MS turkey hunting: Mississippi girl harvests rare silver-colored gobbler

AI-assisted summary
• A 12-year-old girl from Mississippi bagged a rare silver-colored turkey while hunting with her brother.
• The turkey was well-known in the area and had been spotted on multiple properties.
• The girl, Addi Windom, made the shot with her late grandfather's 20-gauge shotgun.

A Mississippi girl was hunting with a shotgun passed down from her grandfather and as exciting as it was that she harvested her first gobbler on opening day of youth season, it was even more so with her second gobbler that was a rare silver-colored bird.

"Everybody was trying to kill that bird," said Vance Windom of Bogue Chitto and father of Addi Windom, 12. "He was going from property to property to property.

"We knew the bird was roosting on us. That bird actually hatched on us. This bird was on about 10 different properties. The bird was absolutely beautiful."

Because the bird was known to so many people near Windom's property, he was hoping Addi could harvest it during youth turkey season before the regular spring season opened on March 15. Addi was able to harvest her first gobbler that Saturday, but it wasn't the silver turkey.

The following day, Windom needed to visit his mother, so he asked his son, Blayten, 16, to take Addi hunting that afternoon.

An afternoon turkey hunt Mississippi girl won't forget

"I'd say we got out there about 4 o'clock," Blayten said. "We got back there and heard hens yelping. I thought, 'Well, if the hens are yelping, a gobbler's going to be there with them."

Blayten said he made a few calls with a boss hen call while the two sat overlooking a field. The hens kept yelping, but eventually went silent.

However, about an hour and a half into the hunt, the activity picked up.

"I looked up and lo and behold, 14 hens came out and he came out strutting right there with them," Blayten said. "He kind of stayed about 40 yards into the woods. Eventually, he came out of the woods about 20 yards away from us."

Grandfather's shotgun doesn't fail young turkey hunter

While the two waited for the gobbler to offer a clear shot, Addi's nerves were getting the best of her.

"I was waiting for him to walk out and when he walked out, I was like, 'Oh, my gosh.'" Addie said. "I was shaking real bad. My brother was like, 'Addi, look at me — breathe.'"

Addi tried to calm down and when the silver gobbler came into range and gave her a clear shot, she did her part and her grandfather's old single-shot 20 gauge did its part, too. The bird went down and Addi had her first closeup look at him.

She was in disbelief.

"I'm like, 'There's no way I'm touching this turkey,'" Addi said. "Oh, my gosh, he's so much prettier in person.

"You can see the details. He had like little black markings on his tail. Those are real pretty."

A special hunt comes to an end

For Addi's father, it was both an exciting harvest and somewhat of a relief, too.

"I'm just glad he wasn't killed by a poacher," Windom said. "It's a memory we'll never forget and it's going to make her a turkey hunter for the rest of her life."

And taking it with the old shotgun was icing on the cake.

"The thing that makes it is we lost my dad a year ago," Windom said. "My dad was a really avid turkey hunter. He let her have the gun to turkey hunt."

Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.