Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com
Published - Friday, May 16, 2008
AN OUTDOORSMAN’S JOURNAL: No ‘Super Tom,’ but Missouri long beard hunt a success
 Wally Janssen, his angus bull Rambo and Pete Hagedorn talk after a successful turkey hunt. Photo by Mark Walters |
Hello, friends,
This past week I headed down to Iberia, Mo., in Miller County to hunt turkey and, for the most part, have a good time with two old friends of mine.
Friday, April 25
High 75, Low 51
My day started out in typical Mark Walters’ fashion: either hunting or fishing.
Today, I was hunting turkey in a pasture on my good friend Wally Janssen’s 600-acre beef farm.
Pete Hagedorn is a German immigrant who settled in Red Lake, Ontario, Canada.
Pete owns Chimo Lodge and Outposts and has been an important part of my life since 1982 when I started flying into Shultz Lake, which is one of the Hagedorn’s 11 fly-in locations.
Pete and I drove to Wally’s place yesterday, and just before sunrise today, the hunt began.
My goal, hunting-wise, on this trip would be to harvest a “Super Tom,” which in my definition is a gobbler weighing over 25-pounds.
Just before sunrise this morning, I spotted my Super Tom about 200 yards away. He was crossing the pasture that I was hunting and had no desire to listen to my call (very few birds do) or check out my decoys. No desire that is until two hens came into my decoys and he could not ignore the real thing.
My Super Tom was as big as a bear and his beard was just about dragging on the ground five feet behind him. I was so confident that I was going to put a 2-ounce load of four shot into his head and neck that I even put toilet paper in my ears to save my hearing for the golden years that are soon approaching.
About two seconds before it was lights out, a gust of wind hit the metal roof on an abandoned cabin behind me, which sounded exactly like the end gate on a pickup being opened. Super Tom ran around in two circles and then took flight for the next county.
I saw about 40 turkeys today, including a half a dozen Super Toms and, of course, they were all out of range.
The season closes each day at 1 p.m. in Missouri. About 11 a.m. Pete Hagedorn decided to go exploring as he was getting bored. At 12:46 I heard a blast from his 12 gauge, and there was one less turkey living in Missouri.
Sunday, April 27
High 56, Low 35
I must be on another outdoor experience! Ever since last October’s Montana Elk Hunt, when I go on a trip it gets cold and either rains or snows; this trip is no different and the cold, damp weather we are experiencing has the birds shut down and Pete and I freezing our butts off.
I wrote at the start of this column that my goal for this trip was to have a good time with two old friends, and I meant it.
Wally Janssen is the smartest and healthiest 89-year-young man I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Wally is a veteran of World War II and has some incredible stories. Wally has also been a movie-maker most of his life and is a man who can teach anyone a lot.
While Wally was fighting Pete’s fellow countrymen in North Africa, Pete Hagedorn was a young boy growing up in Berlin and literally watched Berlin disintegrate and lived through the wrath of the Russian army after the war.
Each night from the living room of Wally Janssen’s home, I listened to stories and watched outdoor TV shows that another old timer from this annual hunt made.
The late Jim Thomas used to spend a lot of time at Wally’s ranch and was the host of one of TV’s original outdoor shows and the owner and founder of Canadian Fly-In Fishing.
Jim Thomas’ “Outdoors” and “The Lone Star Sportsman” were tops on adventure and well narrated by Jim Thomas. I consider it an honor to have been friends with Jim Thomas and to be currently hanging out with Pete and Wally.
Moving back to the hunting, cold weather and a pack of free-roaming wild dogs have shut down my options. Yesterday I did pass up a bearded hen and I am glad I did.
I have a pond about 40-yards from my blind and I get to watch lots of wildlife use it.
This morning — day three, 20th hour in the blind — an old hen made the mistake of leading three toms into range. After blasting another hole through my screen window, one of the toms would not have to worry about the wild dogs anymore.
I met all my goals on this trip — other than the Super Tom goal — and could write a whole lot more about this experience than I have space to use.
Moral of the story: Our old timers are vanishing by the day; listen to their stories, be respectful and well aware of what an honorable generation they come from.
Still like my job. Sunset.
All stories copyright 2006 Coulee News and other attributed sources.