Pennsylvania Game News - October 2012 - 6

away. I believed our only hope was in the field below if a couple of turkeys had run there. It was 1:15 when we set up. I didn’t expect anything to happen till late afternoon, if anything happened at all. It was such a nice afternoon that I knew I was going to have to work to stay awake in the warm sunshine. I suggested to Bob that he get out his favorite diaphragm caller and send out a few yelps every 10 or 15 minutes, just in case there was a single bird or two nearby. A flock of noisy crows were nearby, and although I thought I heard a yelp every once in awhile, we both figured I was imagining it. At 2 o’clock I was jolted into alert mode. I spotted movement in a briar thicket about 50 yards below us, and I hissed to Bob (although he insists that I blurted out loud), “There’s one.” A turkey was silently slinking through the thicket, seeking the source of the calling. I got my shotgun up without frightening the turkey, but it slowly eased out of sight to our left. I was discouraged by its disap-

pearance, but Bob continued to yelp and cluck softly. Moments later he quietly said, “It just called. It’s on its way back. Get ready.” I did. Bob and the cautious bird had a quiet conversation over the next 10 minutes, and then the bird stepped out from behind a deadfall about 20 yards away. When it halted I whispered, “I’m going to shoot,” and pulled the trigger of my 12-gauge. Although I’m not the world’s greatest shot, even I couldn’t miss at that distance. Bob was to the downed turkey before I could even stand up. As we smoothed the turkey’s feathers and I tagged it, I couldn’t help but think this was really more Bob’s turkey than it was mine. He’d found the flock and had broken it. He’d gotten us situated and then called the turkey back to the scatter site. (Later, he even dressed the bird for me.) All I had to do, after driving back to where he’d set things up, was make the shot. As I relive this hunt, I’ll also recall the two 50-mile round trips I made from my home to his that day. I’ll always remember the plump turkey I shot that lovely November afternoon as the “hundred-mile turkey.” 

Book Review:
Wildlife on the Edge, Adventures of a Special Agent in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, by Terry Grosz, $22, is available from all major book outlets; not available from the PGC. This is the ninth book the author has written about his experiences as a conservation law enforcement officer for more than 30 years for California and then with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. In this book, he recounts matching wits with poachers, commercial market hunters and other violators who have no respect for our wildlife resources. The accounts here include all the excitement, suspense and humor readers expect from this law enforcement officer turned writer. Officer Grosz has dedicated this book to Pennsylvania Wildlife Conservation Officer David L. Grove, who was killed on the evening of November 11, 2010, while in the process of apprehending two individuals he suspected of having just poached a deer. 6 GAME NEWS

Pennsylvania Game News - October 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - October 2012