Tax day Tom

[slaw]

Sure Things in life

By: Steve Kofahl


They say there are only two things sure in life, paying taxes and death. Only the latter would apply for the star of this show.
With the rapidly approaching 2006 Illinois spring turkey season , so did the one year anniversary of my mothers passing. An emotional time to say the least, but with time and all the wonderful memories I have , the pain is easier to deal with.
My son wanted to go with me to my hunting destination to do a little pre-season scouting. He’s not a hunter yet, but just hanging out with dad is exciting enough for him. It was a good opportunity to do a little bonding too. All decked out in our camo, we made our way to high vantage point overlooking the creek bottom and ridges I was going to concentrate my hunting efforts. A group of thundering gobblers on a far ridge sounded off at first light, confirming my suspicions of their whereabouts. We spent the next hour and a half listening to these loudmouths , looking at each other ,grinning with anticipation, and spotting a few deer . As we walked out of the woods my son says , “ we really did some serious bonding out there, didn’t we dad”. “Yes, we sure did” I replied.
Morning came with the question of how I was going to get to the top of this ridge without spooking these birds. I had to negotiate a ditch on my way to the ridge and when I turned my flashlight on, the tree above me erupted with the flapping wings of a fleeting turkey. This is not good. I’m already spooking birds. I decided the flashlight would not come on again. I made my way to the steep nose at the end of this ridge. Every step up it was slow , calculated ,and deliberate. When I topped the steep nose ,I reached a point where the ridge flattens out. This looked like a good spot for me to get set up. I was sizing up this big oak tree to my left I was next to, when the skylight of a bright moon just beyond it revealed two trees full of silhouettes of turkeys. I was overcome with panic, thinking I may have spooked them by getting to close. They were only 25-30 yards away. By now I’ve practically burried myself into the bark of this tree hiding behind it. Like a slow burning candle , I managed to melt down into the forest floor. I spent the next 20 minutes peeking out from behind this tree ,counting birds ,and sizing them up. I knew their dance floor lied ahead of me. This is where I hoped the fly down would be. Another peek around my tree , revealed a couple of jakes strutting in the tree-tops. I was noticing the protruding center tail-feathers of theirs that told me they were jakes when a Full-fan caught my eye much lower to the ground than the rest of them.I knew this was the mature bird I was after. I could hear other gobblers gobbling in the distance. I thought I had spooked them , was the only reason I could think of why they weren’t sounding off. A hoot owl sounded off and this was more than the old boss tom to take. GOBBLE-GOBBLE-GOBBLE. I could see his long-beard shaking like a rope in the skylight.. He spent the next ten minutes strutting in the tree,as if he was John Travolta , looking in a mirror before he hit the dance floor in Saturday Night Fever.The two jakes pitched down and hit the floor right in front of me where I expected them to. I had to discipline myself not to even look at these birds cause they weren’t my intended target. Two minutes later the star of this show jumped straight down, fashionably late. He’s such a drama king. He stuck out his massive chest, stood on his toes, stretching out his neck, and flapped his wings a couple of times as if to say ,”alright, I’m here,let’s get the party started “. My fiber-optic sights were already steadied on his lower neck. With the squeeze of the trigger the party was over for this old boy. He weighed 22.5 pounds , with an 11 inch beard ,and sported one inch and a quarter spurs.
Another thing’s for sure. The memory of the pre-season scouting my son will have will last much longer than the hunt that followed. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It’s April 15th, I better get my taxes done.
Special thanks go to Ron Cooper who made this all possible.
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[wtnhunt]

Nice bird. Congratulations.

[lilbuckmaster]

Nice gobbler.

[Covehnter]

Great story and nice bird to boot!

[cutter10x]

ya slaw...way to start us of right......FULL FAN ADDICTS.....

[Jeramie]

that is a great bird! Congratulations and great story.

[RDNKHNTR77]

i remember when dad used to take me out on scouting trips, something kids never forget. congrats

[slaw]

thanks guys

[hobie]

Congrats on a nice bird