The darndest thing

[Cut N Run]

Yesterday afternoon, on my way back to the office I stopped by the barbershop in town to get my hair cut. There was a few other guys there talking about this & that.  An older gentleman started talking about deer and how they behaved.  Since I know a little about deer, I joined in on the conversation.  Pretty soon the topic switched to turkeys.  The older fellow had already had his hair cut and was just hanging out for conversation & company.  He moved over to the empty chair beside me as my hair was being cut and kept talking and asking me questions about turkeys.  I could tell he was trying to find out what I knew and didn't know about turkey hunting.  After the haircut, I went out to my truck and grabbed a folder of pictures of deer and turkeys I've killed to show.  We kept talking turkeys and pretty soon he said he had a gun I needed to see. I followed him a few blocks over to the golf course community where he lives.

Next thing I know, he breaks out a dipped, scoped, customized 11-87, in a NWTF presentation case and starts insisting that I take the gun home with me to turkey hunt with this year (?!).  Now, this guy has known me for all of one hour and he's trusting me to take his turkey killer home with me to use hunting this year.  Have you ever in your life?

I tried to protest and leave the gun with him.  I offered to take him and his gun turkey hunting with me this year, but he wouldn't have it.  He carried the cased gun and a box of Winchester Supreme #5s out to my truck and loaded it in the truck to make sure I wouldn't leave it behind. He said he was too old (76 years old)  and that his gun needed to get back to work in the woods with a dedicated turkey hunter. He said he knew he could trust me by the way I spoke with so much reverence and respect for turkeys.  He also said he knew I'd been hunting turkeys a long time by the way I described my calling techniques and the patience required to succeed, because it takes a long time and a lot of experience to learn that.  He finally said, "Old time turkey hunters are some of the best people in the world and you're one of 'em."   I left him my name and phone number and all he asked was that I bring the gun back when I was done with it.

It looks like I'll be spending some more time at the range to get familiar with that 11-87. I'm still quite blown away by his gesture.  At the same time I'm looking forward to what kind of stories I can make with his gun.

Jim

[Turkeyman62]

There's still good people in this world .

[taylorjones20]

That's really cool!  I hope you make plenty of memories with that gun to share with him.  Good Luck!

[Muzzy61]

Very cool.

[gobbler777]

You must be of good character and he thought you were a man with integrity. Congratulations to you. First thing I'd do is drive right over with a gobbler you kill and tell him the story. He'll feel like he just killed it and you'll make a friend forever. Congrats again ... love the story because I am one of those "old timers" now.

[Gamblinman]

You must be of good character and he thought you were a man with integrity. Congratulations to you. First thing I'd do is drive right over with a gobbler you kill and tell him the story. He'll feel like he just killed it and you'll make a friend forever. Congrats again ... love the story because I am one of those "old timers" now.

Cool idea. Even neater would be to take a short video on your phone of where you harvested the bird and the surroundings to help him get the whole picture and feel like he was right there with you.

This will be awesome for both parties! Please, report back when you have harvested a turkey with this fine weapon.

Gman

[tomstopper]

You must be of good character and he thought you were a man with integrity. Congratulations to you. First thing I'd do is drive right over with a gobbler you kill and tell him the story. He'll feel like he just killed it and you'll make a friend forever. Congrats again ... love the story because I am one of those "old timers" now.

Cool idea. Even neater would be to take a short video on your phone of where you harvested the bird and the surroundings to help him get the whole picture and feel like he was right there with you.

This will be awesome for both parties! Please, report back when you have harvested a turkey with this fine weapon.

Gman

I agree with all above. My mother in law told me once that her friend had a gun that I was looking for and that she would get it from her so I could look at it and then purchase it if I wanted. She got it and when I looked at it, I knew I wasn't interested (it was an 870 and I wanted an 1187) so I told her it was a beautiful gun but I would wait until I found what I was looking for. A couple weeks go by and my mother in law asked me to stop in after work. When I got there she said "Anita wanted you to have this" and gave me a bag full of turkey ammo. As I was looking at the shells, she said "and she wanted you to have this as well". I turn around and see her with tears in her eyes and holding the 870. I was humbled and speechless and saying "I can't accept this". She gave me the phone to call Anita. I talked to her and she told me that her husband had bought it to use for turkey and she could think of no one better than me to give it to. Again I was speechless as I listened to her sobbing as she told me of her husband and how his cancer took him from her. I ended up taking that gun and decided it was the only gun I would carry last season and killed three nice gobblers with it. I wrote up a nice long document with pics of each individual bird with the matching story behind it. She told my MIL that it brought her to tears as she read it and that I kept saying "Michael's gun, and how my season was magical and that I felt like he was there with me on every hunt". It has become my new favorite turkey gun and this year she has sent me pics of three nice long beards on her land and has asked me to hunt there this year. I had to accept. IMO people like her and the man mentioned above get great pleasure in letting the rite person have or use something that had a deep meaning to them because they know you will appreciate it which in return lets them live through you. Good luck this season for you and him. God Bless......

[Dr Juice]

That's an awesome gesture from a true gentleman. Not very common today. Good luck with it and make sure to post your kill with the gun in the photo. 

[mgm1955]

That's really cool!  I hope you make plenty of memories with that gun to share with him.  Good Luck!

[g8rvet]

Very cool stories.  I hope you bag a nice Tom and take him the pics and a plate of fried turkey strips as well.