Megan Shuler and her prized S.C. Turkey |
Megan Shuler is the latest inductee into the spring madness
known as turkey hunting. On her first ever turkey hunt, she allowed her
boyfriend to coax a longbeard into shotgun range, and the rest as they say is
history. Amazingly, they went back to the woods the very next morning and she
made it a two-fer on turkey harvests.
Shuler is a blond-haired veteran of the beauty pageant
system and was the 2012 Teen Miss South Carolina. Her philanthropic work during
that year benefited the Palmetto Children’s Hospital, raising awareness for
those in need of medial care. Today she is a student and a Teacher’s Assistant
for Shotgun and Riflery at Clemson University and she shoots a Benelli 12-gauge
shotgun.
The setting for her fateful first turkey hunt in Darlington
County, S.C. included hardwoods where the turkeys preferred to roost and a
nearby field edge where she and Josh Stuckey set up to hunt. The tom gobbled
from the roost at dawn, but not convincingly. Then at 6:45 the howl of a lone
coyote seemed to stir up the gobbler and he began to vocalize a good bit
louder.
By 7 a.m. they could hear that the bird was down to the
ground, and some hen calls were mixed in too. Stuckey began his calling routine
and the hens started coming towards Shuler’s position, with that tom turkey
following along in strut. “I pulled the trigger when that gobbler was at
45-paces,” said Shuler. “At first I was completely in shock and my heart was
racing. To say the least, I am now addicted to turkey hunting.”
After taking the time to make some photos, the tale of the
tape showed that the boss tom weighed 21-pounds, sported a 10-inch beard and
1.5-inch spurs. Plenty of veteran hunters would fall apart at the sight of such
a majestic tom within gun range, but Shuler credits her familiarity with the
gun range as helping her to seal the deal. Or perhaps the glare of the pageant
lights helped this young lady to shine when that full strut tom turkey took
center stage.
To view more blog entries about turkeys click public hunting OR 2014 Georgia opening day hunt.
To view more blog entries about turkeys click public hunting OR 2014 Georgia opening day hunt.
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