Sheridan hunter bags wild turkey
Killing a wild turkey on public land is a special accomplishment, and Rhonda Orr of Sheridan earned that honor April 8 at the Sylamore Wildlife Management Area.
Orr, the accounting supervisor for Pulaski County District Court, hunts in Arkansas and Kansas with Troy Orr, her husband of 21 years.
The first week of the spring turkey season is a controlled hunt and is allowed only by permit. Troy Orr applied for the permits, but the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission awarded a permit only to Rhonda. Troy has hunted that area for 27 years, Rhonda said, so he knows which parts of the area have the most turkeys.
They arrived at Sylamore on April 5 to set up camp and scout.
A thunderstorm moved through the area when the season opened on April 8, so the Orrs remained in the truck until it passed.
“I’m terrified of storms, so we sat in the truck for a little bit,” Rhonda Orr said. “We heard gobbling, but by that time they were already on the ground.”
Two other hunters heard those birds, too, and arrived while the Orrs waited for the storm to pass.
“They said, ‘I guess we got here too late. I guess we’ll find someplace else,’ ” Rhonda said. “That’s what you’re supposed to do.”
Three gobblers were to one side, and a lone gobbler was to the other side. They chose numbers and went after the trio, but those birds gave them the slip. The lone tom still gobbled, so they hunted him instead.
“We heard him and a hen that was with him, but you know how those mountains are. It’s hard to tell where sound is coming from sometimes.”
The Orrs did not see the gobbler initially, but Troy used a mouth call and slate call to trade trash talk with the hen. A jake sounded off to the right, and then the Orrs saw the top of a gobbler’s head bobbing over a rise. Rhonda was in a bad position for a bird that didn’t offer much of a shot, but then another gobbler arrived in a better spot. Rhonda shot him at 40 yards with a load of HeviShot from her Benelli 12-gauge.
The bird weighed 22 pounds. Its beard was 91/2 inches long, and its spurs were 1-inch long.