Bob Hodge It all works out for turkey-hunting family
Posted By Admin on May 29, 2011
Joe Justice opened turkey season with his stepson not getting a turkey but finding an elk shed. He wrapped things up with his stepson getting a turkey, his wife finding a diamond bracelet and the sun setting on the 2011 season all at about the same time.
To make it all happen, Justice first had to get his wife, Jackie, to agree that turkey hunting on your first anniversary isnt a bad thing. That may not have been that hard since one of the cakes at their wedding was shaped like a gobbler.
Second, he had to convince his stepson Kyle that even though it was late in the afternoon on the closing day of the season he could still bag a bird. Hunting up at the Stooksbury farm in Hancock County meant they also could be fishing the Stooksbury ponds and the fish seemed more like a sure thing than a gobbler.
But things work out.
In East Tennessee the last day of the season was broken up by rain and it wasnt any different in Hancock County. In the morning they had worked birds, but no shots had been fired. When Justice heard some post-rain storm gobbling in the afternoon, he and Kyle and Jackie went after them.
Nothing. Still, birds that like to gobble a lot in the afternoon make it hard to put away the shotguns and pick up a fishing rod.
Joe convinced Kyle that he should give it one more try because he wouldnt be out in the woods again until the fall. In the end, the 13-year-old went back up in the ridges, sat tight while Joe called on one side and his mom sat on the other, and watched a gobbler come walking in to about 40 yards.
It started to walk away and I told him he had to shoot, Justice said. It was a pretty long shot for a 20-gauge. When he shot, the bird went out of sight and he thought he had missed.
He didnt. Justice found the bird.
So how did his wife find a diamond bracelet?
Part of being allowed to hunt on your anniversary is making sure your wife is well compensated, so Joe slipped it around the legs of his stepsons first turkey. Jackie then had to be convinced that she – and only she – could pick up the turkey and position it for a picture.
At first she didnt even notice it, Justice said.
When she did it was hugs and kisses all the way around.
Other turkey hunters, especially those who were married between late March and mid-May, should take note.
Short-Lived Success: It appears the legislators that have it in for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wont have much longer to celebrate.
House Speaker Beth Harwell released a statement earlier this week saying that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commissions Sunset Law that was not extended during this past legislative session – meaning the TWRC would go away and the TWRA would have until June 30, 2012 to shut down – will be extended when the legislature goes back into session next year.
Rep. Jim Cobb (R-Rhea Co.), chairman of the House Governmental Operations Committee, didnt bring the sunset extension up for a vote a couple of weeks back, effectively putting TWRA into wind-down mode beginning July 1.
I can confidently assure Tennesseans that the TWRC will continue to lead the way for outdoorsmen and conservationists in our state, said Harwell. The legislature appreciates hearing from concerned sportsmen and constituents. I look forward to continuing this dialogue between the legislature, the TWRC, and citizens.
The commission will not shut down, and will continue to serve Tennesseans. The State House will be acting in January to ensure the extension of the TWRC.
Harwell said TWRC will be extended until 2016, which means legislative threats and shenanigans can be put on hold for a few years.
Bob Hodge is a freelance contributor.
Comments