Ben McDonald bags trophy gobbler

By By Otha Barham / outdoors editor
April 18, 2003
Perhaps the finest trophy turkey gobbler taken so far in the area was a 20 pound bird with inch and a quarter spurs and four beards. The equal of this outstanding gobbler has not been collected recently by me or anyone I know except Paul Brown of Brandon who took a record book bird last year in Missouri.
But the story here, rather than being about the remarkable bird, is about the hunter who fooled him. One would expect the hunter to be one of the old turkey hunting fraternity, a sage of considerable years of seasoning, stalking, calling and concealment skills. Or one could visualize a novice taking such a gobbler with assistance from an experienced hunter and a measure of luck. In this case, neither was true.
Ben McDonald, who sought the bird, called the turkey to bag and collected him by himself, is a young man of only 18 years and with just three years turkey hunting experience. Luck you say? Nope. Here's why Ben was able to bring home this exceptional gobbler.
He has listened to good turkey hunters, watched videos and television programs on turkey hunting and learned everything he could from his hours in the woods seeking the elusive spring gobblers. And he has sorted out the really important aspects of the sport and has learned how to apply them in an astonishingly short period of time.
Quick study
I know this because I have known Ben for some time and also because I turkey hunted with him on the hunt just prior to one that yielded his bird of a lifetime. His knowledge of wild turkeys astounded me.
Ben McDonald lives near where the four corners of Lauderdale, Neshoba, Kemper and Newton counties join. He is a 10th grader at Neshoba Central High School who likes subjects that build on his interest in environmental science. He wants to work eventually in this field, perhaps with wildlife and fisheries management.
His first turkey hunts were with his cousin Michael Pierce and uncle Ronnie Smith. He learned fast, bagging a gobbler each of his first two seasons.
Ben has access to the property known as Camp Opportunity, a wooded property lent to Wheelin' Sportsman/the National Wild Turkey Federation by a timber company for use by hunters with disabilities or life threatening illnesses. Camp Opportunity is managed by Ben's father, Lee McDonald.
Ben invited this writer to accompany him on a hunt on that property several days back. We scouted the area one afternoon and saw plenty of turkey sign, including the distinctive wingtip marks in some bare dirt where a gobbler had strutted right in the road.
Weather woes
Our hopes were high the next morning but the weather was against us that day, with rain and wind discouraging the tom turkeys from gobbling. We sneaked into the woods before dawn on a long woods road. A log in an opening provided a seat where we rested and waited for action. Some hens were roosted nearby and one made the tiniest of clucks that was all but lost among the calls of dozens of songbirds that were waking up the world.
My experienced ears picked up the quiet "pert," and I turned to tell Ben about it only to see him looking at me and asking, "Did you hear that?" The hen made the soft sound several times and Ben heard every one, including some that I didn't hear. And he knew what the muted calls were.
Ben's ability to stay still and be patient is surprising for a fellow of his age. Before our hunt ended, I felt I should be asking his advice on setting up, calling and the other aspects of turkey hunting instead of taking the lead myself on the hunt.
I was really put in my place when Ben bagged the trophy tom with four beards on his very next turkey hunt which he made alone. The big bird came quickly to his mouth yelper and Ben shot a little low with his New England single shot 20 gauge. He had to reload quickly to dispatch the bird and he got off the second shot so fast that his mother, who heard the shots from their home, said they seemed to come from an autoloading shotgun.
Ben is making his turkey hunting skills pay off. He is an excellent deer hunter as well and he seems to bag more game than the rest of us considering the limited hours he has to spend in the woods.
If spring gobblers have been giving you the slip and you are in need of advice on how to come home with a big tom slung over your shoulder, talk with Ben McDonald.