ARTICLES
Rick Clark and Turkeys

The middle of March brings about the second greatest pleasure, calling gobblers to the shotgun. This was the first season in eight years I haven’t gone out of state to turkey hunt. I did have the best season I’ve ever had in Alabama. I got my limit and called in four more Toms for other people.

Let me tell you about a young man that will never be the same. Shane Helms "was" a deer hunter and a pretty good one. After his first two hours turkey hunting he was ready to quit deer hunting. The same thing that happened to me back in the 70’s happened to Shane.
Shane invited me to hunt with him in north Alabama near Natural Bridge. He informed me he had no shotgun, headnet or any turkey hunting gear.

I fixed him up with a Benelli, a handful of shells and a headnet. They were gobbling when we walked from the truck in the dark. The first Tom we went to flew from the roost to a tree in the middle of a clearcut. Pinned down we had to crawl and duck walk away from his sharp eyes while he gobbled his guts out. We went to two more gobbling every breath. We set up perfect and here comes a longbeard and a Jake. At 25 yards I’m whispering for him to shoot either bird. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the barrel push forward two times as he tried to shoot with the safety on.

As they walked away he gobbled but wouldn’t come back. Shane was about to puke. After a little pep talk and breath catching we went to another bird. We made a great move this time and another longbeard came straight to us. This time we watched him strut from beyond 100 yards all the way in. He kept his act together long enough to make a good shot and his first gobbler was behind him by 7:30 am. I was probably as excited as him although he didn’t think so.

The next day he probably spent close to $1000 for a shotgun, calls and accessories. He is ruined. As if that wasn’t enough, the next weekend he and my son Brannon went back to the same spot. Brannon called in 2 gobblers and Shane got another big Tom. By now he is ready to quit his job. During the next few weeks he learns a lot of lessons about the nature of a turkey.

The last week of the season he invited me to help again. He and Brannon were having trouble with a bird that gobbled a lot every morning. We went after him 3 mornings and couldn’t get it right. On the third morning we walked up on a large copperhead that struck at me. Since the Tom was gobbling I didn’t want to shoot so I cut a switch to kill the snake with. I’m pretty sure Shane wanted to shoot the snake more than a turkey.

Three days before the season ended we went after him again. It was sweltering hot and humid but Shane wore his snake leggings. He nearly overheated. He doesn’t like snakes. This time we made the right move and he got his third gobbler.

Shane’s wife Kristy is very understanding now. But she is going to hear a lot of calling practice for the next 10 1/2 months. I may get Kristy a pair of earplugs for her birthday. Shane is getting her a full mounted gobbler.

If you’ve never been to Burnt Corn, Alabama you missed a treat. I had the pleasure of hunting with Carson Kimbrough on the property he acquired in September 2003. He is in the process of transforming the property into a paradise for deer, quail and turkeys.

The first time we hunted together was a blast. We roosted a Tom that gobbled three times in the tree. That was a mistake on the Tom’s part. The next morning we set up within 100 yards of him. After he flew down, a fly down cackle and some light yelping was all it took. Carson blasted him at 36 steps.
Well it’s going to be a long hot summer.
Between fishing and enjoying my grandson Brody, maybe I’ll make it.