Pennsylvania Game News - April 2021 - 53

forward for a steady rest against the treetops I was sitting behind. The buck jumped
with the shot, then fell next to a blowdown,
but regained its feet. I shot again as it was
moving away, then saw no more movement.
Rodney, who was nearby, had seen the
buck, too, and he pointed out a downed tree
where he thought it had disappeared. Making
my way through the thick stuff, I kept my
eyes on the tree as I approached. And lying
on the other side was an 18½-inch-wide
8-point buck.
I gave a thumbs-up to Rodney. But with
my tag filled, I'd be waiting with anticipation for warmer weather and the start of
spring turkey season.

O

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3

VER THE NEXT few months, friends
and family would remind me often
about the prospect of achieving Pennsylvania's Triple Trophy, and that I'd have to
give it my all.
But I'd had tough luck with gobblers
previously. I'd called in a few, but either
couldn't get them close enough or in the
open for a good shot.
I heard birds nearly every day, and
worked gobblers often through the season's
first two weeks. On the first Thursday, I
would have needed only for the strutting,
gobbling longbeard I was working to take
10 more steps into shotgun range. Instead,
he followed a hen in the other direction and
out of sight.
Hen turkeys weren't the only ones providing competition. The State Game Lands
I hunted was a popular spot, especially on
Saturdays. And when gobblers fired from
their roosts, it wasn't unusual to hear other
hunters sending out calls.
There was less and less gobbling as the
season wore on. I continued working one
gobbler that was roosted in the same spot

APRIL 2021	

each morning. But nothing I tried brought
him my way, and I was beginning to run
short on patience and ideas.
On Tuesday morning of the third week,
May 20, I sat in a light drizzle for a few
hours and didn't hear a single gobble. Since
afternoon hunting hours had begun, and I
had some time after work, I went back to the
same area where the gobbler had been roosting to try to flip the script on him. I made a
few soft calls that attracted no response. But
when I worked my way up the ridge, then
down over the other side, a gobble boomed
from my left.
I set up, but it had already begun to get
dark, and soon it would be time to quit.
I picked out some landmarks at the spot
before backing out with plans to return in
the morning.
Heading in, I was nearly to the top of
the ridge when I first heard the gobbler
sound. I nestled into a spot about 50 yards
from where I believed he was roosted. He
gobbled every 10 minutes or so, confirming
his location.
I made no calls, and at 5:45 a.m., I heard
wings flapping and saw the gobbler flying
my way, then veering to the left. His landing
spot was concealed by leafy cover. I crept
10 steps closer to where I could see the top
of the hill, set up again, and located some
openings where I thought the bird might
appear, and made two clucks and a soft purr.
A gobbler stepped out, looking in my
direction. I slowly raised the gun and clicked
off the safety, thinking for sure he would see
me and retreat to cover. But he stood there,
staring, and I squeezed the trigger.
The 18 ½-pound gobbler with a 9 ½-inch
beard and nearly inch-long spurs represented a lifetime achievement I'll carry with
me for a lifetime. And I'm thankful each
day for the many people who shared in this
accomplishment.

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Pennsylvania Game News - April 2021

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