ROAD HUNTER
Western Oregon is home to some of the highest turkey populations in the country, and the hunting here can be spectacular.
TOUTING BEAVER STATE TURKEYS
Well-traveled sportsman makes the case that Oregon is West’s best for gobblers and hunting variety. STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN
o sooner had the yelps from a diaphragm call passed my lips when multiple toms gobbled back. A few soft calls induced more gobbling and before I knew it, three toms rounded a green, grassy knoll. Their brilliant plumage shimmered in the morning light, pulsing like suits of armor as they quickened their pace in my direction. Instantly my mouth dried up and I
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dared not call anymore. When the trio broke into a tiny opening, they stopped, pirouetted and gobbled numerous times. I sat nervously, gun balanced on my knee, heart racing. Then the tom on the left lifted its head and I covered it with the bead of my old shotgun – the one I used in all my bird hunting as a kid – and pulled the trigger. The bird dropped inside 30 yards. Walking up on that stunning tom, its patriotic head at rest amid captivating wild flowers, it was more striking than I even imagined. The year
was 1987, Oregon’s first turkey season, and thus my first turkey; from that day on, I was hooked on hunting these grand birds. THE HISTORY When it comes to wild turkey management, my home state of Oregon is one of the country’s greatest conservation success stories. After multiple attempts, the first wild turkeys were successfully introduced to Oregon in 1961. Merriam’s were the first strain to thrive, followed by Rio Grande birds in 1975. Eastern turkeys americanshootingjournal.com 59
