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Speaker 1: Welcome to this country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves.

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Speaker 1: From coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

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Speaker 1: I want you to stay a while as I share

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Speaker 1: my experiences and life lessons. This country life is presented

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Speaker 1: by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you

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Speaker 1: the best outdoor podcast.

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Speaker 2: The airwaves have to offer.

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Speaker 1: All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tailgate.

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Speaker 1: I've got some stories to share. Brave turkeys and squeaky fences.

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Speaker 1: I'm all about some turkey hunting. And this week we've

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Speaker 1: got two great examples of the crazy things that go

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Speaker 1: on chasing what the one hundred dollars bill guy wanted

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Speaker 1: for our National bird Pay attention when you're out amongst them,

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Speaker 1: and you'll see some wild things. And I'm going to

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Speaker 1: tell you all about it. But first I'm going to

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Speaker 1: tell you a story. The first offering is from TCL

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Speaker 1: listener Nick Sorenson. Nick lives all the way up in

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Speaker 1: northeast Iowa and has a great turkey story I want

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Speaker 1: to share with you. So in Nick's words and my voice,

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Speaker 1: here we go. I just recently moved into a new

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Speaker 1: area and was looking for places that were close to

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Speaker 1: my new home to hunt. I stumbled upon an unlikely

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Speaker 1: piece of public land that was not too far away,

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Speaker 1: but it seemed kind of hard to access due to

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Speaker 1: a river. Now, I had seen turkeys in that area,

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Speaker 1: but most of them were on private land. I figured

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Speaker 1: out there was a small section of public that you

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Speaker 1: could access by waiting through an ox bow, so I

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Speaker 1: made a plan to do that on opening day. I

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Speaker 1: showed up early, since I didn't have time to roost

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Speaker 1: birds the night before. When I say early, I mean

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Speaker 1: like two or three hours before shooting time. This gave

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Speaker 1: me enough time to get a little blind belt and

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Speaker 1: hopefully not disturbed the birds no too much if they

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Speaker 1: were very close. The forest started waking up and the

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Speaker 1: gobblers started going nuts. However, I was facing the wrong direction,

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Speaker 1: but I felt like the birds were.

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Speaker 2: Too close to make a change. I was committed.

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Speaker 1: I'm sitting next to a dead oak, looking north in

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Speaker 1: a gobbler about eighty yards in front of him.

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Speaker 2: Finally let out a gobble.

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Speaker 1: I couldn't see him on the roofs, but I saw

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Speaker 1: him when he pitched down a couple minutes later, and

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Speaker 1: I must have got a little too close because he

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Speaker 1: made a big loop around me and my decoys. The

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Speaker 1: next couple of hours were uneventful and gobbles man, they

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Speaker 1: were pretty scarce. Eventually, the overwhelming urgs to let loose

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Speaker 1: on the outside, all that I had been drinking that

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Speaker 1: morning and was holding on the inside and getting me.

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Speaker 1: I did my best to make sure the coast was clear,

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Speaker 1: and I stood up slowly to take care of business.

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Speaker 1: And I no more got started when I caught the

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Speaker 1: flash of a fan.

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Speaker 2: In the morning light.

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Speaker 1: There stood a tom in his trut zon doing his thing,

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Speaker 1: about fifty yards south of me. The bird turned his

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Speaker 1: back towards me, so I finished up and got myself

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Speaker 1: put back together as fast as I could. The bird

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Speaker 1: made another turn, and I tried my best to be

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Speaker 1: one with a tree, And when he turned his back

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Speaker 1: towards me again, I sat down and got in position,

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Speaker 1: hoping a few soft yelps would draw his attention, and

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Speaker 1: it did not. So there I sat it for another

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Speaker 1: forty five minutes, calling every so often, hoping to entice

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Speaker 1: this turkey into heading my way, who was strutting.

