War Lord: Preston Pittman

EDITOR'S NOTE: Preston Pittman of Pickens, Mississippi, the founder of Preston Pittman Game Calls, looks like a turkey, talks like a turkey and walks like a turkey. Pittman sometimes even can convince gobblers he's a turkey.

Once when Pittman hunted Osceola gobblers in Florida, I'd just downed a fine longbeard and started to get up to retrieve my trophy when I felt a hand on my arm. Pittman told me to sit still and be quiet. The sound of my shotgun still echoed through the palmettos when Pittman began to cut and cackle aggressively.

"Turkeys can't seem to tell the difference between a shotgun blast and thunder," Pittman explained. "Maybe if another gobbler is nearby, I can take a turkey from this same spot."

Every two minutes Pittman tried to solicit gobblers with very aggressive cutting and cackling. After three sets of loud calls, a turkey finally gobbled. A small patch of flooded timber stood between Pitman, myself and the tom. We hung the downed turkey in a tree to keep predators from getting him and raced to the end of the water. Pittman called to the turkey once more. The bird came within 40 yards before turning and walking back in the direction from where he'd come.

"I'm going after the gobbler," Pittman explained. "You stay put."

We were hunting in a burnt-pine plantation with no cover to hide Pittman's movements. Pittman's attempts to take this tom seemed futile. But since we were hunting on a private ranch, Pittman could try to move on the bird without presenting a target for other hunters. Forty-five minutes passed before Pittman's shotgun reported. I quickly ran around the flooded timber and arrived at the burnt-pine plantation. Sixty yards from me, Pittman held up his fat Osceola with 1-1/4-inch spurs and a 10-inch beard. With no obvious hiding place in the area, how had Pittman gotten within shooting range of the gobbler?

"All I did was get the turkeys to accept me," Pittman replied. "The gobbler we saw was the boss gobbler. He had a subordinate gobbler with him and a harem of about six hens. When I spotted the turkeys, the two male birds were fighting. The rest of the turkeys in the flock were watching the fight. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled slowly toward the birds. As long as you move very slowly and don't seem to pose a threat to turkeys, often they will accept you. They don't know what you are because you are moving on what appears to be four legs. They even may mistake you for a yearling calf.

"While I crawled, the dominant gobbler defeated the young gobbler and ran him away from the flock straight to me. When the subordinate gobbler came close to me and raised his head to look back at the older tom, I sat back on my feet, brought my 3-inch magnum to my shoulder and took the shot.

"Crawling on turkeys that are looking at you is a pushy tactic that often will spook the birds. But sometimes you'll get lucky -- like I did today."

TOMORROW: War Lord: David Hale