Rhyno
04-21-2014, 08:06 AM
Since we put the trailer to bed last year my family and I could not wait for spring to arrive to get out camping again. We made plans months ago to go out on the Easter long weekend for a family turkey hunt.
I told myself I was going to wait until then to start chasing turkey’s, but the anticipation was killing me. I snuck out before work on Thursday with a coworker but only heard one distance gobble, but no one was interested in talking.
Friday arrived and we headed off into the rainy/windy weather to set up camp, a brief scouting trip that evening didn’t turn up anything except some turkey crap. My goal this year was to harvest a bird with my 6 year old daughter in tow, she loves going turkey hunting with dad, getting up in the “middle of the night”, drinking hot chocolate and working the call. I did get a bird last year in a spot she found some feathers, but was solo that morning.
Even though we didn’t put a bird to bed, we went to sleep full of anticipation. I was woken up 45 min before the alarm went off by my daughter asking if it was time to go hunting yet! After being asked that repeatedly, it was finally time to get dressed and head out. We were careful not to wake my son and wife, but had little success in that department.
We arrived at our spot and opened the door to the sound of a gobble! I hunted turkey 7 days last year and did not hear a single bird until the last day, which I got, and here I am the second time out and we have a bird close by! Now this is the part about turkey hunting I am unsure of, I never know how close to get to the bird before I set up. I played it cautious and set up what I thought was a few hundred yards away. I let out a call and he answered right away, I told my daughter to sit very still and quietly next to me. Well, she sat directly on something “pokey” and burst into tears….okay this isn’t going to work. I backed out of the zone and calmed her down. The bird was clearly up on a ridge, so I decided to get up there and a bit closer. We came up over a small rise and could see about 100 yards through the trees, I knew there was no way we wouldn’t be busted with a squirmy 6 year old at my side. I set the decoy up and backed away and set up against a tree. That way by the time we saw him he would be in range.
Once again we hunkered down, I had my daughter sit on my pack to protect her butt from the every present “pokies”. I let out a hen call and got an immediate response. I made sure my daughter under stood it was time to be still and quiet. Well it turns out we have very different opinions as to what this entails, as she was “whispering” where the turkey was.
One more call and a response much closer I could tell the bird was coming in hard. All of a sudden a hen call let out about 80 yards behind us from the direction we just came from….crap, was it another hunter who heard the gobbling? Just as the though crossed my mind I looked back to the decoy to see a gobbler in full strut crest the rise. He pegged us immediately and started to make a move, but not quick enough as I snapped off a shot.
As the boom echoed, my daughter burst into tears for the second time of the day as the blast scared the crap out of her. I picked her up and carried her over to the bird, she cracked a huge smile when she realized we got our turkey! I was super proud to be able to get a bird with my favorite turkey hunting buddy! I looked at my watch and realized how fast and furious the morning was.
http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae51/seibelr/Hailey_zpsa7f69193.jpg
I told myself I was going to wait until then to start chasing turkey’s, but the anticipation was killing me. I snuck out before work on Thursday with a coworker but only heard one distance gobble, but no one was interested in talking.
Friday arrived and we headed off into the rainy/windy weather to set up camp, a brief scouting trip that evening didn’t turn up anything except some turkey crap. My goal this year was to harvest a bird with my 6 year old daughter in tow, she loves going turkey hunting with dad, getting up in the “middle of the night”, drinking hot chocolate and working the call. I did get a bird last year in a spot she found some feathers, but was solo that morning.
Even though we didn’t put a bird to bed, we went to sleep full of anticipation. I was woken up 45 min before the alarm went off by my daughter asking if it was time to go hunting yet! After being asked that repeatedly, it was finally time to get dressed and head out. We were careful not to wake my son and wife, but had little success in that department.
We arrived at our spot and opened the door to the sound of a gobble! I hunted turkey 7 days last year and did not hear a single bird until the last day, which I got, and here I am the second time out and we have a bird close by! Now this is the part about turkey hunting I am unsure of, I never know how close to get to the bird before I set up. I played it cautious and set up what I thought was a few hundred yards away. I let out a call and he answered right away, I told my daughter to sit very still and quietly next to me. Well, she sat directly on something “pokey” and burst into tears….okay this isn’t going to work. I backed out of the zone and calmed her down. The bird was clearly up on a ridge, so I decided to get up there and a bit closer. We came up over a small rise and could see about 100 yards through the trees, I knew there was no way we wouldn’t be busted with a squirmy 6 year old at my side. I set the decoy up and backed away and set up against a tree. That way by the time we saw him he would be in range.
Once again we hunkered down, I had my daughter sit on my pack to protect her butt from the every present “pokies”. I let out a hen call and got an immediate response. I made sure my daughter under stood it was time to be still and quiet. Well it turns out we have very different opinions as to what this entails, as she was “whispering” where the turkey was.
One more call and a response much closer I could tell the bird was coming in hard. All of a sudden a hen call let out about 80 yards behind us from the direction we just came from….crap, was it another hunter who heard the gobbling? Just as the though crossed my mind I looked back to the decoy to see a gobbler in full strut crest the rise. He pegged us immediately and started to make a move, but not quick enough as I snapped off a shot.
As the boom echoed, my daughter burst into tears for the second time of the day as the blast scared the crap out of her. I picked her up and carried her over to the bird, she cracked a huge smile when she realized we got our turkey! I was super proud to be able to get a bird with my favorite turkey hunting buddy! I looked at my watch and realized how fast and furious the morning was.
http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae51/seibelr/Hailey_zpsa7f69193.jpg