By Trent Caruthers
(age 14)

The first day of turkey season was my first day to ever go turkey hunting. I was really excited and looking forward to this adventure. I really didn¹t expect much because some acquaintances told me it was difficult to call the birds out especially on my first shoot.

The guy who took me that was doing the calling also told me he had never been able to call any birds out on the first day of the season. Also, it took him 3 years to kill his first bird. Even with all this information I was still looking forward to the day.

I had to get up early around 3:00 A.M. to get into the woods to set up. When we got into the woods it was dark, wet and hollow sounding. There was enough light to find our way. Once we got set up, it was such an incredible experience to hear the woods wake up and come to life. You could hear the sun warming the earth.

The wetness turned crisp as it dried out. The birds began their morning greeting. At this point it was worth the trip just to experience this wakening. The guy I was with, Chuck Sullivan, was the experienced hunter. He was going to do the calling and I was going to do the shooting. We could hear some gobblers at a distance. My heart began racing and I knew we were going to get a turkey! Chuck began calling the birds. I was patiently waiting and trying not to breathe too deep.

Suddenly we heard the turkeys fly across the river coming our way. Chuck told me to get ready. We never got these birds in site. They stayed at a safe distance from us. This set of birds left and to our amazement four gobblers in the opposite direction heard this commotion and came into site. I spotted them and Chuck said SHOOT! I got him!

When the gobbler dropped I couldn't tell who was more excited between Chuck and I. I still think of this experience with great excitement.

My first turkey hunt is definitely not my last.

I am hooked for life.