A True Turkey Story

I had one tag turkey tag left in my pocket, so I felt it my duty to hunt just a few more times for turkey on my property north of my house. I was able to get two tags this year, and had filled one in October.

On Sunday evening I sat in my shooting house; it is a little 6 sided shooting shack on stilts, with 6 windows to see and shoot from. I love it because it was my dads, and I love it because I can sit in it with a heater, coffee, radio and earphones, and enjoy an evening of hunting. From my high perch, I can see all corners of my property and some of the neighbors too.

Right on cue, a group of 5 young gobblers entered my bean field. I got my gun stuck out the window and waited until they came into range. At 50 yards, I could tell they were not going to get any closer, so I shot, dropping one. He flopped around, but I knew that was normal. But, he stood back up and walked into some weeds. I jumped out of the house, and chased him down, shooting him again with my last bullet.

I carried him back the 100 yards to the shooting shack, and laid him at the bottom of my stairs. I had a bow tag, so I returned to the shack to wait out the last hour of the day. While in the shack, I received a phone call from my son in law. While on the phone I said, "There goes another turkey across my bean field." Then it dawned on me to look out the door. I did. And the dead turkey was gone.

I had been pondering how I was going to cook this turkey for Thanksgiving today, and all the time this Lazarus turkey was thinking otherwise. I was out of bullets, so I tried to chase him down with my bow, but the turkey slipped into the timber, never to be seen again.


....and that is a true story!! Motto: Always have a ham in the freezer!

written by:
Earl Taylor
Director of Design and Vision
Hidden Acres Christian Center
... a Christian youth and children summer camp, a retreat center for adults and families, owned by the Evangelical Free Churches of Iowa, Missouri, and South Dakota, and located in central Iowa

A Few Good Friends

My good friend Herb hunting with me


We all want them; we all need them; few of us have what we would call a Good Friend. I have just a few of them; I know lots and lots of people; I consider many people friends of mine; there is only a handful of folks that I call Good Friends.

I had a visit with one of my Good Friends this week; Herb and his wife and daughter drove over to see us and we spent some time hunting together, and a little time visiting and laughing. Much of our time is not spent, visiting about general newsy stuff; if we talk we talk directly to each other and discuss what is going on in each others lives.

I lost a childhood Good friend this week; Randy Schultz died from smoke inhalation caused by a house fire. Randy and I were nearly inseparable when I moved to the Coon Rapids area in 1964. For 5 years, we bummed around together; I would go to his house on Saturday morning, help him scoop hog manure from the barn and lay down fresh straw for the pigs, in order to play and be together in the afternoon. Randy was twice the size of me. My dad referred lovingly to Randy as "Hoss", after the Bonanza character. Some people saw us together and said, "Mutt and Jeff!"

We moved away from Coon Rapids in 1969, and Randy and I saw each other occasionally. 20 years ago, I attended the funeral of Randy's 3 year old son who was accidentally run over by a semi truck in their front yard. Years later I attended Randy's parents funeral. We didn't write, we didn't call over the years, only seeing each other occasionally. Next week I will attend my last Schultz funeral.

Proverbs says it right... iron sharpens iron... honor the friends of your father... a friend stick closer than a brother. True friends admonish, encourage, exhort, and trust each other. True friendship endures time and space; friends come and go.

I will miss knowing Randy is no longer here; my prayer is that we will meet once again in heaven and renew our friendship again, after another 40 years of near silence.

Written by
Earl Taylor, Director of Design and Vision
Hidden Acres Christian Center
...a Christian youth and children's summer camp and a retreat center for adults, families, churches, and schools. Hidden Acres is owned by the Evangelical Free Churches of Iowa, Missouri, and South Dakota and is located near Dayton along the Des Moines River.