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he author had never fired a 12 gauge or heard of a turkey shoot till he took aim with this Iver Johnson Champion. T O ne afternoon many years back, my dad showed up at my school unexpectedly. He spoke briefly with the teacher at the head of the room, then motioned for me to follow him. At age 12, my mind panicked: What have I done now? Heart in my throat, I felt the stares of my classmates as I slowly shuffled down the aisle. My dad and I walked quietly through the main hall and exited the doors to the wide steps at the front of the school. The day is fixed in my mind because somehow, but the only thing running wild was my imagination. We soon pulled onto a dusty gravel road that dead-ended at a weathered wooden sign with the words sportsman club carved into it. Vehicles, many with fins, most with tailgates, crowded the large parking lot. I heard a muffled gunshot in the distance. My heart raced. We got out of the car, and Dad retrieved a familiar brown gun case from the back seat. I knew the gun case well. Normally, it stood in the back corner of my grandfather's closet, and I had seen it often. I knew also what it held, because A paean to simpler times, shotguns that linger in memory, and a glorious second-place finish. S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 1 0 1 it was the only time my dad ever came to get me out of school. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving. Beneath a somber sky, the chilled air seemed to be holding its breath, just like me. He didn't talk until we got into his chrome-laden Buick. "We're going to a turkey shoot, Son," he said as he turned the car onto the hard road leading south out of town. I sighed loudly with relief—a turkey shoot, the farthest thing from my mind. I hunted squirrels, doves, quail, ducks, and rabbits enough to know there weren't any wild turkeys anywhere near our small Midwestern town, and no one ever spoke of wild turkeys running free in the woodlots and fields. Still, my mind reeled with anticipation. I pictured a secluded hunting ground that I missed Richard S. Grozik Wild eritage H