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Speaker 2: Just out of sight. Finally, to my east a group

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Speaker 2: of four hens already making their way past me. I

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Speaker 2: thought to myself, this was it. There's no way, there's

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Speaker 2: not a toime hanging out with these hens. I watched

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Speaker 2: these gals peck their way through the forest, and when

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Speaker 2: all of a sudden, a gobbler nearly spit in my

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Speaker 2: right ear, my eyes darted to the right, and there

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Speaker 2: stood two gobblers at seven yards. They were spitting and

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Speaker 2: drumming like it was going out of style. Once they

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Speaker 2: saw my jake decoy, it was on.

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Speaker 1: They rushed that hunk of plastic to teach him a

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Speaker 1: lesson and show him who was false. And I let

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Speaker 1: him have their fun, using him as a punching bag,

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Speaker 1: bending the steak into oblivion. And then one of them

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Speaker 1: put enough distance between him and his buddy, and bait,

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Speaker 1: I dropped that gobbler like a bad habit. The hens

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Speaker 1: got out of dodge at the shot, but his buddy

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Speaker 1: he didn't fall a suit.

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Speaker 2: Past.

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Speaker 1: I've had birds beat up the fallen comrade or bolt

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Speaker 1: off with the rest of them, but this time he

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Speaker 1: hung around right up until I carried this turkey to

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Speaker 1: the truck. I stood in the woods a while filming

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Speaker 1: this interaction and taking my photo with the bird I shot.

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Speaker 1: If you look in the background of the pictures, you'll

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Speaker 1: see him walking around trying to figure out exactly what

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Speaker 1: was going on.

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Speaker 2: It was a unique experience, to say.

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Speaker 1: The least, and I can't wait to see what Mother

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Speaker 1: Nature has the store for me next week when the

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Speaker 1: second season opens. And according to Nick Sorensen, the brain

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Speaker 1: Trust of Northwest Iowa, that's just how that happened. Well, Nick,

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Speaker 1: I got to tell you Pardner, that sounded like a

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Speaker 1: tall Turkey tale if I ever heard one, But alas

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Speaker 1: it was not. For Nick has provided us with the

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Speaker 1: video and I'll be sharing it over on my Instagram

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Speaker 1: page for all you doubters. Take that Internet detectives. It

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Speaker 1: is really cool and a sight to see.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for sharing. Nick.

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Speaker 1: I talked about Max Kern on episode one Turkey Season Therapy.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Mister Max was ninety when he passed away four years ago,

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Speaker 1: his health deteriorating to the point that the last few

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Speaker 1: years of his life were spent mostly existing, with not

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Speaker 1: much living. Before that, however, Max Kern lived it and

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Speaker 1: was a Turkey killing machine up into his eighties. I

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Speaker 1: met mister Max the first time I traveled with my

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Speaker 1: dad to Missouri to meet him and stay with our

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Speaker 1: friends Toby and married, a tradition that continues now for

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Speaker 1: well over twenty years. Through that annual pilgrimage, I've gotten

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Speaker 1: to know their extended family and friends, brought in my

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Speaker 1: circle of relationships with some of the best folks I've

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Speaker 1: ever been blessed to know. To me, they are a

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Speaker 1: true representation of Americana farmers, builders, and a host of

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Speaker 1: other blue collar talent that operate independently for themselves but

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Speaker 1: also in conjunction with the community. It takes individual effort

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Speaker 1: from them to all be successful as a whole. Now,

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Speaker 1: what's always caught my attention too, is how clean everything is.

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Speaker 1: You can drive from farm to farming, from business to

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Speaker 1: business and see the pride these folks taking how they look.

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Speaker 1: And it's not just regulated to the small community of

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Speaker 1: people and places I've been associated with for so long.

