How fast can a mature gobbler run? How fast can a mature gobbler run while being chased by a camo clad, petite blond from Pennsylvania bent on catching him before he becomes airborne? I don't know either, but I do know this scenario happened during a recent turkey hunt.
The big cottonwood tree standing in the edge of the milo field had a double trunk. Perfect for concealing turkey hunters who had traveled long distances to capture a turkey hunt on video. Videographer Travis Reynolds from Arkansas joined up with Mike Raum and wife Denise from Pennsylvania in the pre-dawn darkness at the base of the big double trunked tree. Travis and Mike faced one direction and Denise, who is the Pro Staff Director sat with her back to the tree facing in the opposite direction. The problem here was the fact that Denise had killed a gobbler the day before the camera crew had arrived. In this particular Kansas turkey zone a nonresident can kill only one gobbler, so it was not possible for Denise to kill another turkey for the television program. Mike had acted as guide for Denise, calling in her gobbler, also getting part of the hunt on video but not enough to complete the story and the footage was shot on a non-commercial quality camera. Mike would be the designated shooter for this hunt and hopefully Travis would capture the hunt on camera. The twist to the hunt came in the fact that Denise would be the hunter who would be the first to reach the downed gobbler due to the fact that this was the part of her hunt that we did not have on video.
We had discussed this the night before when I had met with the group of hunters and videographers to put a game plan into action. It is difficult enough to put a gobbler on the ground on a consistent basis, but it is considerably more difficult to get the job done and capture it on video, especially when in new territory on a very short time span. As Executive Producer of the program, I felt we had to make the most of the limited amount of time we had so the decision was made to complete the footage of Denise's hunt if possible. Denise had harvested her Rio gobbler sitting at the base of the double trunked tree and there were a lot of turkeys in the area so it was the place of choice for them on this hunt.
As dawn slowly crept across the wind-swept Kansas plains the turkeys became active and it did not take long for them to descend onto the field near the cottonwood. A hen approached the tree on Denise's side, coming within twenty feet of the well camoed huntress before feeding off into the milo field. Denise could not communicate with Mike and Travis so she was left to wonder what was happening on the opposite side of the tree. Normally when a hen comes in, there will be a gobbler close by and in a few minutes Denise caught a glimpse of movement which materialized into a mature Rio Grand gobbler with a long beard dangling off his chest. She expected Mike to shoot at any moment and as anticipated a shotgun blast roared across the milo field. To Denise's surprise the old longbeard did not even flinch. "I think he missed" she thought as she burst from her hiding place. Instantly, the longbeard broke into a run, not sure what had happened and uncertain of just what kind of creature he was running from. As the gobbler shifted into overdrive with Denise in hot pursuit, Mike was shouting "Denise, get the gobbler!" "What does he think I'm doing? Maybe I should tell him that he missed!" she was thinking as she ran faster after the now fully startled gobbler. The longbeard finally went airborne with the swift little blond close behind. "Does he want me to keep chasing the turkey? He's not even hit!" she was thinking when she heard Mike shout "Denise! Over here!"
Abandoning her pursuit of the terrified, flying turkey, Denise turned to see Travis and Mike peeking around the tree, trying hard not to go into a hysterical fit of laughter at what they had just witnessed. Reassessing the situation, Denise concluded that Mike had shot another gobbler on the other side of the tree so she ran past the hunters and tree to see a gobbler lying in the milo field. With the adrenaline and excitement running at peak levels, she rushed to the fallen gobbler's side and hoisted him above the green milo for all to see. What a dramatic ending to a great Kansas turkey hunt for a girl from Pennsylvania who, by the way, can run almost as fast as a spooked turkey!
