Ashlyn and I finally did it. This concludes an over two year journey. Let me bring you up to speed.
Three Thanksgiving's ago, Ashlyn asked if we could shoot a turkey and eat it for Thanksgiving dinner. I said sure and didn't really do anything about it. Becky and I just laughed at the thought of her wanting to shoot and eat a turkey. One thing to note...I'm not a hunter, at least I wasn't yet. I didn't have a hunting permit or even a license. Over the next year, she kept bringing it up and I would just talk about what it meant to hunt and even went into the gory details of hunting. I also probed her as to why she was so hot on hunting turkeys for Thanksgiving. Her answer was simple and very thoughtful. She wanted to help provide food for the table so I wouldn't have to work so hard at my job--this stems from one of those "why we have to go to work and earn money" conversations.
A year and a half ago, a good friend of ours was kind enough to let us observe him hunting turkeys. Ashlyn was hooked and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I promised her that I would do what it took to get us hunting turkeys together. So, I went through the proper classes, got permitted, bought gear, bought a license and the necessary tags. This obviously took some time but we were set to go hunting in the Spring of 2009. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful that season, but we had a great time.
Now you're up-to-speed...fall hunting season begins. Ashlyn and I hunted a few times together with no success...for the um-teenth time. I know hunting is hard but I started to feel bad for her. :-) The morning of our Thanksgiving dinner, I went out alone. She decided to stay home because it was another cold, early morning and she was burned out from hiking the previous night in sub-freezing temperatures. As before, I sat in the cold for a couple of hours, but this time, I watched turkeys run around in distant trees...way out of range. After sitting there hoping they would come closer for another hour, I decided to go against everything that I read about turkey hunting and try to sneak up on them. I wasn't expecting much but at least it was better than sitting there freezing my keaster off. I stalked the turkeys from downhill and in the shadows of trees and a barn. I peaked around the barn and took my first shot and immediately saw that I was successful. Once the initial shock of actually getting a turkey was over, I called home to inform Ashlyn of our success. Apparently, she jumped out of the shower with shampoo still in her hair. I waited for Ashlyn to arrive before I did anything with the turkey. She was so excited when she arrived. She ran up, picked up the turkey, and plucked several tail feathers for souvenirs. We took some pictures and then skinned it. Even though she wasn't there to witness the actual shot, I told her that "we" finally did it. She really did earn it because she was such a trooper through all the early mornings, cold days, long walks, and the unsuccessful hunts that spanned a year and a half. She really did feel like she was part of the successful hunt.
That same day, we cleaned, deep fried, and ate it. To my surprise, it tasted like...turkey. You laugh but I expected it to taste differently. :-)
Ashlyn and I sat and talked later that night and recapped this crazy plan of hers. Who knows if we'll hunt again but at least this page that started years ago can be turned.
A side note for nostalgia's sake: I took the turkey with a 16g shotgun that my dad got for his 12th birthday.
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