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Speaker 1: It's that whole area of the state at least everything

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Speaker 1: that I've seen. Turkey hunting was the initial draw from

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Speaker 1: my presence there, But just like raw milk sitting on

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Speaker 1: the counter, when given enough time, the cream always rises

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Speaker 1: to the top. The people from this place that have

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Speaker 1: blessed me beyond measure are what keep me wanting to

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Speaker 1: come back way more than the turkeys. Max was one

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Speaker 1: of those people. My friend who I look upon as

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Speaker 1: my brother, Toby Neiemier, introduced me to Max. On my

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Speaker 1: first visit, Dad and I rode over to his house

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Speaker 1: with Toby, and on the way we had to stop

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Speaker 1: to let three strutting gobblers that were making circles in

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Speaker 1: the middle of the road get out of the way

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Speaker 1: so we could pass. I sat in the truck seating,

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Speaker 1: my eyeballs run out on stems like I was in

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Speaker 1: a cartoon, in my.

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Speaker 2: Bottom jaw on the floorboard.

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Speaker 1: Toby bumped a horn and the gobblers hopped over on

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Speaker 1: the shoulder. As soon as we passed, they took right

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Speaker 1: up where they'd left off when we interrupted.

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Speaker 2: Now that was back during the boon.

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Speaker 1: The turkey populations everywhere, when fringe areas of our nation

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Speaker 1: had turk used to some degree, mediocre areas had turkeys

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Speaker 1: in abundance, and historically good turkey areas were busting at

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Speaker 1: the seins. I remember mister Max sitting in the shade

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Speaker 1: of a big oak in his front yard he had

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Speaker 1: just finished mowing. We gathered up a couple more chairs

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Speaker 1: and sat down talking turkeys and colt dogs. The latter

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Speaker 1: being what I was least interested in, my Dad, Max

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Speaker 1: and Toby talking about hounds and me interjecting turkey questions

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Speaker 1: whenever there was a slight falls in the conversation, to

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Speaker 1: the point of visible irritation on the face of my

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Speaker 1: father every time I broke in, taking Max's attention away

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Speaker 1: from chasing colds. Toby's sensing my dad's and noiens, finally

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Speaker 1: stepped in and said, Max, will you take him hunting

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Speaker 1: in the morning so he'll shut.

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Speaker 2: Up before Buddy kills him.

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Speaker 1: I'm thinking to myself, take me hunting. I'm thirty five

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Speaker 1: years old. I don't need this old man to take

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Speaker 1: me hunting. He ain't gonna do nothing but slow me down.

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Speaker 1: He should have just kept my mouth shut and waited

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Speaker 1: until they finished talking about those stupid dogs, and then

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Speaker 1: asked mister Max for some pointers on where I should

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Speaker 1: go myself. Now Toby and his big mouth obligating both

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Speaker 1: of us to hunt together. I don't even know if

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Speaker 1: he wants to. And out of the four of us

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Speaker 1: sitting there talking, three quarters of them were running dog

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Speaker 1: officionados and only half of us turkey hunting. Of the

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Speaker 1: two of us that did, I was only positive that

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Speaker 1: I knew how to kill a turkey. I just met

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Speaker 1: this old man, and even though he seemed spry, fit

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Speaker 1: or whatever you want to call it, he looked older

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Speaker 1: than baseball and to a cat like me, and loved

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Speaker 1: to run.

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Speaker 2: The gun turkeys.

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Speaker 1: It was going to be like dragging a ball and

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Speaker 1: chain around the hills of central Missouri. Please Lord, don't

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Speaker 1: let this old man say yes to Toby's request. Mister

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Speaker 1: Max looked over at me and said, be here in

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Speaker 1: the morning and we'll go. I agreed and thanked him,

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Speaker 1: acted excited and was giving Toby down the road. In

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Speaker 1: my head, you could only hunt until noon in Missouri

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Speaker 1: back then, So I figured I dragged this old man

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Speaker 1: around the woods in the morning for half a day

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Speaker 1: running that hunt, figure out some places to go, and

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Speaker 1: on day two I'd take care of business on my own.

