Rough Draft Essay #1....

Hunting is a sport that many people participate in all around the world. Many avid hunters say that it isn’t a passion, but its an obsession. There are many types of game that people hunt and many different reasons why they hunt. As you can see in my image I love to hunt. My favorite game to hunt are turkeys. I hunt because I love the outdoors, enjoy spending time with both my father Paul and my fiancé Doug and lastly, I love to eat wild game.

I am going to share with you a very memorable hunt that sticks out in my mind. It was a cold, foggy March morning. The sun was not up yet when Doug and I arrived to our hunting spot. We got out very quietly and geared up to hike in. My gear was a little awkward to put on because I was eight months pregnant with my daughter Stella Rose. We loaded our guns ever so quietly so we would not disturb the turkeys in the nearby trees. Once we were all geared up we headed off into the woods to find a good place to set up.

Doug and I hiked in approximately one mile until we found the perfect spot. We cautiously crawled out into the dew filled meadow to set up our decoys. We were racing against the sun that was starting to peak over the mountain ranges in the distance. We were successful in getting our decoys set up without being spotted by the turkeys, so now we had to find cover to sit in. I remember I had to find something quite large to hind my massive belly behind. I found a huge oak tree to set up against. Doug also found a tree right next to me to sit against. We pulled down our face masks to blend in with the colors of nature and to hide our light skin tones. Now the hunt was on. We sat for about twenty-five to thirty minutes before the turkeys woke up and started to gobble. When you hear that first gobble your adrenaline starts pumping uncontrollably. Once I was able to calm down and regain my composure it was time to start calling to the turkeys.

I began calling to the turkeys with soft yelps. Soon after I called I had a male turkey respond to my call by gobbling to me. For those who don’t hunt a male turkey is called a tom and a female is called a hen. I was pretending to be a hen trying to attract a tom. I responded back to the tom a little louder so he knew I really wanted him. We kept calling back and forth to each other until he was fairly close. I looked up from my hiding spot to see if I was able to see where he was. I saw him making his way around a large boulder as he was headed down the hillside right towards our decoys. My adrenaline started pumping uncontrollably again. I knew it was time to start raising my shotgun into shooting position. Once I had my gun up it was just a matter of time until he was mine.

The tom continued down the hill puffing out into full strut. All his fathers were fanned out displaying his beauty to me, “the hen.” He strutted and gobbled around our decoys ever so masculine like for about ten minutes. He put on quite a show for Doug and I. Once he was in shooting range, at about thirty yards from where I was sitting, I aimed at his bright blue and red head. Once my sights were set on his head I let out a loud put, which in turkey language means danger. This makes the turkeys tuck their feathers back in and extend their heads out to look for danger. Once he extended his out, making a great target, bang he was down. I had shot him square in the head. I was so excited. Doug and I were then able to come out from cover at that point and walk to where my kill was laying waiting to be claimed. The tom was laying in a beautiful patch of wild lavender and yellow flowers. It was a beautiful sight to see those flowers covered in a nice shade of red. I know this sounds terrible, but it is a hunters humor.

Doug helped me pick up the tom and drape it over my shoulder. When you’re pregnant you aren’t supposed to carry anything heavy, but I wasn’t going to let anyone else pack out my kill. It is the best part of the hunt to get your back covered in blood from a fresh kill. Again a sick hunters thing! Once we made our way back to the pickup it was photo shoot time. Doug took many pictures of the turkey and I, but out of all of them the one I chose to post captured the same smile I had on my face once I knew I had killed the tom.

I have to say that this was one of my most memorable hunts since I had the two loves of my life with me. Nothing beats sitting out in nature watching and incredible sunrise, hearing all of nature waking up around you. For the few hours we spend out in the woods hunting and killing turkeys we feel like god. We hold the turkeys fate in our hands. I have enjoyed hunting since I was three years old walking along my dad’s side deer hunting. Hunting is the way that we put one hundred percent organic food on our table and spend time with the ones we love. I hope that you have enjoyed the story of the most memorable hunt I have ever had.