by Brian Lovett, T&TH editor

The final morning of our Missouri hunt broke clear and calm. Better, Stoltz had roosted a turkey the previous evening, and at daybreak, we realized we were just 60-some steps from him.

The bird gobbled furiously on the limb for almost an hour, and he was joined by at least six other gobblers on the vicinity. The aural firestorm reminded me of the heyday of northern Missouri 10 to 15 years ago. There were gobbling turkeys everywhere.

Finally, a hen roosted near the gobbler flew down into our field and walked past the decoys. The longbeard dropped straight to the woods floor and slowly made his way to the call. At the same time, two pepper-hot gobblers made their way up the field edge, hammering with every other step.

As Parrish filmed the action, Stoltz dropped the hammer on the gobbler at close range, punctuating a great morning. And even while we did interviews and took photos, turkeys continued to gobble long into the morning.

It was just like the “old Missouri,” only it was new. Hey, either one is pretty great.