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Speaker 1: I was already preparing myself mentally for the geriatric duty

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Speaker 1: Toby had just volunteered me for. Why did my dad

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Speaker 1: teach me matters? I rolled up at mister Max's the

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Speaker 1: next morning. He was sitting at the dinner table, working

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Speaker 1: on a pot of coffee, his eyes smiling behind the

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Speaker 1: gold frames of his glasses. He was sporting a fresh shave,

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Speaker 1: and his hair was combed as if he was fixing

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Speaker 1: to go to church. He welcomed me inside, offered me

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Speaker 1: a Charrioty's table, and poured me a cup of Joe.

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Speaker 1: We finished that cup, poured the rest of the thermiston

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Speaker 1: here at the door. He drove a red Ford Ranger pickup,

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Speaker 1: and after loading my vest and gun, we tore off

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Speaker 1: down the road at the break next speed of a

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Speaker 1: herd of turtles. I figured that had to be an

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Speaker 1: appropriate barometer for the rest of the day. And even

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Speaker 1: though I'd already capitulated that today was going to be

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Speaker 1: an information gathering session with an old turkey hunter and

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Speaker 1: nothing more, I'm still disappointed that he didn't seem to

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Speaker 1: be in a bigger hurry to get where we were going,

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Speaker 1: even though I didn't know where that was. Eventually, we

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Speaker 1: pulled over the corner of someone's farm that he knew,

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Speaker 1: and got out and waited for gobling time. Can you

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Speaker 1: hoot like an owl? Yes, sir, we'll give them one,

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Speaker 1: I owed, and a turkey gobbled half a mile away.

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Speaker 1: Max snapped his head over at me and said, boy,

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Speaker 1: that was good. I said, yes, sir, you think you

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00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,360
Speaker 1: know where he is? He said, know where who is?

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Speaker 1: I said that gobbler. He said, you heard a turkey.

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00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,840
Speaker 1: I said, yes, sir, and I pointed in the direction

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00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,440
Speaker 1: he'd gobbled. Mister Max looked in that direction, looked back

224
00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:07,320
Speaker 1: at me. He said, no, I can't hear worth of turn.

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Speaker 1: I was talking about your alhod and that's pretty good.

226
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Speaker 1: Pointed that turkey again. Well I did, and he gobbled,

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00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,440
Speaker 1: playing as a coming day that was lighting up the

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Speaker 1: eastern sky about the same time. Mister Max never flinched.

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Speaker 1: You hear him that time? No, I didn't hear nothing.

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Speaker 1: I figured he's about half a mile due south of

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Speaker 1: was mister Max. He told me to get my stuff

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Speaker 1: together and we'd go give him a try. We stepped

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Speaker 1: off the gravel road in the woods, me rolling my

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00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:39,800
Speaker 1: eyes and wishing I was anywhere but on this nursing

235
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Speaker 1: home field trip. And for the next three hours, that

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Speaker 1: gnome sized old man of nearly seventy years tried to

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Speaker 1: kill me, one step at a time as we chased

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Speaker 1: that nomad of a turkey all over Missouri, up and

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Speaker 1: down hill after he'll running and gun with the endurance

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Speaker 1: of a marathon runner. We zigged and zagged behind that turkey,

241
00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,040
Speaker 1: stopping only for me to catch my breath while mister

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00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:06,280
Speaker 1: Max waited patiently.

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Speaker 2: We better get to move and if we're gonna beat

244
00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:15,160
Speaker 2: him to that crossing. He ain't broke sweat, and he was.

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Speaker 1: Wearing a winter coat in april. His breathing wasn't labored.

246
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,640
Speaker 1: I was about to die. My legs ached from climbing

247
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Speaker 1: hills that I don't have to climb in the river

248
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Speaker 1: bottoms where I'm from, and I was gassed like I'd

249
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Speaker 1: been running sprints at the end.

250
00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:31,760
Speaker 2: Of football practice.

