Hunt almost didn’t happen
Jody Cabiness of Littleton, N.C. killed a three-bearded gobbler in Warren County on April 15. The 20-pound turkey’s longest beard was 11 inches in length. The other beards measured 9 inches and 7 1/2 inches. The spurs were an inch long.
But the hunt almost didn’t happen. Cabiness was watching his kids while waiting on his wife to get home. He was anticipating a trip to the Panther Branch Hunting Club woods once she showed up, but as she came in, he realized it was later than he’d thought.
“I was waiting on her to get home so I could go try to get this big bird. When she got home, I told her I didn’t know if I was still going. I thought it was a little too late. But she told me to go ahead and go after him. So I got all my stuff and got my hunting clothes on,” he said.
Sometimes being late is a bad thing. Other times, it puts you in the right place at exactly the right moment without wasting any extra time. And that’s what happened on this hunt.
Perfect timing
“Sure enough, when I pulled up to the spot, he was gobbling. Fifteen minutes later, he was coming over the ridge, running straight to me,” Cabiness said.
The bird was coming in so fast, that Cabiness tried to get it to stop before it ran straight over him.
“I had to start making a call to stop him. But it didn’t work. All he did was keep on coming in fast. I shot him at 15 yards away while he was still running straight to me,” he said.
When Cabiness pulled the trigger on his Mossberg 12-gauge, the bird finally stopped. It dropped on the spot.
Once he saw how impressive the big turkey was, he wished he wasn’t alone so he could get a good photo while the lighting was good. That’s when he got a call from his brother who happened to be nearby.
“My brother was at a pond right up the road fishing. He called me and asked me if I got him. So I pulled down there to the pond with him and he took the photo,” he said.
Cabiness is an avid hunter, and has killed other turkeys. But this three-bearded gobbler is one he said he’ll always be especially fond of.
“I’ve killed my share of turkeys, but this is one I will never forget,” he said.
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