Years ago, my young son, my uncle, and I were hunting turkeys NE of Las Vegas, NM. I was set up next to a tree. My uncle was behind me calling. I told my son to get behind a bush about 10 feet from me. I told him to crouch down, don't move, and be real quiet. Well as kids do, he was looking around. I whispered to him to stop moving around and just look out over the clear area in front of him. Well, when he turned around there was a turkey about two feet in front of him, He screamed, the turkey screamed and took off running, and I laughed so hard. That was the end of hunting that spot!?ÿ ?ÿ Good times!
IMO, nothing beats spring turkey hunting.?ÿ I really need to take my boys now that they are 9 and 7.?ÿ Not sure if they could sit still or quiet long enough.?ÿ Definitely will need a blind to hide them in!
My eight year old daughter and I tried turkey hunting for the first time this year and filled both my tags.?ÿ She's got a little ways to go before doing the shooting, but she stayed still and quiet and in general outperformed me at that age.?ÿ I got her up at 3:30am, threw her a cold biscuit and after a mile walk in the dark, we were in the blind at 5am.?ÿ It was probably the first time in her life that?ÿ she truly heard each distinct song as the various species of birds competed to be heard: Screech owls, barred owls, quail, Carolina chickadee, mourning dove, and of many more including our quarry.
I'm not a fan of grip and grins because most non-hunters misinterpret them and distill the expressed joy down to some perverse celebration of death.?ÿ We were ecstatic because a lot of hard work and effort came together for us.?ÿ We practiced calling, scouted pre-season, learned about the fascinating life cycles of turkeys as well as the coordinated efforts of hunter/conservationists across the country to reintroduce them to areas where they had been extirpated.?ÿ We got the gobbler in the picture at 9:45am after almost five hours in the blind and had only seen one hen before my daughter and I were able to call him in.?ÿ ?ÿ
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@murphy?ÿ
That's an awesome story and wow look at the beard on that healthy big ol bird!!
