by Brian Lovett, editor
When Joe Arterburn dropped me off on a winding ranch road, he pointed
north and offered some advice.
"There's birds in the canyons up there," he said. "I'd just head out and see
what you find."
And then a turkey gobbled — from a tree directly above the truck.
"Or, you could just hunt here."
So started my late-April adventure in the cedar-studded canyons of central
Nebraska. I had joined some folks from Cabela's and Hunter's Specialties
with Table Mountain Outfitters and First Western Adventures for a three-day hunt in some of the Midwest's best turkey country. The birds didn't disappoint.
No, I didn't kill the road gobbler. Actually, I didn't get a bird that
morning. But after hoofing it back to camp and refueling at the food tent, I
managed to yelp in a pair of hot longbeards that afternoon and kill one.
After admiring the gobbler for a moment, I figured my day was complete and wandered back to camp. That's when I met up with Alex Rutledge, who had just arrived from the airport.
"Get your stuff, and let's go," he hollered.
Who was I to refuse? I'll tell you about our adventure in Part II of this
blog.