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Speaker 1: The dread of having to drag someone through the woods

252
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,560
Speaker 1: had come to fruition that morning, but it was mister

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Speaker 1: Max that was having to do it. You want to

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Speaker 1: sit down and call here for a little bit, see

255
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Speaker 1: if we can get one going. I knew when he

256
00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,440
Speaker 1: said it he was throwing me a bomb, giving me

257
00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,000
Speaker 1: the opportunity to say either no, meaning I'm good, let's

258
00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,640
Speaker 1: go on, or yes. If I don't sit down, I'll

259
00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:00,000
Speaker 1: never make it back to the truck, I squeaked out

260
00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:01,240
Speaker 1: between labored breathing.

261
00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:04,400
Speaker 2: I guess we can sit here for twenty minutes or so.

262
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,680
Speaker 1: We sat down by a big white oak, and mister

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00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,480
Speaker 1: Max began talking to me, talking about the things I've

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00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:14,280
Speaker 1: been asking about the day before, except today. He had

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00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:18,400
Speaker 1: plenty of time to answer while I rested. Didn't take

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00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,600
Speaker 1: long for me to realize I wasn't sitting under that

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Speaker 1: tree with a man that hunted turkeys. I was sitting

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00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:28,920
Speaker 1: beside a show enough turkey hunter. Missouri had an abundance

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Speaker 1: of turkeys, no doubt, but you still had to trick them.

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00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:34,080
Speaker 2: You could have more.

271
00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:36,720
Speaker 1: Opportunities to get on them in high density population, but

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00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,200
Speaker 1: there's a reason Eastern turkeys have the reputation of being

273
00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:45,080
Speaker 1: hard nuts to crack, because they are. We headed back

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00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:47,800
Speaker 1: to the truck, having let that one get away by

275
00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,800
Speaker 1: not being able to get in front of him. Had

276
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,360
Speaker 1: mister Max been by himself and not dragging the ball

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00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,960
Speaker 1: and chain around the woods that looked exactly like me,

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00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,800
Speaker 1: I'm quite sure that turkey would have never lived to

279
00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:04,440
Speaker 1: roosting time. Back of the truck, I guzzled the water

280
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,720
Speaker 1: I left in the seat, and then helped mister Max

281
00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:11,240
Speaker 1: with the coffee that was left. I was drenched with sweat.

282
00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:14,640
Speaker 1: He was still wearing that camouflaged coat. He hadn't broke

283
00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,640
Speaker 1: a sweat. He looked at his watch and said, we

284
00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:19,920
Speaker 1: got time to hit a spot I know before we

285
00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,200
Speaker 1: have to quit. I was glad to sit down and

286
00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,400
Speaker 1: ride for a little bit. We drove for about ten

287
00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,520
Speaker 1: minutes at the same breakneck speed which started the day

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00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,280
Speaker 1: out with the one that had me sitting on the

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00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,400
Speaker 1: edge of the seat before daylight trying to wheel that

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00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:39,200
Speaker 1: truck to go faster. This time, I welcomed the relaxed

291
00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,160
Speaker 1: atmosphere and took the opportunity to pick his brain about

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00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:47,120
Speaker 1: everything related to calling turkeys and finding morell mushrooms, the

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00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,640
Speaker 1: latter of which I had never been exposed to. In

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00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,600
Speaker 1: southeast Arkansas. We pulled up to a low water creek

295
00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:58,080
Speaker 1: crossing between two ag fields. The county had built the

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00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,600
Speaker 1: concrete crossing many moons ago. In recent rains had just

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00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,800
Speaker 1: enough water flowing across it to make it too loud

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00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:08,480
Speaker 1: to stand beside and listen and hear a turkey. He

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00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:10,280
Speaker 1: told me to cross the creek and stand on the

300
00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:14,480
Speaker 1: opposite bank and owl like I had that morning. He'd

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00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:16,679
Speaker 1: do his best to listen on this side and for

302
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,359
Speaker 1: me to concentrate on the side I was on. I

303
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,040
Speaker 1: waited the swift water with ease, and climbed on the

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00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,000
Speaker 1: steep bank of the opposite side and just enough to

305
00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,080
Speaker 1: get away from the sound of the creek. And there

306
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,720
Speaker 1: before me lay about thirty acres of fresh plowed ground.

