POLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Growing up in Aroostook County, there were lots of opportunities to hunt moose, deer and partridge but I never had the opportunity to hunt turkeys, until now.
I overheard Bill Green talking in the newsroom about an upcoming turkey hunt. I somehow convinced him to take Lance and me with him and let us shoot video of it for an episode of Take It Or Leave It.
Dark and early, we met Bill in Auburn at 5:00 a.m. Bill brought his friend Denny Denham to give us some advice on how to hunt a turkey on their friend's property in Poland.
"Right about there and you sort of go in a circle," said Denham while demonstrating a handheld turkey call.
Once we were outfitted with our camouflage gear, Lance and I were feeling the part and ready to put out decoys to attract turkeys and attempt to call out a Tom. Denny helped Lance, while I sat with Bill.
"What we would do is get in, get settled, dark, quiet and let everybody forget. All the turkeys forget," said Bill about getting into a blind.
We had a good laugh at how pathetic Lance and I were to start, but we got the hang of calling techniques after several tries.
Once the sun came up, Bill suggested we climb a knoll to see if any turkeys were successfully called out. I didn't think we would see a thing, given how much laughing we were doing all morning. To my amazement, there was a flock of turkeys running into the woods 100 yards away.
Bill ran after the flock with his gun in hand but couldn't track em' down. Even without a successful turkey kill, we had a blast learning what goes into turkey hunting and why so many Mainers set their alarms before sunrise to take part in the outdoor sport.
They probably don't have a mimosa after to celebrate though. And as for Thanksgiving this year, looks like we will have to settle for a butterball.