"Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!" - 'Young' 96-year-old lady bags her first turkey
06/08/2008
By: Gordon Cooper

The old adage of "Good things come to them who wait" was proven true once again this past month as a 'young' 96-year-old lady bagged her first wild turkey.
For Pearl Sutphen, 96, of Horseheads, New York, a very good thing and some very good memories came to her because she was willing and able to wait through some very challenging hours in a camouflaged turkey blind.
The shot that dropped the gobbler on the morning of May 30 in the town of Halsey Valley, New York was well worth the wait for Pearl who described the event as one of the best moments of her long and full life. The story of her hunt is (as most hunters' stories usually are) one-of-a-kind for many reasons.

It started in the cold days of January when Pearl approached Professional Hunting Guide and game call inventor, Joe Sears, about attending the Southern Tiers Sportsman's Dinner at Breesport Baptist Church in Breesport, New York. Joe quickly answered that she would be more than welcome at the dinner, which included many vendors and displays of various hunting-related products and demonstrations of Joe's turkey calls. When Joe called Pearl to the stage to help him demonstrate the use of one of his calls, he asked her if she would be interested in going out on a hunt sometime, and she quickly agreed.
Pearl is a vital part of the membership of Breesport Baptist Church. With her quick wit and smiling face, she impresses and endears herself to all who are fortunate enough to cross her path, unless, of course, you are a strutting Tom turkey and she is holding a 20-gauge shotgun! She always has a good word of wisdom and a glow of spirituality around her. She sometimes puts the younger members to shame with her faithfulness and good humor. She even mounted a tube and took a ride on the church's waterslide last year, to the amazement and amusement of the whole congregation.

On May 2, Joe and Pearl were seated in the blind Joe had set up the night before where he and son, Joey had roosted a gobbler. Joe had hurriedly set up some decoys and began luring in some hens with his mouth diaphragm call. A gobbler followed along behind the hens in full strut and, on Joe's command, Pearl took her first shot. The turkey survived the scare and Pearl apologized for missing her mark.

The second hunt took place on a small farm near Halsey Valley where Joe had been watching a big Tom strutting in a cornfield. Joe's years of expertise allowed him to find and set up another perfect blind for Pearl. He was able to drive his truck close enough to the site so he and Pearl were able to step from the vehicle to the blind. As dawn broke over the eastern horizon they heard a gobbler sound off. When Joe knew the old bird was on the ground, he began calling him. Within thirty minutes they saw the redheaded, long-bearded fellow in full strut. They watched as he approached and Pearl was struck with the beauty of this creature that has amazed hunters for generations. As the magnificent bird came into range, Joe told Pearl to take off the safety on her gun and prepare to shoot. But then a younger gobbler came into the picture and interfered with the older Tom coming to Joe's decoys. As the prized bird ran off to join a flock of hens and jakes, Joe and Pearl were left to spend the rest of the hunt singing hymns and recalling their favorite Bible verses.

The next hunt came on May 30 on another little farm in Halsey Valley, just south of Joe's hometown of Spencer, New York. Joe and Joey set up another blind for Pearl with 3 chairs, microphone stand to help her steady the barrel of her shotgun, cushions and camo netting, along with about 20-25 other items Joe needed to make this hunt a success and to produce a video for broadcast on Joe's televised hunting show.

Pearl had spent the night at Joe and wife, Kathy's guesthouse and when the alarm rang at 3:30, Joe found Pearl had been up since 3:15. The duo was joined by fellow hunter, Bob Burdick and set out for the blind before daylight. It took several trips with the four-wheeler to shuttle all the equipment and people into position, but all was ready and quiet when the sun began to break over the horizon, revealing the beauty of upstate New York in late spring.

As every hunter knows, mankind's best resources of intellect, ingenuity and inventions are quite evenly matched against the divinely designed defenses of His creatures. The keen eyesight and excellent hearing as well as skittish behavior of the wild turkey makes this bird one of the most challenging prey and thereby the most rewarding trophy. Joe has guided over a thousand hunts in his career as a Professional Guide and he has enjoyed the privilege of sharing record-making hunts with his children as two of them have recorded their Grand Slam of North American Wild Turkeys at very young ages. Joe said that his goal is to see his family become the first family to have each member record a Grand Slam. So far, he is three-fifths of the way there. Joe has developed a unique, patented turkey call that is revolutionizing the turkey hunting game and has gained much wisdom of the outdoors by stalking this magnificent creature as well as guiding hunts of elk, Whitetail and antelope here in New York and in Colorado.

As the sun rose above the horizon, Joe was able to lure a hen near their position. Joe had to work hard on his many types of calls to keep the hen nearby to serve as a natural decoy. Around 8:00, the red heads of some gobblers broke into view. Joe used a combination of mouth calls, friction slate calls, and his own invention - a hands-free lip call, to convince the wary birds that it was an unseen turkey rather than a trio of human hunters playing upon their hormones.

"At one point when the turkeys were walking away from us, I began to pray out loud." Joe said. "I believe I heard Pearl and Bob praying as well. It was like the Lord answered our prayers. With a couple more calls the turkeys headed back our way. It took a long time, but the turkeys were finally in gun range. While running the cameras, calling the turkeys, and coaching Pearl it was time for me to tell Pearl to take the shot. I remember Bob trying to fill his tag after Pearl shot her turkey. I ran down to get Pearl's turkey and to show it to her. I remember her saying 'Did Bob shoot that?' I told her no, she shot the first shot and the turkey went down. Her response was 'Praise the Lord!'"

Sometimes the guided people end up giving guidance to the guide. In this hunt, Joe was able to learn some valuable lessons about patience and waiting from a dear, sweet, older lady who waited 96 years to gain one of the most memorable experiences of any hunter's life - the bagging of a North American Wild Turkey.

For more information about Joe Sears and his many hunting related products you may log on to his website: www.adventuregamecalls.com.