By Dan Larsson
The author with a turkey he harvested with his lever gun.
In the 1990s, the turkey population of northwestern Montana was rising, and I was reaching the legal hunting age. I had waited an eternity to be 12 years-old, the "magical age" of hunting. My first hunting opportunity would be the turkey season, starting in April. Dad put me in for a special draw license near Kalispell, and I drew it! I remember a couple of outings and a friend who let us hunt their property. My first "big game" (turkeys are considered such in Montana) hunting resulted in my harvest of a bearded hen that came a quarter mile to Dad's calls- the answer to a young boy's prayers!
Today, turkey hunting is a favorite addition to the hunting year. Last spring, two of my kids and I were out calling for the wiley Merriam turkeys. Spring is for shotguns, while Montana lets us hunt turkeys in the fall with rifles. Not coming from a big shotgun-hunting state, we can use real guns in the fall. As a young hunter, one memory that remains lodged in my brain is of Dad harvesting a turkey with a Marlin Classic 25-20 Winchester on one of our deer hunts. It is a perfect caliber/cartridge option for the feathered head bobbers. Dad now owns and runs Skinner Sights, and we do more lever-action hunting than ever. It's a tough gig, but someone must test the products.
A few years back, on the last day of the year (also the last day of turkey season), I borrowed a Model 92 25-20 Winchesterfrom Dad. I worked up some reloads for the old girl, and we hunted. An hour's drive from where we live, there is a plentiful population of turkeys. We went to see what we could rustle up in the turkey department.
It was one of those years when there wasn't much snow at the end of December. Turkeys don't respond to a call much this time of the year, but we found a flock working its way through some small trees and sagebrush. A hen came into view between some brush and hesitated. The hundred-plus-year-old Winchester took care of her without ruining much meat. Dad followed the flock, and I heard his Ruger International in 22 Magnum, fire. We both had hen turkeys in an area where Fish Wildlife and Parks was trying to reduce the turkey numbers. It was a good deal!
We teach Hunter Education as volunteers for the state of Montana. One of the topics is why hunters hunt. Some hunt to get a chance to shoot an animal. Others because they love the outdoors. Still, others hunt to try different and more challenging methods of hunting. Though most lever-action rifles will not handle the pressures of modern high-power cartridges or the accuracy of a bolt-action rifle, hunting with the nostalgia rooted in the 1800s, the original "Assault-Rifle" of the black powder age is exponentially more satisfying. Old or new, you just can't beat the cool factor of a lever-action rifle.
I will always advocate that hunting with someone creates a bond you can't get doing almost anything else. My father and I are best friends mainly because of this time and experience. When I think back to the first time I heard him harvest a turkey with that 25-20 Marlin, I realize the hope and desire it created within me. Now, it's time to pass that on to my son.
