Dylann decided to go with pops on the 2nd day of turkey season here in Va. I was elated cause being 16 years old now you can never really tell what she wants to do and getting up at 0415 isn't usually really high on a kids priority list.
Anyhow, we went to our first spot and parked the Jeep, well before light. We donned our turkey hunting gear. Dylann had said she didn't wanna shoot this morning and just wanted to observe and listen. I was okay with that, I was just happy to have her along.
Anyhow, we walked down one of the cleared roads on the hunting property, once the first tinges of light started over the tree tops. We made some light tree calls but nothing responded. I'd hunted this EXACT same piece of the ground the day before, and gotten ZERO responses. I kinda think because it was a frosty 30 on the opener, while this day with Dyl it was a pleasant 48 degrees. Well, we slowly walked and continued making calls and such when we were getting right next to the same spot she took her first buck quite a few years ago. I made a couple soft clucks and a bird responded, but CLOSE! I was kinda frantic since we were in some thick veg and we couldn't really move forward since he was close and would likely spook, so we actually moved back a little to get a little better vantage. Well, now the bird was gobbling on his own and the last one sounded louder/closer.. I put Dyl down about 3-5 yards behind me, then I popped a squat and just started scratching in the leaves. Everytime I did he'd gobble. I quit messing around and got the gun up and pointed in the direction of last sound..
Well, before too long I could see his white head popping just under the bank we were sitting on. He was moving left to right and he knew he should be able to see what he was thinking was his mate for the morning. He'd moved pretty far to my right and too much further he'd be outta my killing zone. Well, this devil lifted his head up to look between two trees about 25 paces out and I gave him a shot!
I jumped up half expecting to see the tree had absorbed the shot and to my excited surprise the ol Gobbler was stone dead. Not a darned flop!
Dyl jumped up and said "Dad, you nailed him". Anyhow, we hugged and took pictures, lots of them cause that is what we do. We hugged some more and took more pictures. Anyow, it was an awesome morning. I couldn't have been happier were it a 350" bull elk I took on my own.
Those new Federal TSS shells sure are handy for measuring spurs!
Dyl and I taking it all in and enjoying the great morning together!
Thanks for looking! Nothing better in my book than hunting with family and excellent friends. Dylann has even said she is ready to shoot now.
Another neat thing is my Great Uncle Frank, who just passed in February was an extraordinary turkey hunter and made all of us kids great sounding box calls. He was also a huge believer in the 20 gauge for hunting birds, so this spring I decided I am going to try and stick with them and fill some tags!
Anyhow, we went to our first spot and parked the Jeep, well before light. We donned our turkey hunting gear. Dylann had said she didn't wanna shoot this morning and just wanted to observe and listen. I was okay with that, I was just happy to have her along.
Anyhow, we walked down one of the cleared roads on the hunting property, once the first tinges of light started over the tree tops. We made some light tree calls but nothing responded. I'd hunted this EXACT same piece of the ground the day before, and gotten ZERO responses. I kinda think because it was a frosty 30 on the opener, while this day with Dyl it was a pleasant 48 degrees. Well, we slowly walked and continued making calls and such when we were getting right next to the same spot she took her first buck quite a few years ago. I made a couple soft clucks and a bird responded, but CLOSE! I was kinda frantic since we were in some thick veg and we couldn't really move forward since he was close and would likely spook, so we actually moved back a little to get a little better vantage. Well, now the bird was gobbling on his own and the last one sounded louder/closer.. I put Dyl down about 3-5 yards behind me, then I popped a squat and just started scratching in the leaves. Everytime I did he'd gobble. I quit messing around and got the gun up and pointed in the direction of last sound..
Well, before too long I could see his white head popping just under the bank we were sitting on. He was moving left to right and he knew he should be able to see what he was thinking was his mate for the morning. He'd moved pretty far to my right and too much further he'd be outta my killing zone. Well, this devil lifted his head up to look between two trees about 25 paces out and I gave him a shot!
I jumped up half expecting to see the tree had absorbed the shot and to my excited surprise the ol Gobbler was stone dead. Not a darned flop!
Dyl jumped up and said "Dad, you nailed him". Anyhow, we hugged and took pictures, lots of them cause that is what we do. We hugged some more and took more pictures. Anyow, it was an awesome morning. I couldn't have been happier were it a 350" bull elk I took on my own.
Those new Federal TSS shells sure are handy for measuring spurs!
Dyl and I taking it all in and enjoying the great morning together!
Thanks for looking! Nothing better in my book than hunting with family and excellent friends. Dylann has even said she is ready to shoot now.
Another neat thing is my Great Uncle Frank, who just passed in February was an extraordinary turkey hunter and made all of us kids great sounding box calls. He was also a huge believer in the 20 gauge for hunting birds, so this spring I decided I am going to try and stick with them and fill some tags!
