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Our mission is to take a stand for Christ while hunting from tree stands and enjoying God’s great outdoors. On every adventure, if you look for it, God will teach you something about Himself. That’s what we want to share, a show about awesome hunting and an awesome creator who made it all possible.
Speaker 1 0:00
The following is brought to you by the stand outdoors and is sponsored by steel pixel studios, white tail heaven Outfitters, hot frog print media and word FM you Hey, welcome back to the stand outdoors, the show where faith and the great outdoors come together. I'm Dave Baker along with the founder of the stand outdoors, Mike Hayes, and today we're talking with our good friend Len Puccio. He's a Pennsylvania turkey hunter. Hey, Lynn, how you doing, bud,
Speaker 2 0:43
very good. How you doing?
Speaker 1 0:45
Pretty good. Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2 0:47
You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 0:49
Len is really good friends with Joey. You know he go. They go to the same church, and I'm
Speaker 1 0:55
sorry to hear that. We'll
Speaker 3 0:56
be praying for you, but I've known him for 40 years, so you can pray for me too, actually. But where's Joey? His ears are burning. We Ben. We wanted to talk with you. It's turkey season right around the corner, and you know, we we've heard of your your turkey exploits out there. And, you know, I wanted our audience to kind of get to know you and and and your turkey hunting, because that's your main thing, isn't it? You love turkey hunting.
Speaker 2 1:30
I love turkey hunting. Yeah, it, it wasn't always. I didn't start turkey hunting until I was maybe about 40 years old.
Speaker 3 1:41
You're not much older than that now, right,
Speaker 2 1:44
but it's turkey hunting has actually made me a better hunter,
Speaker 3 1:52
is that? Right? Yeah. So when did you get involved in hunting? You go way back as your child.
Speaker 2 1:58
I started hunting at 12 years old, my grandfather, my mom's father, he his family hunted. My dad, when he Ben, my mom started hunting with them. And so when I was a young boy, you know it was I grew up around it and started hunting when I was 12, and it was mostly small game, you know, it's back when we had pheasants and
Speaker 3 2:31
good old days,
Speaker 1 2:33
yeah, good old
Speaker 3 2:34
Pennsylvania, yeah, we don't have anymore.
Speaker 1 2:36
They disappeared, yeah.
Speaker 2 2:38
And so grew up, you know, small game hunting in the area as well. As you know, we used to drive up to Bradford County to deer hunt. And my it was just rifle hunting, not no bow hunting, nothing like that. And my dad wasn't a very good teacher. He he would take me out and put me in a spot and just say, stay there until I come back. And it took me a long, long time before I got my first Pennsylvania white tail Buck because of that but, and that's, and that's when I What, why I said turkey hunting made me a better hunter. When I first was introduced to turkey hunting, I I fell in love with it. I, I had a handful of good mentors, and I found myself watching videos of turkey hunting and buying calls and making you know, learning how to call and and I spent hours and hours and hours watching these videos. And one, one day, I was sitting there, and I just said, Well, why don't I just teach myself how to hunt white tail deer? And I grab, I had a friend who gave me a bow, an old PSC, I I got that outfitted up the shape, started to to watch videos, on, on, on hunting, white tail, bow hunting. And all of a sudden, you know, it took me about two years, but I finally, finally got my first buck
Speaker 3 4:42
with a bow. That's great, yeah,
Speaker 1 4:44
what was the Len, what was the thing that that's that puts you over, kind of into the area where you felt like you knew what you were doing, what was, what were some of the keys? Because I think some hunters may be interested to know how you kind of learn that on your own, without a med. Mentor or somebody to tell you exactly what, what are the things there? Maybe, maybe there may be one thing, maybe five things. What are those things to kind of put you into that next, next phase, where you could actually kill something?
Speaker 2 5:12
Well, I I really started to learn about deer. Their their patterns, what to look for in the woods, looking for funneling places, looking for sign understanding you know, their bedding area and their feeding area, looking for, you know, where's the water? You know, starting to understand all of that. And I, all of a sudden, I found myself getting close,
Speaker 1 6:01
right,
Speaker 3 6:01
right,
Speaker 1 6:02
put you in a position where you could actually see deer and pattern them, so you could get a better chance of seeing something.
