Playing the long game: A vignette of my turkey journey
By Ashley Chance
Ashley Chance is the Hunting Heritage Programs Manager for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in hunting or harvesting wild game but don’t know where to start, search for an upcoming Learn to Shoot or Learn to Hunt opportunity near you today.
The first time I went turkey hunting was in Mississippi nearly 10 years ago. It was a warm day (ahem, Mississippi), and I went out with my then-boyfriend on public land not far from the town we lived in.
I knew the general premise behind pursuing turkeys but didn’t have much in the way of skills. I don’t remember if we heard a gobble that day or not. We certainly didn’t see anything.
In 2019 we moved to Tennessee and I experienced another turkey hunt alongside my then (still) boyfriend. (Hint: He turns into a husband later on in this story).
This adventure was much more exciting as it involved a boat and lots of gobbling.
We had a little duck boat from our time Mississippi. The boat doubled as a crappie fishing vessel that spring. There was a lake nearby that was surrounded almost entirely by public land open to turkey hunting.
This landed us in the middle of the lake before sunrise listening for a gobble. Numerous other hunters were on the same mission. We would hear a gobble and motor over at an incredible speed to try and be the first person to make land near it.
Often we were beat to shore. But on one of these races we ended up landing nearest to the roosted bird. We ran uphill at top speed after frantically tying off the boat, then crouched at the base of our respective trees.
The bird gobbled 11 times and my (still) boyfriend called back to him each time. The bird ended up leaving the roost in the opposite direction from where we sat, so we spent the rest of the morning in search of crappies. But the interaction really got the blood pumping!
That was the first time I experienced an interaction, nay a communication, with my quarry. It was a neat feeling. Over the next six years we got married, moved three times and brought two children into the world.
Don continued to go turkey hunting in the spring and harvest birds at an astonishingly high success rate. But with little one(s) at my heels and on my back, it just wasn’t a priority for me the way deer or upland bird hunting was. I still went on occasion, and practiced calling sporadically, but for all intents and purposes turkey hunting was on the backburner.
This April we had a unique opportunity to hunt some private land near our home. So I asked our nanny to come in early (7:30 was the earliest she could muster), and Don and I set out to the woods on a turkey hunting date.
Initially, my husband took off at a good clip … which took me back to the time I went turkey hunting with him eight months pregnant. You might correctly guess that that time I told him to go on ahead – I’d be fine on my own.
Thankfully, this year I wasn’t encumbered with a gigantic belly, and could keep up. He called infrequently, and within 15 minutes we heard a gobble.
We moved into position. Don called once and we waited. We adjusted ourselves to be on top of a ridge and waited some more. More gobbles. More waiting. Me thinking if I had the call I’d be using it!
Before long the gobbler crested the ridge and began drumming and fanning himself about 40 yards from me. My husband told me to take the shot when I was ready. The bird moved past some thin trees that I didn’t want to shoot through, and I shot him. My husband ran over to step on his windpipe and secure him, and that was it. The moral of this story is that it took me eight years to harvest my first turkey, and I’m fine with it. You may be on a similar trajectory. It’s okay. No problems, it’s just another step in the hunting journey.
My next goal will of course be to call in my own bird. It might take another eight years, I don’t know.
Sometimes we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do the thing perfectly and completely or not at all. I’m here to tell you that that can be a recipe for failure.
Take the slow route. Notice the sheds, the mushrooms, and all will be well. You’ll get the bird, or not. If you get an hour and a half to hunt in the middle of the day, grab your wet hunting pants out of the washing machine and go! Things don’t need to look perfect to be excellent.
I want new hunters to know it’s okay to come back to something when it works for you, and that you don’t have to know it all at once.
Hunting is a long game and the reward lies in playing it.
We’re passionate about helping newcomers dive into the world of hunting. These experiences go beyond just the act of hunting; they foster a profound connection to nature and an appreciation for healthy habitat and sustainable food sources. Find a Learn to Hunt Event near you and discover your path (or help someone else discover their path) to hunting today!