The Longbeard of Hamblen County

Some turkey hunts just stick with you, and this is definitely one of those hunts for me.

Big Nate and I slipped into a spot in Hamblen County early one spring morning before daylight. We were sitting on a hardwood ridge with a gravel road below us and four open pastures around it. We put a jake decoy out about 15 yards in front of us, found a couple big trees to lean against, and waited.

Not long after daylight started breaking, a gobbler fired off.

And he sounded good.

Big Nate hit his slate call with a few soft yelps, and that bird answered him right back. Nate would call, and he'd gobble. Then he'd call again, and the bird would answer again.

You could tell he was getting closer.

Then everything went quiet.

Anybody who's turkey hunted much knows that's when your heart really starts beating. You know he's probably coming, but you don't know where he's going to show up.

A few minutes later, Nate whispered, "He's coming."

Sure enough, I caught a glimpse of him through the trees about 40 yards away. He came into the opening, saw that jake decoy, and that was pretty much all he cared about.

He came straight toward it.

When he got there, he absolutely went to work on that decoy. He was flogging it, kicking it, and beating the mess out of it like that fake jake had personally offended him.

The whole time, I was just trying not to move too fast.

While he was busy tearing up the decoy, I got my shotgun up. He was only about 15 yards away when I put the bead on him and pulled the trigger.

He dropped right there.

Nate jumped up laughing and said, "I told you he'd commit!"

When we walked over to him, we realized just how good of a bird he was.

He weighed 22 pounds, had an 11½-inch beard, and 1¾-inch spurs on both legs.

That's a heck of a turkey.

But honestly, the numbers aren't what I remember most.

I remember sitting there with Big Nate before daylight. I remember hearing that first gobble. I remember him working that call and that bird answering back. And I definitely remember watching that old tom come across the opening and beat the absolute crap out of that jake decoy.

That's what makes turkey hunting special.

You can hunt a lot of mornings and never have one come together exactly like that. But every now and then, everything works.

That morning in Hamblen County was one of them.

And it's one I'll never forget.