Well today the weather finally broke enough to take my 8 year old boy out Turkey hunting..... before school. I had located a gobbler this week that had been very predictable in his patterns due to the high water, I knew it was just a matter of getting some decent weather to get the boy out there. We hunted 3 straight days last weekend in the rain and wind with only a couple of hen sightings.
Last night I went into a new area and set up our blind in the dark at 10PM, knowing that was my only chance of not buggering up the place. I went to bed with great anticipation for this morning, knowing if I could get the birds into the field just enough to see the decoys that would be enough to bring in ole Tom.
I woke up at 5am and sure enough, it was raining, AGAIN! Dammit I thought, but after checking the radar I could see it was going to stop soon. I went up and dragged Dane out of bed, it took a little extra to get him up today for some reason, but we got ready and were out the door before 6.... Now keep in mind that he had school today and either way I had to have him back home to get on the school bus by 8:10.
So we get to the hunting location and walk 1/4 mile to the blind, daylight is already breaking and we are running late. I get the decoys set up and get him in the blind and realize I left his shooting sticks in the truck.......SHIT! I tell him to get settled into his chair and I will go get the sticks. I took off on a fast walk and was to the truck and back in short order. By now it is light enough to shoot, but there was no sign of any turkeys yet, so I felt OK. I waited about 15 minutes and did a few soft yelps with my Primos box cutter. No birds answered or entered the field. After about 15 more minutes I got the push button call out and did another calling sequence. I kept glassing the field expecting to see a turkey entering the field from the south or east....no birds were seen for the next half hour or so.
About 7:20 I look out the right side of the blind and there is a large tom standing at 25 yards and closing the distance on the decoys! I never saw him coming at all because he came along the edge of the woods directly to our right. I grabbed the gun from the corner of the blind and got it on the shooting sticks and gave it to Dane. I told him to take his time and aim for the neck of the bird which, by now was only 15 yards away!
I took the safety off and then plugged my ears and BOOM!!!! He folded that gobbler right up! After a couple high fives we went out and grabbed the bird which was still flopping around.
This is my son's first turkey ever and it was a dandy.....22lbs, 10-1/2 inch beard and 1" spurs. We made it home by 7:45, got some pictures and he still made it on the school bus by 8:10!
Last night I went into a new area and set up our blind in the dark at 10PM, knowing that was my only chance of not buggering up the place. I went to bed with great anticipation for this morning, knowing if I could get the birds into the field just enough to see the decoys that would be enough to bring in ole Tom.
I woke up at 5am and sure enough, it was raining, AGAIN! Dammit I thought, but after checking the radar I could see it was going to stop soon. I went up and dragged Dane out of bed, it took a little extra to get him up today for some reason, but we got ready and were out the door before 6.... Now keep in mind that he had school today and either way I had to have him back home to get on the school bus by 8:10.
So we get to the hunting location and walk 1/4 mile to the blind, daylight is already breaking and we are running late. I get the decoys set up and get him in the blind and realize I left his shooting sticks in the truck.......SHIT! I tell him to get settled into his chair and I will go get the sticks. I took off on a fast walk and was to the truck and back in short order. By now it is light enough to shoot, but there was no sign of any turkeys yet, so I felt OK. I waited about 15 minutes and did a few soft yelps with my Primos box cutter. No birds answered or entered the field. After about 15 more minutes I got the push button call out and did another calling sequence. I kept glassing the field expecting to see a turkey entering the field from the south or east....no birds were seen for the next half hour or so.
About 7:20 I look out the right side of the blind and there is a large tom standing at 25 yards and closing the distance on the decoys! I never saw him coming at all because he came along the edge of the woods directly to our right. I grabbed the gun from the corner of the blind and got it on the shooting sticks and gave it to Dane. I told him to take his time and aim for the neck of the bird which, by now was only 15 yards away!
I took the safety off and then plugged my ears and BOOM!!!! He folded that gobbler right up! After a couple high fives we went out and grabbed the bird which was still flopping around.
This is my son's first turkey ever and it was a dandy.....22lbs, 10-1/2 inch beard and 1" spurs. We made it home by 7:45, got some pictures and he still made it on the school bus by 8:10!