LITCHFIELD — Although hunting has always been a part of Sophie Stilwell’s life, she has hunted turkeys just twice. Both times, she has filled out her tag with sizable turkeys, so she plans to make turkey season a regular part of her year from now on.
“I’ve gotten extremely lucky that I’ve gotten two mature toms (mature male turkeys) the two times I went out,” Stilwell said. “That’s not always how it goes.”
Raised in Litchfield, a lot of Stilwell’s childhood was spent at her grandparents’ farm in New London, doing target practice, small game hunting and deer hunting.
“I remember going out with my grandpa, my mom or my dad … shooting the .22 with my dad, following him around so he could shoot squirrels,” Stilwell said. “For as long as I can remember, it’s been a passion of mine.”
Sophie’s mother, Holly, works as a hunting guide — including bear hunting — in northern Minnesota, and Stilwell helps her with that in early fall. Stilwell sometimes goes waterfowl hunting as well; she works at Scheels in St. Cloud, and some of her coworkers also hunt waterfowl.
The first time Stilwell went turkey hunting was in 2021. One of her friends recommended she try turkey hunting, and she filled a tag that year.
“It was super simple,” Stilwell said. “You wake up in the morning (and) bring a call, and we managed to call in some turkeys. Super simple hunt, but it was fun.”
Not only did Stilwell bag the bird on her first day, but she got it within her first hour after luring them with a turkey call.
“There were probably about 15 of them,” she said. “The hunt was over in 30 minutes.”
Stilwell decided not to go turkey hunting for the next four years but returned to it this spring, hunting alongside another friend, Brody Loch. This time, it took about three or four days until she was able to shoot a turkey.
“They were just smart this year,” Stilwell said. “That’s how it goes; it heavily depends on the birds.”
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