Phillip Wilson bags trophy gobbler
By By Otha Barham / outdoors editor
April 25, 2003
A week ago, young Phillip Wilson made his first ever spring turkey hunt. He was the guest of Ricky Sullivan, an excellent turkey hunter with years of experience pursuing the elusive birds. The pair set up at daylight adjacent to an old broom sage field. Sullivan placed decoys nearby and began to call.
Switching callers, Ricky was giving gobblers within earshot a variety of turkey talk in an effort to find the sound that would fire up the birds. When he stroked out notes on his fourth caller, an M.L. Lynch box, a hen responded and two huge gobblers and a jake came running toward the hidden hunters and their decoys.
Wilson readied his gun and sat motionless as the drama unfolded before their eyes. "One gobbler jumped onto one of the decoys and tore it up," he recalled. The active gobblers were spinning around, not offering a sure shot, so Phillip held his fire. "There was just a narrow opening through which Phillip could shoot and one gobbler kept going back and forth through it chasing the jake," said Sullivan. "I told him when he came through to shoot him."
Taking aim
Finally the tom stepped into the clear and Phillip's shot from the 20 gauge Mossberg pump was true. The 18-pound gobbler had curved spurs an inch and an eighth long and an eleven and one quarter inch beard. And the two hunters could not be sure Phillip's bird was the bigger of the two toms. Most turkey hunters spend many seasons in search of a trophy like this one, and some never bag one.
Phillip is a fourth grader at Poplar Springs Elementary School who likes social studies. His parents are Duke and Caroline Wilson. He has a brother, Sam.
Hunting wild turkey gobblers in the spring is not a sport for every youngster. Although this hunt was relatively easy, most hunts result in the enjoyment of a lot of scenery and encounters with wildlife, but with little to show for the time except the memories of distant gobbles. For their first hunts, youngsters should be taken afield for game that offers relatively quick chances for success; game like squirrels or deer.
Back for more
In Phillip's case, he already liked hunting and was ready to take on the challenge that wild turkeys present. The day following his success he went back to the woods again with Sullivan and when the early morning hunt was over, Phillip didn't want to leave. The young hunter has patience. And he is gaining experience that could bring him a lifetime of appreciation for the outdoors.
Every turkey hunt has its own story and telling the details of each hunt is what turkey hunters like to do. (Note: When the listener is another turkey hunter, the details of any story cannot be accepted as the truth. Turkey hunters deceive each other in order to protect hunt areas.) Ricky Sullivan stood aside and let Phillip tell his story. It is a wise mentor who does not steal thunder from a youngster who is bursting to tell his hunt story.
Phillip Wilson took a rare trophy gobbler on his very first hunt for them. In the years ahead he will look back many times on this exceptional adventure. And if he duels spring gobblers often, he will grow to realize just how special this hunt really was.
