Gun For Sale

Story by Bob Fringer



An elderly turkey hunter once remarked that he didn’t mind dying but he was sure going to miss turkey hunting. You know, I can relate to that remark because I, too, have been badly infected by an extreme case of “turkey fever.” It wasn’t the matter of shooting a gobbler but the entire experience of hunting that elusive bird that fascinated me. I enjoyed getting out in the woods early in the morning, listening to the all the different birds greet the dawn and see the new morning come to life. To hear a thunderous gobble from a male turkey was just icing on the cake.

I could not wait until the 2006 season started. It couldn’t begin soon enough. I had spent a great deal of time in the winter months during deer season scouting for turkey signs. Starting in mid-march, I began to rise early in the morning, sit along certain wooded areas and listen for the male birds to gobble before they flew down from their night- time roosting sites. It was a little too early in the year to hear the birds but I went out at dawn anyway. By the time the season rolled around I had located half dozen places where turkeys were roosting. I was pumped up and ready to go!


On the first day I chose a place where I had experienced good luck in previous years. I had checked the area out earlier in the year and discovered that the old logging road where I wanted to hunt had become overgrown by tall weeds during the previous summer. However, I thought I could see well enough to spot a turkey if one were to wander by.

Early that morning I grabbed all my hunting gear and headed off to my hunting location. I took my Remington model 870, 12 gauge 3-inch magnum shotgun with me. I had won the gun in a raffle at a wild turkey federation banquet a few years earlier. There was just something about that gun that I didn’t like but I couldn’t put my finger on it. In addition, I was not particularly fond of that gun after missing a turkey the previous hunting season while the bird was standing in open field only 10-15 yards away from me. However, off I went.

I quietly walked along an open field for several hundred yards, slipped into the woods about 50 yards and set up my turkey decoys along that old road. When I sat down I knew I had made a mistake. The visibility was terrible. I could not see more than five yards in any direction. By this time dawn was breaking and it was getting too late to make a move so I decided to stay where I was. I had no sooner sat down when I heard a couple of male birds greet the new day with some lusty gobbles. Shortly afterward, I heard a noisy confrontation between two gobblers who were busy establishing the pecking order for the day. After I sat there for about an hour I heard a hen turkey give a few yelps as she sought some male company. Ten minutes later, I heard the rustle of some leaves. I cautiously turned my head and was surprised to see two gobblers walking in full strut about five yards behind me. I was unable to move around for a shot and was disappointed as the two birds slowly disappeared into the tall weeds.

I stayed in the same location for another half an hour and then moved over to the field and put my decoys out in front of me. After I was sitting there for some time I glanced over to my right side and when I looked back I was amazed to see a gobbler in full strut standing beside my decoys. Another bird was standing about five yards farther to my left. The one bird was no more than 25 yards away. I cautiously brought my gun up to my shoulder, put my cheek on the gunstock, carefully aimed and pulled the trigger at the strutting bird. I was dumbfounded to see the bird quickly spin to the left and start running away. I unleashed two more unsuccessful shots behind the sprinting gobbler. I could not believe I had missed that bird. To this day I can still relive that shot and wonder why I missed—but I did.

After I returned to my truck I looked at that miserable gun and decided that the two of us had to part company. I knew it could not have been my fault that I had missed two turkeys. There was something wrong with that gun! One of my friends remarked that the gun was ok but there was a problem with the nut on the gunstock. Was he talking about me? So, if any of you reading this story want to buy a slightly used shotgun, I have one for sale. Cheap!


Bob Fringer
March 16, 2007

P. S. That gun is history now. I sold it.