that's the reason most of us are here!

really thats what its all about 

[Hognutz]

Nice read, Crutch. It definitely is a disease. Once you catch it, you are hooked for life. I have caught it, and I am a goner. I know this...Mike 

[northms]

Great story.  Gets me fired up for the upcoming season.

[spurman]

Well said Crutch, that pretty much sums it up.  

[mnturkey]

thats why I am hear, though a long beard, spurs and roast turkey are also good

[Singlebarrel]

It's all about the kill! 

Or let me clarify - it's all about the WIN!  It's knowing that at the end of the day, I went 1 on 1 with the creature in the woods that God gave THE best senses to, and I beat him!  Sure, a thundering gobble at 20steps make my heart thump like everyone else's, but it's that feeling of accomplishment - of going 1 on 1 with the best & coming out on top that I can't get enough of! 

It's funny, I can go the whole deer season content to sit in my stands & watch.  Of course I'm thrilled if I do get a chance to kill a true trophy, but I'm still satisfied just to have been there if I don't.  But turkey hunting is a whole different kind of experience for me.  I am addicted to winning.  If I am not hunting for myself or guiding clients, I am trying to recruit family & friends to let me carry them.  If I know where there is a mature Tom on one of my properties, I will literally lose sleep thinking about ways to beat him.  It's almost like a personal vendetta.  It becomes an obsession.  It's him against me everyday until he messes up & "goes for a ride" - then it's on to the next one!

Am I alone???

[wareagle99]

I'm with you SB....

gobbles are great, but you can hear them when your fishin....standing on one's neck after a whatever it takes to kill em morning is why I get up and go!!!  It's absolutely about the kill.  I enjoy all aspects of turkey hunting from talking about it on this site, to building calls, turkey books, turkey videos, turkey trips, eatin turkey, decorating with turkey stuff, reloading for turkeys, scouting for turkeys, taking pictures of turkeys, ridin around lookin at turkeys..............BUT, without the potential for the KILL, I wouldn't do any of it. 

I'm an addict too capn crutch, but I'm looking back over all the years I didn't kill any, and comparing them to the ones I did................and It's soooooooooooooo about the KILL!!!!!

[chatterbox]

I'm in it for the babes.......

[Crutch]

SB, I forgot about the deer hunting part. I get a little bit excited when I put my wife on a deer but if it is just me, I'm thinking, "oh man, I'll have to drag it and field dress" and all that other stuff. Its more like work with deer but a turkey, it is unexplainable. 

[gob09]

i am afflicted too....

[BigHooks]

   That story made me fill like I heard a big Gobbler it makes my blood boil......We all fill the same that's why were here.....