30 Years of Chasing Turkeys
The Real Stories-- Good, Bad, and Sideways
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One morning my friend Davey and I started out our hunt low in a valley in Washington County-- not necessarily an ideal spot to start. The foliage was getting green and dense. The creek we were walking beside was gurgling and splashing over rocks and small waterfalls. But there was a gobbling turkey down there, and we went after him! Trading calls back and forth with this gobbler, he seemed intent on getting to us until his girlfriend showed up. She chewed us out for a while, and then you could hear his retreat as he followed her up and over the hill we were at the bottom of. As his gobbling grew more distant until we heard no more, I told Davey, “Come on, I think I know where he’s headed.”. Climbing the steep wooded hillside, we came out on top into a long field and began the walk across the field to the far end. As we started to top a slight rise at the end of the field, I signaled Davey to get down. I asked, “Do you see him?”. Davey says, “Where?”. He was right at the tree line at the end of the field in full strut. Fortunately for us, facing away towards the woods. I pointed at the round fan maybe 35-40 yards away, and I asked “Do you want to shoot?”. He looked at me, grinned, and said, “No, you go ahead.”. Puzzled, I asked again, “Are you sure?”. He grinned again and said, “No, you go ahead.”. Well alright, not sure why he was hesitant to take the shot. As I raised my gun and sight down the barrel, the fan began to quiver then started to turn.
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About the Book
The hunts shared in this book are real, nothing made up. True life experiences sometimes shared with family and friends, or sometimes alone. For many years, I have enjoyed reading westerns imagining what it must have been like and visualizing the events happening as if I was there. That’s what I want to portray: what it was like as if you were there with me. In reading, I was never a fan of “filler” material; I always wanted the writer to get to the “action”. That’s what I am hoping to do in writing these accounts: things that actually happened. The good, the bad, and sideways. What worked, what didn’t, and sometimes the little bit unusual. So load your shotgun, or nock an arrow, try to get comfortable, sit still, and let’s hunt! Did you hear the gobble? He’s over there!
About the Author
Stephen Smith was born and raised outside of the small town of Lancaster, Ohio. After graduating High School, he studied Pre-Engineering at Lipscomb College in Nashville, Tennessee his freshman year before transferring to Ohio University Lancaster for two semesters. Trying to balance work, studies, and starting a family, he was 35-years-old before a friend introduced him to the world of hunting. Out of all of the different animals to hunt, there was something special about turkey hunting that captured his imagination. Sometimes he did things right; sometimes mistakes were made, but he always found there was something to learn. Reading books, watching videos, and listening to other hunters, he soaked in knowledge. Being mostly self-taught, he soon discovered the best teacher was actually the wild turkey. Every spring you will find him in the woods spending time with friends and family, making memories, and having new stories to tell.