Speaker 2 6:10
And of course, you know the wind, you know you need to to be still. You need to not, you know, give off the human scent,
Speaker 3 6:24
right?
Speaker 2 6:25
And, you know, all, all of that, it wasn't one or two things.
Speaker 1 6:31
A lot of
Speaker 2 6:32
it really encompassed everything about hunting,
Speaker 1 6:34
right?
Speaker 3 6:35
Yeah, especially with archery, you have to know that animal. You got to get, get within 2030, yards of them, you know, to take them or the rifle, you can shoot them 200 yards away, you know. So, yeah, archery really hones you in on some good hunting skills and woodmanship. That's good, but so the turkey came along and said, It made you even a better hunter. How did that happen?
Speaker 2 7:00
I was I always wanted to try turkey hunting. I met a friend at church. Is actually my son. My son met a met a friend at at church, and they hunted. And so I had a conversation with he's a great friend of mine now we've stayed friends for for 30 years. So he he invited me up to his brother's cabin up in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, and took me out actually fall turkey hunting, and I was not outfitted for turkey hunting at all. And I just, you know, I didn't, you know, I can remember, going to go get a turkey choke for my shotgun and and I said, I'm looking at the chokes, and I'm going, You know what, I'll just use a full choke. I'll probably not even going to get a shot. So I went. They took me up to the cabin, and I met a handful of other other guys who were big turkey hunters, and they took me out. And long story short, to this day, I I shot my first turkey, and it is the biggest Pennsylvania gobbler that I've shot so far.
Speaker 3 8:30
That's great. So what, what? You know, you're really into turkey hunting now, like, that's your favorite, right?
Speaker 2 8:37
It is my favorite. Actually, you know, archery, bow hunting, white tail in the, you know, early season and and they're, they're neck and neck, yeah,
Speaker 3 8:51
it's amazing how archers really can get into turkey hunting, because it's very similar, when you think about it, you have that close contact, right? Yeah, they got close encounters, you know, you got to bring them in close and, and, and it's harder, it's just a harder thing to do. And so usually, if you find somebody that's a that's loves archery hunting, they'll love turkey hunting too,
Speaker 2 9:16
yeah, turkey hunting is, I would say it's more proactive. You know, you're, you're moving around, you're, you're trying to locate turkeys, you're, you know it's warmer,
Speaker 3 9:32
yeah, you get to talk. You get to talk to them.
Speaker 2 9:36
But it's every scenario is different. You know that in the woods and and you just never know when a turkey is going to fire up on you, and,
Speaker 3 9:48
oh yeah,
Speaker 2 9:49
especially if you haven't located them in the morning. And then you're fighting with with you're fighting against nature, in a sense.
Speaker 3 9:59
And.
Speaker 2 10:00
Yeah, you know, you're trying to call the turkey in and, you know, the natural thing a Turkey wants to do is gobbler gobbles, and the hens go to them,
Speaker 3 10:10
right? So it's against their DNA. You're trying to get them to do something against their DNA, but, but it's challenging, but it's worth it. So what is, what is your most memorable hunt?
Speaker 2 10:23
My most memorable Hunt is actually when, when my son shot his first turkey.
Speaker 3 10:30
That's great. Yeah,
Speaker 2 10:31
we, I joined the local chapter, Turkey Federation, Chapter up in Wayne County, and when the Game Commission first initiated the youth spring gobbler Hunt, a very good friend of mine who had who had passed A number of years ago, but he was the president of the Turkey Federation chapter, and he put together a youth hunt every year, but the first, the first hunt He we went to a camp there was about 1314, news we we got local people to guide a piece of property for every every youth there
Speaker 3 11:35
great.
