Brenda Valentine Wyoming May 9-13, 2009

Getting the opportunity to hunt with Michael Waddell was incredible, and then getting to hunt with Brenda Valentine on the same trip was incomprehensible. On the second day I awoke earlier than the sun once again. Although I was not the one killing anything I was able to tag along on Brenda and Barney Valentine’s hunt. It was Barney’s first time shooting a Merriam’s turkey and I felt privileged to be along for the ride. Barney was up first, the rising sun painted the sky a soft shade of purple. Up on a ridge, a flock of turkeys strutted with the Wyoming sunrise as their back drop. Brenda and Barney sat against two separate trees with their guns pointed towards the empty field, waiting in anticipation. Two gobblers strutted in, Barney smoked his, and Brenda pulled her trigger and missed. We all watched as her bird made a clean getaway. She got up, laughed it off and was beyond excited about Barney’s bird. Brenda has no problem with the fact that she had missed, she didn’t beat herself up over it, she simply said “everyone misses, and with all the hunting I do, it’s bound to happen.” She showed more grace and poise then I had ever seen. She taught me that everyone misses and anyone who tells you they don’t is a liar.

After trying a few more setups with no luck, we headed back to the house for lunch and decided we would try again for Brenda’s bird that afternoon. After a hefty meal, and a quick nap we were back in the field. This time my sister decided to join us after sleeping in all morning. The afternoon was warm and the birds seemed impossible to get going, we decided to sit down in some tall pines and have a break. Then out of nowhere a gobble shattered the silence. Brenda, the guide and camera man headed down a hill towards the gobble, Danielle and I hung back and watched from the top. The bird started coming in from a long way. He strutted all the way across the field and right into Brenda’s sights. I held my breath as I watched, the gun went off, and the gobbler started flopping. Danielle and I were so excited we couldn’t contain ourselves, we started yelling and screaming. I had just witnessed Brenda Valentine kill a Merriam’s turkey. The opportunity to spend that time with Brenda and my little sister truly was a gift that I will cherish forever.

Michael Waddell Wyoming May 9-13, 2009

I was home for a mere few hours before I was on a plane and headed back to Wyoming. This time however it was my younger sister and I flying solo. The situation gets even better. We were going to be hunting with outdoor legends Michael Waddell and Brenda Valentine. I was both nervous and excited; I was given the hunt of a lifetime, twofold. We hooked up with Michael at the Rapid City airport and while we waited for the other party to arrived we made a trip to Cabela’s. A Cabela’s trip on its own is an amazing experience, but to put my hero in the setting was simply euphoric.

The first morning we got up at three in the morning, I was too excited to get much sleep, I jumped out of bed and woke up my sister, we finally were ready and headed out to our perfect spot to slam my sister her Merriam’s turkey. The turkey call crew was set up; Danielle was fully camouflaged with her back up against a tree, not making a movement. Michael sat behind her to give direction. The morning was cold and crisp. The breaking sun kissed the horizon and danced its way across the sage brush of Wyoming, it was still and quiet like the whole world was a sleep except for us. A toms gobble shattered the silence, Michael began to work his magic. The gobbler kept coming closer and closer, it felt like a done deal. Then the gobbler stopped, and seemed to be hung up. Michael, started sneaking away from us and the turkey, continuing to make a hen call, the gobbler finally decided it would chase “the hen”, as I watched, unable to contain my goofy grin, my sister nailed her gobbler at 30 yards away.

Watching Michael move like that opened my eyes to an entirely new way of turkey hunting. Most people would sit and call until they turned blue in the face. When a turkey is that close people freeze, he taught me never be afraid to try new things, you never know what the result will be. In this case it was a very nice Wyoming Merriam’s.