When I met Darren Hasson at a New Brunswick sportsman show, I took a liking to him. From our conversations during lulls in the sportsman show action, it was apparent that he had never hunted wild turkey and was dying to try it.

“How about we swap a Maine turkey hunt for a New Brunswick goose hunt?” he offered. “Darren, you are on,” I said.

Finally, after two years, we put together his Maine turkey hunt for early May. Although his Canadian friends tried to convince him to use a shotgun and not risk using a bow for his introductory gobbler quest, he was intent on doing so. I wasn’t wild about the idea, but finally said, “Why not?” He assured me that he would show up well-practiced and that he was a skilled bowman, having bagged a number of big-game animals with his Hoyt compound bow. On the Sunday before his hunt, we put up one of my old bow targets in the back yard so that he could shoot a few practice arrows. Watching Darren shoot, I said to myself,”Wow, this guy is good!” He was putting six arrows in a six inch circle at 40 plus yards. I was impressed, and told him so.

That afternoon we did some pre-hunt activities. He gave me a lesson in how to operate his video camera. His plan was to get some good footage of the hunt to show New Brunswick sportsmen, who have been working on the government to introduce wild turkeys to the Maritimes. We also put up his ground blind and chatted about calling techniques and best shot placement on a turkey. Just after sunset a Tom let out a gobble that echoed through the woods. Darren said that the sound was unlike anything he had ever heard, that it was “mystical” and gave him goose bumps. He was pumped!

****

Opening day of the Maine spring turkey season. It’s 4:30 a.m. Darren and I are side-by-side in the ground blind, he with his Hoyt bow and nocked arrow, and me with a slate call and video cam. At 4:58 p.m., two Toms are talking it up in the woods behind us. Shortly after 5 a.m, they start coming our way Suddenly, two step into the field. Their tail feathers are fanned out and they begin to strut nearer and nearer to the decoys. I turn on the video cam, point it and steal sideways glances, first at Darren and then at the gobblers. He has his Hoyt at full draw, waiting for the shot. He is breathing heavily. One of the turkeys is right on the decoy, no more than 12 yards from us. Then, on cue, the big bird presents his silhouette. Instantly, Darren releases his arrow. Oh no! The arrow sails under the turkey’s legs. A clean miss. I look at Darren. He is not pleased with himself. The gobblers mill around just on the outer perimeter of the range envelope. There is almost a second- shot opportunity, but it doesn’t pan out. The quarry, in no big rush, sashay off the field back into the turkey woods. Turning off the video cam, I look at Darren. His head is in his hands. There is a long, awkward silence.

“Darren, my man” I intone softly, ” I’d say that you just screwed up big time!”.

” I can’t believe I just did that, Lordy, Lordy,” he says, shaking his head.

We both laugh.

*****

Later, over a cup of coffee, we reviewed the morning hunt. Darren admitted that, for reasons he didn’t totally understand, there was something mysterious about this new, untried quarry that got him more shook up than any deer hunt he had experienced. He thinks that in the adrenaline moment he may have forgotten to look through the sighting peep on the bow string, which would explain shooting beneath the bird. “This will not happen again, I can tell you that,” he pledged with conviction.

On Turkey Day 2, Darren walked into my house at the appointed time: 3:30 a.m. On that day, the two of us would be hunting with my friend Josh Cottrell, an accomplished turkey hunter who also hunts gobblers with a bow. As we had coffee and awaited Josh’s arrival, Darren looked at me like he was enjoying a private joke. “What’s up? Why the smirk?” I queried. “I’m not the only one who screwed up big time,” he said smiling. Then he dropped it on me. “You didn’t get any video footage at all yesterday,” he said.”You forgot to hit the red record button.”

Fast forward….

****

It’s Day 2, 6:30 a.m. in the turkey woods. Darren, Josh, and I are all hunkered down in a ground blind. Birds talk below us. Soon they are working our way. Josh purrs and teases them in closer and closer. “Draw now,” Josh whispers to Darren. He goes to full draw on his 68 lb bow and holds. Behind the bow hunters, I am running the video camera and taking it all in. Josh clucks and purrs some more. He rustles some leaves with his feet.The seduction is working. The big Tom steps into the tote road and struts. Darren is breathing hard, like he did yesterday. I look it him, pray and will him to succeed. “Twang”. The arrow flies. It passes through the birds vitals. A good hit! But the big bird gets airborne.”Oh oh, that’s not good,” says Josh. “Not to worry. I hit him good. That’s a dead bird,” says Darren, with not an inkling of self doubt.”When we finish the hunt, we’ll find him piled up a short way down the road. Trust me.”

Suddenly, more gobbling from down the ridge. It’s Josh’s turn. He nocks his arrow and does his thing with the Primos mouth call. Seconds pass and another gobbler steps into the tote road just below the decoys. Josh goes to full draw. What’s this? His arrow comes unnocked and rolls onto his arm. Josh can’t believe this is happening. By the time he renocks his arrow the bird is out of bow range and hot on the trail of the departing hens. Time to call it a day.

****

Epilogue

Darren and his wonderful wife Francine returned to New Brunswick as happy campers. Darren redeemed himself as a bowman. The mishap on the first day made the success on the second day all that much sweeter. Hunting is like that, isn’t it? Darren is so revved up about turkey hunting that he plans to push the provincial government for a wild turkey introduction in New Brunswick. We did find his expired turkey a short way down the road and he took it home to Aboujagone for next Thanksgiving.The additional good news is that Josh, my wife Diane and I all made some wonderful new friends from across the border. In the interest of disclosure you need to know that it’s acceptable in the outdoor writers’ creed to make light of the blunders of fellow sportsmen as long as you aren’t afraid to go public with your own screwups. In this instance, unfortunately, I did come off as the standout stumblebum. Not mentioned above is that on day two, in the excitement of the turkey encounter, I forgot to push the red record button on the video camera, yet again! Thanks to Darren’s good breeding and gentlemanly manner, I apparently have been forgiven for failing to chronicle his first turkey taken with a bow. The fall goose hunt is still on. He does plan, however, to find someone else to operate the video camera.

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal and has written his first book, A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected].