How to Take a Tom While Working from Home

How’s this for a turkey hunting dilemma? My husband and I were 75 yards outside our Colorado house Wednesday morning, May 17, calling turkeys near the alfalfa field when 7:55 hit and I had to run inside for an 8 a.m. conference call. We hadn’t heard a peep—until we cleared the threshold. Better late than never, but the phone call was with the head of NRA Publications, Executive Director Doug Hamlin, and the few NRA Pubs colleagues who weren’t out of cell range also chasing spring gobblers.

With the phone on speaker in one hand and my bow instinctively gripped in the other, I paced from window to window and watched three birds step out of the woods 25 yards from the front door. Even better, a lone gobbler couldn’t get there fast enough as it trotted in from 15 acres across the field.

Would anyone know if I disappeared for a minute? Instead, I did what any good employee would do: I gripped the bow a little tighter and paced a little harder, watching the four turkeys feed toward the back of the house—at 15 yards—while listening to Hamlin graciously praise our collective work in expanding NRA print and digital subscriptions, E-newsletters and our social media outreach. But as the turkey worked toward the backyard firepit, I was running out of time. In 15 more yards, the ground sloped into the canyon and they’d be out of sight.

Phone call over, I ran to the glass door on the side of the house and belly crawled along the deck. Two birds were still in sight. Thankful for the railing’s log posts for providing some cover, I stood up and launched an arrow, which sailed over the water feature and fire pit and connected with the last bird, broadside at 30 yards.

Moral of the Story: Despite it being hunting season, when your big boss calls a meeting you must be at least semi-front and center, and then God may reward you for being a good employee! Of course, model behavior is tough when timing is everything. Minutes after my unique turkey hunt ended, it snowed hard for the next 24 hours. I got my bird just in time considering no one expects Winter Wonderland in mid May—and the Colorado turkey season ended just days later.