Speaker 2 11:35
We gather on Friday night, sleep over, wake up on Saturday morning, go out and hunt, and then come back and you know, it's all about the stories,
Speaker 3 11:48
and that's great. But
Speaker 2 11:50
when my son shot his first turkey that year, it was it. That's to me, that that was the best thing that ever happened.
Speaker 1 12:04
Oh, yeah,
Speaker 3 12:05
yeah, that's great. Was it? Was it a was he a real goblin? Was he in love and coming in with a lot of gobbling and that kind of thing?
Speaker 2 12:14
It was, it was textbook. We, we, it was late morning, we had just got to the spot we were hunting earlier in another spot, and my my buddy threw out a call on a box call, and we heard a gobble way in the distance. And so as we're walking in the woods, were walking down a logging road and threw out another call, call, and that gobbler cut the distance in half in no time, and just wouldn't shut up. He kept gobbling. We knew. We knew. You know, my friend has a saying, if you, if you show me a gobbler that won't shut up, I'll show you a dead turkey.
Speaker 3 13:08
Yeah, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 13:11
And
Speaker 3 13:12
go ahead,
Speaker 2 13:12
yeah. So we, we, we quick found, found a spot, and we waited another 10 minutes. He gobbled. It would gobble every once in a while. And my, you know, I sat next to my son, my my friend, did the calling, and he would just throw a soft call out, nothing fancy, just, you know, and we saw, we saw him coming in. My my son, I I had coached him up a little bit, told him, you know, try not to be nervous and squeeze the trigger. Don't, don't jerk the trigger. And Turkey got into about 15 yards, and he shot him and and just rolled them over and
Speaker 3 14:01
15 yards. That's nice.
Speaker 2 14:03
I was, I was just ecstatic.
Speaker 3 14:06
So great, high five and
Speaker 2 14:09
it was a big Tom. It was, it was a big Tom. It was, it was a two year old. It was a, it was a mature bird. But was was heavy, 10 inch beard.
Speaker 1 14:23
Wow.
Speaker 3 14:24
Nice, nice. All right, so what can you What do you think is some of the most important things to know as a as a turkey hunter, tips for them to get that big Tom to come in? What would you say? Or some of the best tips?
Speaker 2 14:41
Well, the biggest tip, I think, is, is patience. It's, it's, you know, that seems like a cliche, but with with Turkey, with turkey hunting, you could be, you know. Work in a gobbler in the morning or a couple. And you know, you know that you're fighting hens. You hear the hens. The tendency is to over, call, call, loud, to, you know, do anything you can to get that turkey to gobble but, but that's not what the Turkey wants to hear. You're you're letting that Turkey know that. Hey, you know he knows exactly where you're at and with you constantly throwing calls out, you're, you're, you're not allowing that Turkey to be curious,
Speaker 3 15:51
yeah, to entice. You're not enticing him to come in, right?
Speaker 2 15:55
No, and it's very, very, it's, it's tough because you're, you know, you're excited, you're throwing calls out, but you the best thing to do is to be patient to once you get that turkey gobbling back. You know, talk like a turkey. You know, cluck every now and then, you know, throw a pair out soft yelps, you know. And the cadence is important, you know, a hen has a faster cadence than you know, Jake and a gobbler will Yelp at a slower cadence, you know, and the hen wants to, you know, Yelp fast, Stop, listen. Yelp again. You don't, you know, you don't. You don't throw out, you know, 5678, yelps at a time, or cut, cut, three, four or five times, and Yelp right after it. The natural thing is, the hen wants to wants to cut, wants to listen. So she, you know, you really have to to understand the language of a turkey.
Speaker 3 17:12
That's great. That's great. So, I don't know, tell us about maybe one of the most challenging or interesting hunts that you've had with Turkey?
