The Sportsman's Corner

When I was on the "Disabled List" for a number of weeks during March and early April, I did lots of reading. One of the books I re-read was Gene Nunnery's "The Old Pro Turkey Hunter." I'd read it 35 years ago, but I didn't remember much of it. One of the things that stood out as I read it was the set of rules Nunnery's mentor, Gabe Meadow, believed that honest turkey hunters needed to abide by. Meadow said that to "retain the unique challenge of real wild turkey hunting, you had to...give the turkey a sporting chance." That way a gobbler could defeat even the best of turkey hunters.

Anyhow, Meadow's code stated that an ethical hunter should "...go into a turkey's domain with shotgun and call...and do [his] best to kill him – one on one. [He does] this without bait, high-power scoped rifles,...blinds, other hunters, [food] plots, decoys, roost shooting, tree houses, etc."

Nunnery notes that only about 10 percent of the people who hunt turkeys can consistently kill them when abiding by this code.

That got me thinking about modern turkey hunting. Many hunter-writers extol the virtues of blinds and decoys, noting how these can improve a person's chances for success. Nunnery wouldn't consider these people "real" turkey hunters. In fact, blinds and decoys have spawned a modern industry that makes and sells both for exorbitant prices. Decoys advertised in catalogues can run more than a hundred dollars. Blinds can set you back a similar amount.

Reading this code also made me think of something I told Bob, my son, last spring after I had hunted two new-to-me places. The woods bordering the open spots in both areas are so thick that a hunter can't begin to wend his way through. "The only way to kill a turkey either place would be to set a decoy in one of the openings and try to call a bird to the opening and hope the gobbler saw the decoy."

"Dad, you'd have to be pretty desperate to do that," Bob scolded. "I'd be ashamed of you if you did. You ought to be able to call a gobbler there without a decoy."

Well, I haven't told Bob, but I dug out an old decoy of Dad's for this year – just in case.

Bob's code of ethics pretty much mirrors the one Nunnery's friend developed. I think the only difference is that Bob is willing to hunt with another hunter – me. Since he's a better hunter than I am, I am grateful for his help.