AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
This is a rather long read, but I know you guys will appreciate the first encounter of a young hunter with a big gobbler down here and I know you've all been through this before. A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted about volunteering at the local annual Junior's Hunting Camp that is sponsored every year by th NWTF and AGFD. To say I was excited to help mentor a young boy or girl to get their first turkey was an understatement. The camp was about 45 minutes south of Flagstaff and was being run for 3 hunt units that are close together. Two of those units are open for over-the-counter tags for youth (10-16) and the other is only open through the lottery because of how much pressure it was getting when the OTC Jr. tag program first started. Of the 3 units, I only knew one really well (where I got my bird back in 2008). I spent all day Friday with a couple of different groups not hearing or seeing anything, but a set of hen tracks, tons of elk, and a set of 3-day old tom tracks (this whole area was under 12" of snow the weekend prior).
Friday evening as I was waiting to hear how us mentors were going to be paired up with young hunters, I ran into a gentlemen (also named Brian) I had spoken to briefly around lunch time. Brian was hunting with his 2 boys (Carsten, 10 and Justin, 12) and had a couple of birds roosted, but had trouble calling to birds earlier that morning. He really wanted an experienced caller so I offered to go with him and his sons to call, feeling pretty confident that if we can get to the birds, I could get one to commit.
We had a plan in place and left camp around 0400 Saturday morning for the drive to his area. We got up in the woods towards where Brian heard them gobbling and I tried some owl hooting to get a shock gobble and heard one way off in the distance, but not where Brian knew they were gobbling from. We got up to below the ridge and along a power line road/ROW and did some yelping since it was just past fly-down. I heard another gobble off in the distance and pointed the direction. I turned around and Brian, Carsten, and Justin were all pointing the opposite direction. There was a little knoll about 150 yards away with a good vantage to where I thought I heard that gobbler from so I hustled over to it with the plan that if I was right, the group would follow. A few solid yelps brought a close gobble from where the three had pointed earlier, so we hustled down that direction and found a good clearing to set up below the worked up tom. We got the two boys set up with a good view of the area, dad right between them and I set back another 10 yards and started in with a mix of yelping, putting, cutting, and purring. Right away I knew this was a mature tom and he was comitting. I whispered up to have Brian get the boys ready.
As the tom got closer, he made it clear he loved the purring the best. It wasn't long and I picked him up coming out of the timber strutting and then dropping his tail feathers. He was drumming after every gobble and he was fired up! I kept the purring up and he came running into the decoys, but stopped short and his head went up, as if he didn't like something. I heard the bark of a 20 ga. shotgun and watched the tom take a load of 3" #5s and start to roll over. I remember cheering "YES!" in my head and then saw the bird stand up straight and turn to run "NO!" so I started clucking and cutting at him to stop him. Justin and his dad jumped up and Justin fired again, but missed and the bird ran off. Justin was facing away from me, but I could tell what his body language meant and in my heart, I could see his tears. Luckily his dad was right there with him and, as a dad, myself, I could hear the words of consolation.
I went up with Carsten who was still sitting in his spot and asked him what he thought of the whole experience. "It sucked" was the response. I know what he was talking about, so I got him to think about the gobbles, the sight of the bird strutting and running in. I asked him not to make fun of his older brother and he said "I'm not that kind of brother." I knew right there that this 10 year old boy was way ahead of his peers! After giving Justin and his dad some time, I walked up there and asked Brian if it would be ok if I said a few words to Justin. Seeing his tears got me choked up, too. I assured him he did nothing wrong and that he and his brother did everything perfect. The tom just saw something it didn't like and hung up, but he took the shot at the right time and it was only 25 yards, so it wasn't too far. I asked him if his heart was beating out of his chest and he admitted it was. I asked him if he jumped a little in his seat when that tom was thundering down on him and he said he did. I explained that I was in the same boat and I wasn't even hunting. I assured him that all he experienced is why we hunt turkeys in the first place. I also told him that if you hunt turkeys long enough, you will miss and that I missed a bird at 15 yards 5 years ago. He was far from alone I knew several other seasoned hunters that have missed. I told him that in time, the miss will hurt less, but the sight and sounds will stay with him a a positive experience. I aslo told him that if any of his friends tell him they've never missed, he should look at them and say "Yet!" and that what I witnessed as a turkey hunter was one of the most beautiful turkey hunting experiences I've ever had and I was very proud of how still he and his brother were and how they handled themselves as hunters. I assured him we'd get another chance at redemption.
As we were wrapping up there, we heard another gobbler a couple hundred yards away so we moved in that direction. Again, to Carsten's credit, he said "I want Justin to have the first chance at this bird after what happened." As we got to a clearing that looked good to set up in, the gobbler sounded off about 100 yards up on a hillside in thick ponderosa pine. We scrambled for cover and I began calling to him. He started to sound interested when a 2nd tom started in behind us. I started working both birds using my slate and diaphragm simultaneously to mimic two hens sparring and it sounded like it was working until 2 hens magically appeared (by sound) and one hen was with each tom. Not wanting to lose the opportunity, I started calling aggressively to both hens trying to make them mad enough to come in and bring the toms with them. After what felt like an eternity (and me running out of breath from extended calling with my diaphragm), both hens took their toms in their respective opposite directions.
I recommended that we give the toms some time to breed the hens and then try to get back on them, which gave us some time to recap the whole morning. I don't think I've ever seen 2 boys so wide-eyed as I did after all of that. They just experienced every aspect of turkey hunting in about an hour, some of that stuff that I know it took me years to actually witness. Unfortunately, no tags got filled before I had to get back to camp to gather my stuff and make it to my daughter's birthday party, but I could tell the turkey hunting community had its two newest life-long members! You all know what look I'm talking about. I promised Brian and his sons that if they come to the junior camp next year, I would partner up with them again and do my best to help get redemption. Back at camp, I introduced them to the regional NWTF biologist who is a good friend of mine and he loved the story and shared a few of his misses with them. I heard later that the boys got to meet Brenda Valentine, who came to this camp and she loved their story and shared some of her misses with them as well. Every time they told the story, you could hear the excitement in their voices and they both left a lasting impression on me!
Brian and I have kept in touch and I sent him a text with the words I forgot to relay to Justin and Carsten: There are 2 types of turkey hunters: those who have missed, and those who haven't missed yet. I got Brian's permission to share the story because I know all of you have been in a similar situation before and you all know the importance of getting kids out hunting and encouraging them to stick with it. I think I may have gained a couple more hunting buddies out of the weekend and I told Brian to call me when his boys get their elk down in late September in a unit that is mostly wilderness (no vehicle access) right outside of town.
So if you don't mind, share some stories of close encounters or some words of encouragement to these fine young men (I'm going to send their dad a link to this post so they can read it). As many times as they thanked me, it really was my pleasure to be out there with them!
Friday evening as I was waiting to hear how us mentors were going to be paired up with young hunters, I ran into a gentlemen (also named Brian) I had spoken to briefly around lunch time. Brian was hunting with his 2 boys (Carsten, 10 and Justin, 12) and had a couple of birds roosted, but had trouble calling to birds earlier that morning. He really wanted an experienced caller so I offered to go with him and his sons to call, feeling pretty confident that if we can get to the birds, I could get one to commit.
We had a plan in place and left camp around 0400 Saturday morning for the drive to his area. We got up in the woods towards where Brian heard them gobbling and I tried some owl hooting to get a shock gobble and heard one way off in the distance, but not where Brian knew they were gobbling from. We got up to below the ridge and along a power line road/ROW and did some yelping since it was just past fly-down. I heard another gobble off in the distance and pointed the direction. I turned around and Brian, Carsten, and Justin were all pointing the opposite direction. There was a little knoll about 150 yards away with a good vantage to where I thought I heard that gobbler from so I hustled over to it with the plan that if I was right, the group would follow. A few solid yelps brought a close gobble from where the three had pointed earlier, so we hustled down that direction and found a good clearing to set up below the worked up tom. We got the two boys set up with a good view of the area, dad right between them and I set back another 10 yards and started in with a mix of yelping, putting, cutting, and purring. Right away I knew this was a mature tom and he was comitting. I whispered up to have Brian get the boys ready.
As the tom got closer, he made it clear he loved the purring the best. It wasn't long and I picked him up coming out of the timber strutting and then dropping his tail feathers. He was drumming after every gobble and he was fired up! I kept the purring up and he came running into the decoys, but stopped short and his head went up, as if he didn't like something. I heard the bark of a 20 ga. shotgun and watched the tom take a load of 3" #5s and start to roll over. I remember cheering "YES!" in my head and then saw the bird stand up straight and turn to run "NO!" so I started clucking and cutting at him to stop him. Justin and his dad jumped up and Justin fired again, but missed and the bird ran off. Justin was facing away from me, but I could tell what his body language meant and in my heart, I could see his tears. Luckily his dad was right there with him and, as a dad, myself, I could hear the words of consolation.
I went up with Carsten who was still sitting in his spot and asked him what he thought of the whole experience. "It sucked" was the response. I know what he was talking about, so I got him to think about the gobbles, the sight of the bird strutting and running in. I asked him not to make fun of his older brother and he said "I'm not that kind of brother." I knew right there that this 10 year old boy was way ahead of his peers! After giving Justin and his dad some time, I walked up there and asked Brian if it would be ok if I said a few words to Justin. Seeing his tears got me choked up, too. I assured him he did nothing wrong and that he and his brother did everything perfect. The tom just saw something it didn't like and hung up, but he took the shot at the right time and it was only 25 yards, so it wasn't too far. I asked him if his heart was beating out of his chest and he admitted it was. I asked him if he jumped a little in his seat when that tom was thundering down on him and he said he did. I explained that I was in the same boat and I wasn't even hunting. I assured him that all he experienced is why we hunt turkeys in the first place. I also told him that if you hunt turkeys long enough, you will miss and that I missed a bird at 15 yards 5 years ago. He was far from alone I knew several other seasoned hunters that have missed. I told him that in time, the miss will hurt less, but the sight and sounds will stay with him a a positive experience. I aslo told him that if any of his friends tell him they've never missed, he should look at them and say "Yet!" and that what I witnessed as a turkey hunter was one of the most beautiful turkey hunting experiences I've ever had and I was very proud of how still he and his brother were and how they handled themselves as hunters. I assured him we'd get another chance at redemption.
As we were wrapping up there, we heard another gobbler a couple hundred yards away so we moved in that direction. Again, to Carsten's credit, he said "I want Justin to have the first chance at this bird after what happened." As we got to a clearing that looked good to set up in, the gobbler sounded off about 100 yards up on a hillside in thick ponderosa pine. We scrambled for cover and I began calling to him. He started to sound interested when a 2nd tom started in behind us. I started working both birds using my slate and diaphragm simultaneously to mimic two hens sparring and it sounded like it was working until 2 hens magically appeared (by sound) and one hen was with each tom. Not wanting to lose the opportunity, I started calling aggressively to both hens trying to make them mad enough to come in and bring the toms with them. After what felt like an eternity (and me running out of breath from extended calling with my diaphragm), both hens took their toms in their respective opposite directions.
I recommended that we give the toms some time to breed the hens and then try to get back on them, which gave us some time to recap the whole morning. I don't think I've ever seen 2 boys so wide-eyed as I did after all of that. They just experienced every aspect of turkey hunting in about an hour, some of that stuff that I know it took me years to actually witness. Unfortunately, no tags got filled before I had to get back to camp to gather my stuff and make it to my daughter's birthday party, but I could tell the turkey hunting community had its two newest life-long members! You all know what look I'm talking about. I promised Brian and his sons that if they come to the junior camp next year, I would partner up with them again and do my best to help get redemption. Back at camp, I introduced them to the regional NWTF biologist who is a good friend of mine and he loved the story and shared a few of his misses with them. I heard later that the boys got to meet Brenda Valentine, who came to this camp and she loved their story and shared some of her misses with them as well. Every time they told the story, you could hear the excitement in their voices and they both left a lasting impression on me!
Brian and I have kept in touch and I sent him a text with the words I forgot to relay to Justin and Carsten: There are 2 types of turkey hunters: those who have missed, and those who haven't missed yet. I got Brian's permission to share the story because I know all of you have been in a similar situation before and you all know the importance of getting kids out hunting and encouraging them to stick with it. I think I may have gained a couple more hunting buddies out of the weekend and I told Brian to call me when his boys get their elk down in late September in a unit that is mostly wilderness (no vehicle access) right outside of town.
So if you don't mind, share some stories of close encounters or some words of encouragement to these fine young men (I'm going to send their dad a link to this post so they can read it). As many times as they thanked me, it really was my pleasure to be out there with them!
