bowman
Super Moderator
I had a long, miserable hunt on Monday morning with the birds only gobbling at the occasional thunder. Mole and I moved, ran, got rained on, and were exausted by 1:00 p.m.
I thought about not going hunting in the evening but decided to take my 5 year old daughter, Allison, hunting with me to give me incentive. She was a trooper. She had to carry the video camera, regular camera, her chair, and sandwiches, while Daddy was loaded down with gear. The walk was uphill all the way and she got a pretty tired. We got set up only to have a group of too friendly cows surround the blind. We moved 10 yards across the fence and started calling at 5:00 p.m.
After two full hours Allison had colored in her coloring book, ate her sandwich, ate her sucker, and snuggled on Daddy's lap. She was doing pretty good but getting restless when we both heard a gobble. Pretty soon I could tell that he was in the field but out of sight. Soon we spotted two toms, one in strut and the other out. 1/2 hour later the tom pulled out of strut and came running in with the other tom on his heels and another behind him. Allison could not see from her chair so she had been standing beside me for more than a 1/2 hour. The birds angled to the left and I could not get a shot off. Then they decided to leave.
Luckily two jakes showed and the toms got aggressive, chasing the jakes around. I gobbled once and in they came. I aimed for the hip joint and fired. The tom went right down. The other two toms and two jakes started stomping him when all of a sudden, he took flight, flying about 2-3 feet off of the ground. I left Allison in the blind and did a 150 yard sprint across the feild, across a fence, into the timber, and into a ravine where I pounced on him. I realized that Allison was probably scared to death so I yelled for her and she came running and very excited. I was able to capture the toms on video untill they came in and then Allison after the hunt. It was priceless. She is usually bashful but she has told the story to everyone, even to a room full of guys at the archery shop. The story gets more animated every time she tells it. (like father, like daughter?) This hunt was great and I've got a little girl that is hooked! (watch out Kat!!!)
The bird weighed 21 lbs, has an 11 3/4 inch beard, and 1 inch spurs. Unfortunately his fan only has about 8 feathers left so a fan mount is out of the question.
Here is the photos!
Another
I thought about not going hunting in the evening but decided to take my 5 year old daughter, Allison, hunting with me to give me incentive. She was a trooper. She had to carry the video camera, regular camera, her chair, and sandwiches, while Daddy was loaded down with gear. The walk was uphill all the way and she got a pretty tired. We got set up only to have a group of too friendly cows surround the blind. We moved 10 yards across the fence and started calling at 5:00 p.m.
After two full hours Allison had colored in her coloring book, ate her sandwich, ate her sucker, and snuggled on Daddy's lap. She was doing pretty good but getting restless when we both heard a gobble. Pretty soon I could tell that he was in the field but out of sight. Soon we spotted two toms, one in strut and the other out. 1/2 hour later the tom pulled out of strut and came running in with the other tom on his heels and another behind him. Allison could not see from her chair so she had been standing beside me for more than a 1/2 hour. The birds angled to the left and I could not get a shot off. Then they decided to leave.
Luckily two jakes showed and the toms got aggressive, chasing the jakes around. I gobbled once and in they came. I aimed for the hip joint and fired. The tom went right down. The other two toms and two jakes started stomping him when all of a sudden, he took flight, flying about 2-3 feet off of the ground. I left Allison in the blind and did a 150 yard sprint across the feild, across a fence, into the timber, and into a ravine where I pounced on him. I realized that Allison was probably scared to death so I yelled for her and she came running and very excited. I was able to capture the toms on video untill they came in and then Allison after the hunt. It was priceless. She is usually bashful but she has told the story to everyone, even to a room full of guys at the archery shop. The story gets more animated every time she tells it. (like father, like daughter?) This hunt was great and I've got a little girl that is hooked! (watch out Kat!!!)
The bird weighed 21 lbs, has an 11 3/4 inch beard, and 1 inch spurs. Unfortunately his fan only has about 8 feathers left so a fan mount is out of the question.
Here is the photos!
Another
