Fall (Autumn) Turkey Hunting In Missouri

I was shooting an Italian Benelli 20 gauge shotgun with only 2 3/4 Remington Nitro 6 shot shells on my fall (autumn) turkey hunt in Missouri, USA.

The fall turkey hunt in Missouri was the morning of October 4th right after daylight. I hunted the ridge where I had scattered a flock of turkeys two days before and had called a young hen in and shot her. The first year birds were certainly small like the Missouri Department of Conservation said that they would be. I started to get hungry so I went to eat and arrived back to the hunting site at 11:30. I walked across a small opening and on the trail. On the top of the ridge there was a grass field. I seen a large turkey about 70 yards away so I kept walking towards it wondering if I could get close enough for a shot. For about 20 yards the turkey did not see me because I was walking in the shaded part of the trail wearing Real Tree camouflage that blends perfectly in shade. I came about 50 yards of the big turkey and it had seen me and ran to the right, but it stopped before entering the woods. It was a shot somewhere over 50 yards away so I raised the bead over the turkey's head between a foot and a half and two feet and pulled the trigger. After I'd shot the turkey hit the ground hard. I put my gun on safety and ran up to the bird and the closer I came to it the darker it looked.

It had four beards as you can see in the photo if they were straight they would easily measure 34 inches in length. The Adult Gobbler was around 4 to 5 years old because the main beard measured 11 inches and his spurs were as sharp as a needle and curved. So as you can see Missouri is as good as any State to Wild Turkey hunt in. All you need is intent and luck. In my case a lot of luck.