Imagine the thrill of turkey hunting on a great southern plantation in the spectacular South Carolina Lowcountry, only a stone’s throw from Hilton Head Island.

On this same land, some of the great names of yesteryear hunted — names like Carnegie, Reynolds, Ford, Roebling, Hutton, Dodge, Cox, Luce and finally R.T. Wilson, who built the fabled Palmetto Bluff Plantation.

Fabulous hunting trips don’t always end with total success harvesting gobblers. True outdoor accomplishment begins and ends simply in being with great friends of like minds in a beautiful wilderness.

Our trip started on Tax Day at Palmetto Bluff, S.C., a 20,000-acre pristine forest dominated by southern pines, mossy oaks, palmetto palms, wild magnolia, ferns and lots of azaleas. Our hunting manse is owned by our friend E. R. “Bo” Campbell who owns 10,000 acres within the Palmetto Bluff Resort, which was recently named “Best Resort in America” by Conde Nast Magazine.

Manager and guide

Mike Rahn, who manages the Campbell property, serves as our encyclopedia and hunting guide. Mike and his family have worked at Palmetto Bluff a combined 145 years.

Today, Mike guides only for the Campbell family. However, in past years he and others guided as many as 3,000 guests annually.  Accomplished, professional, conservationist and southern gentleman best describe this keeper of Palmetto Bluff.

The fresh scent of the early-morning pine forest fills the cool air while quietly walking in the spongy, sandy soil seeking the exact set-up for calling and decoying the highly elusive Eastern gobbler. In the dim light just before dawn, our only trepidation is meeting an unfriendly diamondback or timber rattler. Fortunately, none was encountered.

Late April is not the best time for spring hunting since most hens have already laid eggs and mating rituals have almost finished. However, gobblers are still strutting their stuff with slightly less enthusiasm.

Mike set up near a small food plot where several turkeys had been seen the preceding afternoon. Shortly after daybreak he began the classic clucking of a lonely hen in search of a mate. Immediately in the distance sounded the anxious gobble alerting the hunters of an interested party.

Three-year hunt

Soon two jakes (immature gobblers) appeared in the field headed our direction.  Mike’s amorous clucking produced another mature gobbler, and soon the party started with gobblers strutting all around.  The shooter, one of the Campbell wives on her first hunt, fired prematurely at a prize and missed. Nonetheless, she was forever hooked on the sport.

In the afternoon, Bo Campbell bagged “Old Big Boy,” a 20-pound Eastern with a 20-inch beard. The elusive bird was hunted for three seasons before “Bo” harvested him in one of the many ancient cemeteries on the plantation. Big Bird was strutting to Mike’s call among the tombstones in Rephrairm Cemetery, named after one of the many early plantations of Palmetto Bluff.  Mike just called up his 327th turkey.

After the evening hunt, rehashing every detail of the day and bygone days, our hunting party dined in the fine restaurants at Palmetto Bluff.

Three luxurious days of similar experiences followed, during which time we saw many turkeys but no long beards. And so ended our hunt.

Our party was composed of E. R. “Bo” Campbell, Mr. & Mrs. Chip Campbell, Paul McClinton, Clifton Robinson and Mike Rahn. For “Crunch” McClinton and I, Palmetto Bluff proved a once-in-a-lifetime thrill; for the Campbell family, it was but another routine visit to Paradise.

Clifton Robinson is chairman of Robinson Media, which owns the Tribune-Herald .