307
00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,520
Speaker 1: Across that rich black muddy dirt was a fence row,

308
00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,240
Speaker 1: and across that fence was the edge of a pretty

309
00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:44,600
Speaker 1: steep grated hill covered with hardwood. On the opposite end

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00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,720
Speaker 1: of that field sat an old farmhouse that was void

311
00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,600
Speaker 1: of old farmers, but well maintained in their absence by

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00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:55,520
Speaker 1: a younger generation whose inheritance granted them the deed that

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00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:57,080
Speaker 1: their occupations kept.

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00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:01,479
Speaker 2: Them far away in the city. It was peaceful and beautiful.

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00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:05,560
Speaker 1: And a little melancholy all at the same time. I

316
00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:07,680
Speaker 1: looked back at mister Max. He had his hands cup

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00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,679
Speaker 1: behind his ears, listening toward the short side of a

318
00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,720
Speaker 1: cloud field on his side of the creek. And before

319
00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,639
Speaker 1: I could make a peep imitating the barred out, I

320
00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,119
Speaker 1: heard a turkey gobble across the field in front of me,

321
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:22,600
Speaker 1: deep in the woods. I ran back across that creek

322
00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:24,879
Speaker 1: and told him what I'd heard. Let's go, mister Max.

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00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:26,879
Speaker 1: I heard one open up across that field. Up on

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00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,880
Speaker 1: that ridge. I'm going to stay here. You go all

325
00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,080
Speaker 1: across the creek and watch where you go in. I

326
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:35,960
Speaker 1: tried to convince him to go with me, but he

327
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:40,320
Speaker 1: was adamant that I would go by myself. It had

328
00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,400
Speaker 1: been boiling in me all morning, how selfish I'd been

329
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,440
Speaker 1: in my dread of what I thought was Toby more

330
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,000
Speaker 1: or less making me hunt with him, when in reality

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00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,840
Speaker 1: Toby had given me a gift and the privilege of

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00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:59,320
Speaker 1: getting to hunt with him. Now that turkey is working

333
00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,000
Speaker 1: his way down that ridge, just shutting that field, so

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00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,399
Speaker 1: you go. You got to go right now. And with

335
00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:07,679
Speaker 1: that he patted me on the shoulder, the last of

336
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,479
Speaker 1: which pushed me back toward that creek in a trot.

337
00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,520
Speaker 1: I didn't stop until I got across both the creek

338
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,359
Speaker 1: and the plowed ground. I was out of breath and

339
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,320
Speaker 1: hunker down on the edge of the woods beside the

340
00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:23,080
Speaker 1: net wire fence that looked older than mister Max, but

341
00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,840
Speaker 1: not nearly as tough. Time and weather had done a

342
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,880
Speaker 1: number on that post and the wire too, and had

343
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,160
Speaker 1: a cow bent on either side of it, they would

344
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:36,119
Speaker 1: have remained there, more on the honor system than by force.

345
00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,200
Speaker 1: The turkey had gobbled when I was about halfway across

346
00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,280
Speaker 1: that fielding from what it sounded like, he was about

347
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,960
Speaker 1: two hundred yards away. After catching my breath for the

348
00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,119
Speaker 1: second time that day, I placed my hand on the

349
00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,760
Speaker 1: top strand of loose bob wire, pressing down so I

350
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,600
Speaker 1: could straddle it as I crossed. The wire was rusty

351
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,119
Speaker 1: and loose and squeaked loudly like a one note hen yep,

352
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,800
Speaker 1: making that turn gobble as I froze, my left foot

353
00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,600
Speaker 1: on the ground, the other in mid air, my shotgun

354
00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:09,280
Speaker 1: in my right hand, and my left full of antique fencing.

355
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:12,560
Speaker 1: He was no more than thirty yards away, and I

356
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:14,960
Speaker 1: could see the top of his fan just around the

357
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,840
Speaker 1: finger that he'd walked down from the top of that ridge.

