Turkey hunting becomes man's passion

It was a late-blooming romance for John Zuelke, but it certainly has been a robust one for the native Toledoan. His love affair with hunting wild turkeys has carried him back and forth across the North American continent and into the record books of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Zuelke, who did not shoot his first turkey until he was 60 years old, has completed the Grand Slam, Royal Slam, and World Slam of turkey hunting. That more or less makes him Babe Ruth in the turkey hunting ranks, and he is working on multiple repeats of those accomplishments.

The Grand Slam is achieved by harvesting the Eastern, Rio Grande, Merriam's, and Osceola subspecies, while the Royal Slam includes those four plus the Gould's, and the World Slam adds the Ocellated wild turkey to that group.

Zuelke, who operated B&B Beverage Center on Broadway before his retirement, had tried turkey hunting in Ohio back in the 1960s, with no success. "I hunted for 10 years and made every mistake in the world. I couldn't buy a turkey, so I quit," he said. "I was convinced there just weren't any turkeys around."

He continued to enjoy hunting, and pursued deer, pheasant, elk, and caribou for many years before deciding to again dabble in that ultimate test of a hunter's patience called wild turkey hunting.

When a friend leased some property in Nebraska a little more than a decade ago and Zuelke was invited to hunt it, he found himself in a turkey hunting mecca and was seduced back into the sport.

"The mountains were getting steeper, and I was getting older, and I found that turkey hunting was something I could still do," Zuelke said. "The next thing I knew, I was going all over the map trying to shoot turkeys. I guess I got the fever pretty good, for someone as old as I am."

Zuelke, 74, has retired to Devils Lake in southeast Michigan's Irish Hills, but the pursuit of wild turkeys goes on. He just returned from spending three days at a 6,000-acre cattle ranch near St. Cloud, Fla., where he bagged another Osceola.

The turkey hunting in Ohio has improved significantly since Zuelke's early forays, and the spring season opens next week. Michigan's spring season also opens next week in certain areas.

While he prepares for the spring season, Zuelke is working on turning the 30 acres he owns across the road from his home into ideal habitat for deer and wild turkeys. His relationship with the persnickety bird, which is native to North America, took on an almost spiritual tone recently when Zuelke, on his way to church, spotted five jakes (immature males) in a neighbor's yard.

"I guess you get hooked on something, and it just shows up all around you," said Zuelke, whose home is decorated with a number of full-mount trophies from his wild turkey hunts.

by Matt Markey