Close Shave!

Joe Finney and the “Gillette” Gobbler

When I answered my phone early this morning I heard a humming of the music to that old song “Another one bites the dust.” I instantly knew that another bird must have gobbled its last gobble. Sho nuff, Joe Finney had dropped the hammer on a nice Tom and was calling to share the story. I love hearing interesting hunting stories from my buddies and I must admit that this story was interesting to say the least. I noticed while I was listening to his story, he never said anything about the bird’s beard. When I inquired about how long the Tom’s beard was I heard a chuckle on the other end of the line and then a pause, followed by an interesting response – “I shot it off,” Joe said.

Evidently the bird popped up about 20 steps from the end of Joe’s gun barrel. It quickly found himself on the receiving end of some #5 turkey shot and in the process got a shave at no extra cost.

It just seems fitting that this Big Tom is given a name. After all, all extraordinary whitetail kills are given names to distinguish them from one another. All deer hunters will recognize the “Hanson Buck” or the “Hole-in-the-Horn Buck.” I’m sure that if this gobbler still had a beard it would be impressive and surely be a record book bird. I can hear the stories now. I bet each time the story gets told, the turkey’s beard will get bigger and bigger. When thinking of a name, one came to mind that just had to be it. “The Gillette Gobbler.” Remember Gillette, the shaving company. They prided themselves on being able to give a man the closest shave that a man could get. Our good friend Joe knows exactly what they were talking about in those commercials, but he doesn’t need a razor, just one round of 12 gauge turkey load. Congratulations Joe. “Gillette, the best a man (I mean turkey) can get.”