Bet your Boots
Lauren Brady for SPLIT REED
March 16, 2020. It was the Monday after opening weekend of turkey season in Mississippi. I had just gotten back from Spring Break. My good friends Ryan Hiskey, Austin Boyd, Jed Lamb, Ben Williams and I decided to hunt off the Tombigbee River on the Corps of Engineering ground outside of West Point. Mississippi public land is no joke. I grew up hunting with my father and had heard horror stories of how hard it was to kill a turkey on public land. It's full of other hunters on every ridge and old, smart birds staying quiet. But boy, it sure is rewarding when you make it happen.
After stopping at the Love’s gas station in West Point, I asked Jed what the key to killing a turkey was. He said, “Lauren I’m going to tell you, it’s luck.” We put in by boat on the Tombigbee River on a brisk, clear morning and decided to split up. Jed and I headed to our first spot we picked out as Ryan, Austin and Ben headed to another. Jed and I tied the boat off on a tree at a large ridge and hiked our way up. It was still dark outside, and as the sky was beginning to lighten up, we walked up on some fresh scratching. As we got to the top of the ridge and what opened up to a four-wheeler trail, I locked eyes with another hunter. Jed and I turned and quickly made the trek back down the ridge. We jumped in the boat and headed to another spot.
We walked a good bit as the sun came up - stopping to listen. Walking up onto another hunter in the distance, we headed in the other direction on the same piece of land. We found a good spot and decided to sit down to listen for a while. After having a hen almost run straight into us, my hopes jumped, wishing a big ol’ Tom was right behind her. We spent the next couple of hours fighting off mosquitoes and finally decided to take a break to grab some lunch; we met up with the other three on the water - typical white bread and lunch meat sandwiches. Three days into turkey season and we were all beginning to become frustrated with the Eastern gobblers we were chasing. After discussing what we should do that afternoon to make sure we put a turkey in the boat, Jed and I decided to go back to the first spot we stopped at that morning.
The sun had finally come up and it was getting warm out. Reaching high 70’s and walking man-made levees, we decided to finally sit down in a food plot. We picked a spot along the East side with the river to our backs. We were patient and sweaty; trying to listen for gobbles while ignoring the heavy buzz of mosquitoes in our ears. 1:45 p.m. After sweating for an hour, I had to get my long johns off. As I took my boots off and began to wiggle my pants down all while sitting in my chair, I heard a beautiful, robust gobble from behind me. With Jed sitting to my back right, in a yelling whisper, he says, “Don’t move”. I grabbed my gun and placed it on my leg as I waited for him to walk up the ridge and step out into the food plot. Doing my absolute best to not move a single muscle, I looked down at my white thighs and realized I had been caught with my pants down! I remember finally seeing him stepping out from the woods into the open green and the entire world goes silent; only hearing the thudding of my own heartbeat. I told myself ‘breathe, you’re not missing this bird in front of Jed Lamb, [lol]’. The tom made his way towards the decoy in front of me, into the perfect position. As he strutted a 360 around the decoy, I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger - with my boots in front of me and pants below my knees.
What felt like 2 minutes was really 10 seconds as I watched this massive bird at 30 yards of me roll and flop dead. As the noise of the real world started to fill my ears, Jed and I cheered in excitement. I had just harvested my very first Eastern turkey, tripled bearded with 1.15-inch spurs. As we jumped up, and I put my boots back on and we ran out to a beautiful bird. There is so much patience that comes with turkey hunting. There is this overwhelming feeling of peace after you harvest a turkey. The feeling of being fully in the presence of God - taking in the beauty of the land around you and this massive turkey laying in front of you. The grin on my face took hours to finally soften. This experience is something I hope to never forget. I’m still looking to fill my two other tags in Mississippi, but, as always, this public land is no joke.
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