The Final Turkey: The Eastern!

On May 20, 2009 I became the first Canadian Female to complete a wild turkey world slam.

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The sixth and final bird I had to take to complete my world slam was the Eastern. The Eastern is the most common turkey and probably the easiest to access due to the vast land it covers; which makes it strange that this is my last bird I had to get; especially considering we live in Southern Ontario, with some prime Eastern habitat. I tried for an Eastern turkey for years and years without success. He had become my arch rival and he was winning. I had travelled to Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, New York, Pennsylvania, and of course right here in Ontario, with no luck. But with no other sub-species left I had no choice but to face off against the Eastern.

Through Advanced taxidermy I was put in touch with John Hunt from Hunt T.V. After a few quick phone calls I was off with John, my dad and John’s camera crew to kill my Eastern.

The first morning was rather shaky, we were late getting in and the wind was howling. We moved to lower ground with no success. My heart was in my throat, was I ever going to kill an Eastern? The next day we tried a whole new place and setup. We were setup in a tree line on the edge of a field. My dad started to call, a gobbler answered. My heart starting pounding, my mouth went dry, I was shaking, I was coming down with “Buck Fever.” I had to calm down and fast, because that gobbler was coming. The gobbler came into sight about 100 yards away, and then a hen appeared. “Oh no” I screamed in my head. She was curious and mad, she came right to us and got to about twenty yards from me, I was terrified she was going to bust us. The gobbler was strutting and I could see him through a patch of leaves. I put my bead on him and squeezed my trigger; he got hit, but not fatally. He began to run; I jumped up and pounded him twice. He was down, I couldn’t breathe. I started to run for him and passed out, the excitement was overwhelming. I regained my composure and went over to my bird; my sixth and final turkey for my world slam.

Continue scrolling down to see all six of my world slam turkeys!