A Tale of Tom Turkey – Jaylynn’s Essay

I love taking other people hunting and fishing for the first time and watching the spark in their eyes when they experience these sports for the first time, especially kids. Last year in the spring a friend of mine and I had a plan to take his daughter for the youth turkey hunt.

More often then not, kids are really up front about if they are having a good time or not, and I knew that Jaylynn had fun, but I never imagined she would recount her story like this. She wrote this for a chance to win a bow as her essay, and I cannot express how much this moved my heart. Thank you Jaylynn for such a wonderful tale of our adventure, I cannot wait to do it again!

When I tell you this was one of the most exhilarating experiences in my life, I mean it was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. Last year, around the end of April, my dad decided to bring me down to Cummington, Mass, to meet up with an experienced turkey hunter, Sheryl. My dad had asked me if I wanted to go prior, explaining how the hunter had taken my older brother turkey hunting and ended up being able to get him his first jake. I told him I wanted to go, curious of the idea, though I had assumed it wouldn’t be the most adrenaline-filled experience, considering the stories I’ve heard of my dad’s past experiences. Even so, a couple days later Sheryl pulled up to our house with her 4-10. We gave her a nice breakfast alongside our own as a welcome. A nice sunnyside egg over toasted bread with cheese and sausage. Scrumptious. Now, from what I had gathered(I was kinda tired that morning,) we were going out to shoot at my uncle’s property to see which gun I was most comfortable with, which unironically happened to be the 4-10. It was easy on my shoulder when firing and not too heavy. Once I had figured out what gun I would be shooting, it was time for action. Me and my dad then drove for about two hours over to Sheryl’s house to meet up for a second time to sort of brief over what was going to happen. Afterwards, Sheryl let us sleep in her dad’s old trailer for the night, which was actually a pretty nice experience by the way. In the morning, Sheryl had offered up her shower but both of us declined nicely and just decided to get ready. Getting into my hunting gear for the first time was definitely an experience. It felt like Iwas about to get ready for war and shoved into combat. Maybe that was just the nerves talking but hey, it’s my story to tell. Even put my hair up into a nice sleek low bun for the occasion. Now off to battle I go! Alright, alright, now for what you guys are actually reading this for. In the morning we set out into the fields and got settled for a moment with our hot coco. We waited for a while and got a small chance but in the end, the place was a dud for me. After that we were basically hopping off from spot to spot, scouring out where those birds were. Boy was that a fun experience, everyone was cracking jokes and laughing out loud, the sun was high in the sky and all the while we saw deer after deer grazing out in the fields. And to top it off, while we were out, it wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t too cold, the breeze felt amazing and the air’s aroma smelt like fresh pine trees. Now over the course of the day we didn’t have too much luck, which was upsetting. My dad even asked me if I wanted to call it quits, but I was actually having a really good time. So, I told my dad heck no! Sheryl was right with me on that one. And then we were off to our final stop, the powerlines. The Sun was pretty low at this time, making it a bit hard to see as we quietly made our way down the rocky path. Soon enough, we found ourselves a good spot slightly uphill with a separate ledge that we had decided to slouch down on and get ourselves comfy. Sheryl tells me she sees a couple jakes up ahead. I lean back and steady my gun, turning into a statue almost. Sheryl lets out a few calls, letting them know a ‘hen’ is around. Sheryl tells me they’re heading our way, and fast, so I ready my gun, but wait just a moment before I take off the safety. I couldn’t see any of the jakes because I was uphill and slouched(and sadly my short stature doesn’t do me much justice.) But then, something weird happened, the jakes started to lose interest and ran away. I was confused at first, but that’s when I saw him. A big, massive, tank of a tom with a long, mighty beard. 

“Sheryl, should I shoot?” 

Sheryl hadn’t seen the turkey yet, but when she did, she started shaking like a maraca in the hand of a Mexican who just got his tacos. I was a little ways behind her on that one, I didn’t know how but somehow I was able to manage to keep myself still. It was like a game of cat and mouse at that point, only this time the mouse was a bit smarter than most. The tom went around us completely, surveying the area in a way. At one point the turkey had been right behind me according to my dad, but I didn’t dare move. My dad also said that the turkey had even been close enough to where he could smack him in the head. However, sadly at the end of the day, that tank little turkey had run away. He was lucky it was my first time. But that’s pretty much how the day had ended. So we went back to Sheryls house, slept our day away, then headed back home. I will never forget that day.

By Jaylynn Hassell 

Age 14