Huddled in my New York office yesterday, far away from where any wild turkeys roam (except the one that has been spotted down in Battery Park, which is a whole other story), I was diligently editing an article for our June/July issue, when my phone rang.
It was Chris Kirby and Ernie Calandrelli with Quaker Boy Game Calls. They were in their truck heading south to Estill, S.C., where the state’s Low Country turkey season came in with sunrise this morning. They were pumped and ready to kick off what they plan to be a great season for their show, Born To Hunt. With weather in the low 40s at a clear sunrise and climbing to 71 by midmorning, it should be a great opening day for S.C. hunters. From there, the crew will head to Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, New York and maybe even Canada! Yeah, they’ll get a little hunting in this spring it sounds like. In South Carolina until Saturday, they promised to call in with any good news.
Indeed, it’s the first time in at least seven years that I haven’t been in the woods on March 15 trying to strike up an opening day gobbler or two. In fact, I managed to fill my tag on three of those seven openers and while hunting with a friend, Tom Rolka, got to watch one miss on a rainy morning back in 2003. (Yeah buddy, I didn’t forget!) Not being in the woods at this moment, I feel sort of like a kid on Christmas, where Santa forgot to swing by.
I know a lot of turkey hunters are feeling that jones right now as their opener draws near and hopefully some of you have plans to travel south early to hit a season before it gets to you. I know I blow out of here on Friday for sunny Florida and it can’t come soon enough.
Good friend and outdoor writer, Steve Hickoff, a Mainer who knows only too well the suffering that is endured by northern turkey hunters who must listen to their southern comrades gloat while their season lies still more than a month away, penned an interesting piece for ESPN Outdoors Web Site, on the challenges of traveling to find those seasons that are in. Check it out by clicking here.