Hunters killed 3 percent fewer turkeys this season than they did in 2014, but some hunters had the season of a lifetime.
Hunter Campbell, 21, of Paron was among that group.
On May 3, the last day of the season, Campbell killed the first gobbler he ever called up by himself. Everyone remembers his first solo turkey, but Campbell’s bird was exceptional. Its 17.2-pound weight a three-fourths-inch spurs were average, but its beard was 14 3/8 inches long.
According to the National Wild Turkey Federation, that’s the second-longest beard ever taken in Arkansas and ranks 66th nationally.
“I’m thinking it’s a pretty good 2-year-old bird with those spurs,” Campbell said. “It wasn’t very big, but that doesn’t bother me. That beard is something special.”
To put it in perspective, the Arkansas state-record gobbler as recognized by the NWTF had a 12-inch beard. Todd Ezzi of Little Rock killed that bird in 2012. It got the state record based on a composite score of weight, beard length and spur length.
Campbell, a junior majoring in agricultural business at the University of Arkansas, killed the gobbler in Saline County on the edge of the Ouachita National Forest. He said he was trying to call up a gobbler for his friend Andrew Ingram, who is new to turkey hunting.
Campbell said the morning started with a flurry of gobbling from about half a dozen different birds, but none would come to them. They went silent by about 7:30 a.m., and by 9 a.m. the hunt seemed finished.
“I was texting my mom, asking her if she would come and get us,” Campbell said. “We didn’t feel like walking all the way back to the house.”
Before raising the white flag, Campbell blew on his crow call one last time.
“He gobbled right in front of us,” Campbell said. “I looked at Andrew and said, ‘We’re not leaving just yet.’”
The bird was on the next hill over and sounded like it was fast coming closer. Campbell sounded the crow call again to pinpoint the bird’s location, and then the pair saw a hen turkey walking alone. When the hen was out of sight, Campbell and Ingram advanced up the hill.
They almost ran into the gobbler because they heard it walking through the leaves, so they plopped down immediately.
“We were caught so off guard,” Campbell said. “I put the decoy down and said to Andrew, ‘Get ready because he’s going to come out and give you a good shot.’”
That was about the time a hen made a surprise appearance. Campbell heard it walking, but Ingram did not. The hen clucked twice, and Campbell clucked back at it. The gobbler appeared in a clearing about 40-50 yards away. Things could have really fallen apart when the bird saw Campbell’s decoy, but luck was on Campbell’s side.
“The decoy fell over, but when that gobbler saw it his head turned bright red,” Campbell said. “I knew it was on.”
Campbell continued making his cluck calls, but the gobbler came into range at an angle where Ingram couldn’t shoot it. Campbell had the only shooting angle.
When the gobbler walked behind a tree, Campbell positioned to shoot. He clucked one last time, and the gobbler craned its neck from behind the tree. Campbell made three “putt” calls, and the gobbler exposed its neck a bit more.
“He stuck his head out just far enough from behind the tree for me to get a shot, but he saw me move my gun barrel,” Campbell said. “I thought, ‘It’s now or never.’ ”
Campbell noticed the beard length right away. When he got home and put it on a ruler, it was about 14 ½ inches.
“He called me on the phone and told me he killed a turkey with a 14 1/2-inch beard,” Les Campbell said. “The signal wasn’t very good and it kept breaking up, so I thought I misunderstood him. Then he said it again and I said, ‘Boy, don’t you lie to me!’”
Hunter insisted it was true and said he’d sent a picture of the turkey’s beard stretched along the ruler.
“The phone dinged while I was talking to him when the text came through,” Les said. “I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it.”
Les drove over immediately to congratulate his son and to measure the beard himself. They got two witnesses to sign an application for recognition from the NWTF.
Late in the afternoon, as they relaxed on the patio, another bird gobbled nearby. Campbell asked Ingram if he wanted to give it a try. Ingram declined.
It had been a full day already.