Speaker 2 17:24
Yes, so the one of the most interesting hunts that I had was I had a I have a friend of mine who whose son wanted to wanted to hunt, so I invited him out to, you know, he came to me and asked me, you know, can you help me out? And I said, Sure. And I said, you haven't, you know, do you have any gear? And he said, No, we have nothing. I said, well. I said, Come on, we'll go get, you know how much money you got. So he went up. I got him outfitted. He had this shotgun. We shot. I took a took them out, we shot some clays with a shotgun, and we patterned a shotgun. Got, got the young, young, the youth to to get used to the gun, you know, safety talk, safety, safety, safety first thing. And so we took them up to the youth hunt, and we had got out early and sat and listened. We didn't locate any birds, so we just sat and as the as the morning dawned, the turkeys started gobbling on the roof roost, and we were we were maybe a couple of 100 yards away, but we couldn't really move. We were in the woods. There was a big field, so I just, I said, Let's just stay here, because I hear one gobble, and he might be just a satellite bird alone. So as the morning started, we're working this bird and another bird sounded off in the distance, and I was able to see the one bird fly off the roost and actually walk away from us. There was some hens out in the field on the other side of them, but this other Turkey that was behind us in the woods that we had gobbling, we decided to, you know, let's, let's he got silent on us and and we said, well, let's, you know, walk towards him and we'll see if we can't, you know, get him to go. Gobble again. I had, I had learned early on that as you're walking and, you know, trying to locate a turkey, that throwing a call a hen, call out a Yelp or something. I don't like to do that. I rather throw a locator call a crow or now hoot or
Speaker 3 20:21
like a shot
Speaker 2 20:22
or something. So as we're we're walking, I just did not have a I wasn't comfortable with what was going on. And I had, I had turned to another friend of mine. It was the two of us, and I was sitting with, I was sitting with the youth and his dad, and I looked at him, I said, Ben. I said, I just, I think that the turkey is, is a good chance he's he's coming in silent. So I pulled out my crow call. I was going to hit it, and the next thing you know, it fell apart in my hand. I looked at him, and I was, I just shrugged my shoulders, and he pulled out its own crow call.
Speaker 3 21:14
Oh, good.
Speaker 2 21:15
And he hit the crow call. And that Turkey, if it was 30 yards from us. It was
Speaker 3 21:21
Wow. It
Speaker 2 21:22
must
Speaker 3 21:22
have shook the woods. It
Speaker 2 21:24
was coming right in on us. And we just sat down right where we were. Luckily we had, we had a nice tree, and I sat him down, and I just told the youth to get his gun up, put it on his knee and just point it to the gobble, where we heard the gobble, and he threw out my buddy threw out another call and and the turkey was right there. He was right on top of us. The sound just, just
Speaker 3 21:56
when
Speaker 2 21:56
he gobbled that time. It just, you know, it seems like it goes right through
Speaker 1 22:02
you
Speaker 2 22:03
and he it. It may have taken about 30 seconds from from that gobble to where the he came out. And I had told him to, you know, do not shoot the turkey until it's still in its neck is his head is up. And to that young man's credit, he did everything that he was instructed to do, and and the the my buddy threw out a clock stopped the bird.
Speaker 3 22:37
The
Speaker 2 22:38
bird came out of his strut, put his head up, and next thing we know, he had a nice gobbler on the ground. That was that was memorable. But every, every hunt I had with a with a young man, with a youth, is memorable for me.
Speaker 3 22:58
Yeah. Well, you know the stand outdoors podcast, we love to to we call it a place where faith and the outdoors come together. And how did you come to know Christ? It was, did you come to know Christ early in life? Or was it later in life, or
Speaker 2 23:17
I was actually, it was a month before I turned 22 years old?
Speaker 3 23:21
Yeah, I was 19, similar time, yeah,
Speaker 2 23:25
yeah. So I was, I was raised in a denomination typical, you know, not, didn't know the Lord. Just, just knew my the religion that I was involved in,
Speaker 3 23:40
right?
Speaker 2 23:40
And, you know, I made a series of bad decisions as a young person.