358
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,280
Speaker 1: With one motion, I rolled over that fence, sat on

359
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,920
Speaker 1: the ground, and released the wire that squeaked again, snatching

360
00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,080
Speaker 1: another gobble out of that turkey.

361
00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:29,880
Speaker 2: I had just.

362
00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:32,639
Speaker 1: Enough time to shoulder my shotgun and punch off that

363
00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,440
Speaker 1: safety when he stepped out of strut and I sent

364
00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:36,240
Speaker 1: him to glory.

365
00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:41,840
Speaker 2: It was eleven fifty eight. I couldn't believe what had

366
00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:42,480
Speaker 2: just happened.

367
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,760
Speaker 1: I had just called up a turkey with a bobed

368
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,320
Speaker 1: wire fence, and not just any turkey, a twenty six

369
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,840
Speaker 1: pound monster was nearly a foot of beard and on

370
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,400
Speaker 1: the plus side of one inch spurs. It was a

371
00:20:55,520 --> 00:21:00,919
Speaker 1: unique experience, for sure. How many folks can say they

372
00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,920
Speaker 1: did that, even though it was all unintentional, and fate

373
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,000
Speaker 1: had allowed me to be in the right place at

374
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:07,960
Speaker 1: the right time to make a racket that would have

375
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,000
Speaker 1: normally had the opposite effect on my hunt. It was

376
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,840
Speaker 1: a day and a hunt that I'll never forget, but

377
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:18,480
Speaker 1: not for what you'd think.

378
00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 2: I'll never forget it for what didn't happen.

379
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,800
Speaker 1: I didn't get to share the experience with mister Max.

380
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,280
Speaker 1: I only got to tell him about it. Bless his heart,

381
00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,959
Speaker 1: he didn't even hear me shoot. He just raised his

382
00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:36,960
Speaker 1: fists above his head, waving at me when I stepped

383
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:38,960
Speaker 1: out of the shade of the tree line into the

384
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,439
Speaker 1: sunlight of that field, and that monster of Missouri turkey

385
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,800
Speaker 1: over my shoulder like I just kicked the winning field

386
00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:47,200
Speaker 1: goal and the Super Bowl as.

387
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:47,880
Speaker 2: Time ran out.

388
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:54,439
Speaker 1: The plowed muddy ground was mister Max's limiting factor. He

389
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,960
Speaker 1: couldn't walk any very fast, and he knew I could.

390
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:00,760
Speaker 1: He'd waited on me all morning in the hills to

391
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:02,920
Speaker 1: keep up with him, and it had cost us an

392
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,520
Speaker 1: opportunity at a turkey. Time was of the essence on

393
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,080
Speaker 1: this one, and he refused to be the reason I

394
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:14,159
Speaker 1: wouldn't get a second chance. Five minutes earlier, I'd been

395
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,960
Speaker 1: standing with my foot on that turkey's neck, being thankful

396
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,040
Speaker 1: for the blessing and watching the last of his feathers

397
00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:24,960
Speaker 1: relax in permanent rest as his life faded away, respectful

398
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:30,000
Speaker 1: in his demise, elated in my victory, and saddened by

399
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,400
Speaker 1: the absence of my new friend, who would only see

400
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,240
Speaker 1: what I saw as good.

401
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:35,760
Speaker 2: As I could tell the story.

402
00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,960
Speaker 1: Thankfully, there would be other days with mister max in

403
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,560
Speaker 1: lots more turkeys before he couldn't go anymore, and time

404
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:48,959
Speaker 1: eventually ran out on my dominion to friend, Cherish the

405
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 1: Maxis and the Tobys in your life who have enough

406
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:56,400
Speaker 1: foresight to point you in the right direction even when

407
00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,720
Speaker 1: you don't realize it. Thank you so much for listening

408
00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,240
Speaker 1: to this country life, Bear Grease and the render here

409
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 1: on the Bear Grease channel until next week. This is

410
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,280
Speaker 1: Brent Reeves signing off.

411
00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:10,120
Speaker 2: Y'all be careful