Speaker 3 23:52
No,
Speaker 2 23:52
I wasn't running with a good crowd. And I, I don't know how deep you want me to go into this, but
Speaker 3 24:02
then Puccio, he's probably in a gang. I think I remember that getting now, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2 24:09
Yeah, you know, it was the, you know, I grew up. I was born in the early, very early 60s, and grew up in the late 60s and 70s, and things were a little different back then than they are now, naturally. But to just to make everything condense, everything I I was working at a particular place that had some Christians who were sharing with me I had gotten to an accident and totaled a truck that I had just bought, and a fellow came up to me, an older gentleman, and tapped me on the shoulder and said, Len, you know what? You. Need. And I looked at him, I said, John, now Oh, what do I need? And he says, you need the Lord. And I looked at him, and I just what? He didn't say anything magical, but it just resonated with me. How
Speaker 3 25:14
about that?
Speaker 2 25:15
And he took some time, and I heard the gospel for the first time,
Speaker 3 25:21
wow.
Speaker 2 25:22
And it just deep down inside me, I knew it was, it was right. What he was telling me was truth,
Speaker 3 25:31
wow.
Speaker 2 25:32
And I, I just chewed on that and dwelt on it, and you know, and went about my my life. And you know, within the next couple of years, the Lord just was faithful to bring different people into my life. And I would say, about a year and a half, about two years after that first encounters, I I asked, I just, I surrendered totally to the Lord and and and put my trust, my faith in Him, and He has been with me through, you know, he's, he's never, ever, ever let me down. He's always been with me and been faithful, and I just the I Am, the person I am today. Because of him, I cannot take any no matter what I've done in my life. I can't take any credit. It was all it's all the Lord, we all know that.
Speaker 3 26:41
Amen, yeah, well, listen, thanks so much for being with us. Lynn, we really appreciate it. We only got a couple minutes left. You have any other questions for Lynn? Lynn, Dave,
Speaker 1 26:53
no, I think we're good. Lynn, thanks so much. It's always great to hear stories hunting stories and faith stories together, and that's what the stand outdoors is all about. And so thanks for joining us
Speaker 2 27:07
today. You're welcome. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. I I love talking about the hunting. I love talking about the Lord. And so this is, this is just a great thing. Mike, thank you very much. Appreciate your, your desire to get the word out there, and it's, it's so important that there's a lot of hurting people out there.
Speaker 1 27:32
Yeah,
Speaker 2 27:32
a lot of people searching and Jesus is the answer, if, if us as Christians don't have the answer to life's problems. Nobody does. Yeah,
Speaker 3 27:45
Amen, brother, amen. Well, thank you. Thank you very much, and we'll have you on again sometime. We're going to do some turkey hunting together. I hope soon. Yes, we will. We'll share our stories, man, all right, have a great day. Lenny,
Speaker 2 27:59
okay, you too. See you, bud.
Speaker 3 28:10
We would love to hear from you. We'd love to hear your stories. So please send us a note or question by going to our home page at the standout doors.com and hit the Contact tab. Also, we'd love to pray for you too. Leave your prayer request by hitting the Contact tab. Or do you know Jesus tab? Yeah. Also, check out our targeting the truth Bible studies. We have these Bible studies that include hunting videos. I mean, think about it, when was the last time you went to a Bible study and got to watch a hunting video. Well, that's what targeting the truth. Bible studies include you watch a video, then I share the three to five minute spiritual message at the end, but then you go into the five discussion questions. You have Leaders Guide. You have everything you need. You're so good right there to have a men's group. You know, you can download it. And guess what, guys, it's all free. It's right there for you. Anybody in the stinking world that has has a computer, can can download this for free. And then we, you know, we want to keep it that way, because we want to reach as many people and the outdoor community as we can, and
Speaker 1 29:21
it's all found at the stand outdoors.com. Check it out. Hey, Mike, and I want to thank you for joining us today on the podcast. You can find it anywhere. It's on Apple, Spotify, many other platforms. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, share it with a fellow Hunter, and you can get all the details about our guests. Any links can be found on our show notes, and you can find us online anytime, day or night, 24 hours a day, free of charge, the standout doors.com that's the standout doors.com Until next time for my case, I'm Dave Baker,
Speaker 3 29:53
and remember, stand firm in the faith and keep targeting the truth. You.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai