LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Just realized I can share pictures on here again - been a few years since I've shared a harvest story. So this is a fun one to knock the dust off of!
I can get long winded - so you've been warned!
Our oldest son turned 4 at the end of March. We've taken him hunting with us since he was 1 month old and could be carried into a deer blind. The "hunts" started out as more just family time, of course kids aren't the quietest hunters, but once he turned three things clicked. He understood what was going on, keeping quiet, didn't get too antsy or bored while being in the blind for a couple hours. He finally got to tag along on his first successful hunt last spring when I shot a tom and then this fall when grandpa, Hudson, and myself got to watch grandpa shoot a doe. He loves all things hunting.
He started off with a bolt action NERF rifle and was a typical kid, just wanted to pull the trigger, no clue about where he was pointing, etc. Which was fine, he had just turned 3. He enjoyed shooting it like 99% of kids do. Slowly we began to practice how to really use his NERF gun by shooting balloons that I'd rub on my head and stick to the ceiling. He thought that was the coolest to knock them down to the floor. Then we'd shoot his BB gun at cardboard targets in the yard. Then shoot balloons with the .22 outside. He really enjoyed making them pop. It was pretty crazy how fast he understood things. Mainly trigger control, aiming, etc. Fast forward to late winter 2022 and I set a 20g on a tripod and it was time for him to try his first real gun that he could go hunting with. I put a 2 3/4" 7 1/2 shot dove load in and he blasted the hand colored turkey head target dead on at about 15yds. We did it again at a second target to make sure it wasn't a lucky first shot, same result. That's when we realized he could really do this!
We spent more time scouting for turkeys going into season than all other previous seasons combined. We had one small timber picked out because it had two permanent hunting blinds already in place looking over an alfalfa field. Hudson got his youth tag at the end of March and was ready to roll
We hunted the first Friday evening of youth season and Hudson loved it. We only saw a couple hens in the distance but our anticipation for the morning was really high. Nicole packed some snacks, games/books, and I brought a rocket stove to cook some hot meals and "marshmallow sandwiches". The next morning we headed to the same area again, except this time on the top side of the timber in a blind over looking the long narrow greenfield. We had a few birds hammering behind us but nothing in front of us. It was about 25 degrees so I didn't open the front windows of the blind very far, I didn't want Hudson or Nicole to get cold too fast. Sure enough at first light three jakes flew down INTO the decoys and I couldn't open the window without spooking them. So close in the first few minutes of his hunt. Then at 9am a lone tom we had watched come off the roost earlier, was working his way our way and he was HOT. He gobbled about 100 times as he worked from 200yds to 60yds but he was leary of the decoys. He put on a show for us strutting, gobbling, and finally we coaxed him into the plot. He slowllllly strutted from 40yds to 27yds, never acting too aggressive towards the jake decoy. Hudson has practiced to 20yds with his setup and it sure looked like the bird was going to give him a shot. I started to help Hudson get his scope on, safety off... and the bird broke strut and walked directly away from us. Hudson loved it! I on the other hand was pretty annoyed by the birds actions. haha
Fast forward from the above hunt to Friday April 22nd - we hunted that same plot another 4-5 times and each time we got soooo close to getting Hudson a shot but the birds just wouldn't commit to the decoys. Each time we'd hunt the black blind on the south end of the plot the birds would go infront of the white blind on the other end, and vice versa. There was also a group of aggressive jakes up there that kept chasing toms off. You'd think we'd be able to get those jakes to come into our setup but we couldn't get the timing right. There was always a lone tom up there too, we'd see him in person and on trail cam and that's the one that gave us the slip.
After being so close to killing the big tom I also decided to go get Hudson some TSS turkey loads... only time I'll spend that kind of money on shells. Yikes!
After work on Friday April 22nd we headed back to the same blind Hudson had the close call with the big lone tom two weeks previous. It was windy on this hilltop... but trail cam showed the birds didn't care about the wind. Right after getting setup we spotted the local flock, a group of 4 toms and then a lone tom about 50yds away from them. Those were our birds! But they were about 1/3 mile away and had four hens with them. They were hanging out of the wind and I kinda wondered what the odds were of them working their way alllll the way back to the roost 100yds infront of us. But they did! We lost sight of them for a while until a tom and bearded hen came into the plot... of course at the complete opposite end right under the blind we had hunted a few days earlier... always worked that way. We laughed at how they had a knack for doing that every single hunt.
But this time it was different - it was just one hen and she was the boss. She walked that tom clear across the plot, never stopping, and she came in to our look out Avian hen and wasn't happy. That was all it took to get that tom to break full strut at 50yds and come charging into the jake decoy at 20yds. He got one flying kick at the decoy and about 15 seconds of looking the decoy eye to eye before Hudson pulled the trigger on "his lil 20 gauge" and put that cloud of TSS shot right in that tom's face! We were so excited! I plan on editing the full video up here in the next couple months and will be sure to share.
Hudson already has his second turkey tag and is ready to do it all again tomorrow!
We've watched the video of his cleaning this bird's clock 100x - straight to the head - no BB's in the body, just how we like 'em!
I can get long winded - so you've been warned!
Our oldest son turned 4 at the end of March. We've taken him hunting with us since he was 1 month old and could be carried into a deer blind. The "hunts" started out as more just family time, of course kids aren't the quietest hunters, but once he turned three things clicked. He understood what was going on, keeping quiet, didn't get too antsy or bored while being in the blind for a couple hours. He finally got to tag along on his first successful hunt last spring when I shot a tom and then this fall when grandpa, Hudson, and myself got to watch grandpa shoot a doe. He loves all things hunting.
He started off with a bolt action NERF rifle and was a typical kid, just wanted to pull the trigger, no clue about where he was pointing, etc. Which was fine, he had just turned 3. He enjoyed shooting it like 99% of kids do. Slowly we began to practice how to really use his NERF gun by shooting balloons that I'd rub on my head and stick to the ceiling. He thought that was the coolest to knock them down to the floor. Then we'd shoot his BB gun at cardboard targets in the yard. Then shoot balloons with the .22 outside. He really enjoyed making them pop. It was pretty crazy how fast he understood things. Mainly trigger control, aiming, etc. Fast forward to late winter 2022 and I set a 20g on a tripod and it was time for him to try his first real gun that he could go hunting with. I put a 2 3/4" 7 1/2 shot dove load in and he blasted the hand colored turkey head target dead on at about 15yds. We did it again at a second target to make sure it wasn't a lucky first shot, same result. That's when we realized he could really do this!
We spent more time scouting for turkeys going into season than all other previous seasons combined. We had one small timber picked out because it had two permanent hunting blinds already in place looking over an alfalfa field. Hudson got his youth tag at the end of March and was ready to roll
We hunted the first Friday evening of youth season and Hudson loved it. We only saw a couple hens in the distance but our anticipation for the morning was really high. Nicole packed some snacks, games/books, and I brought a rocket stove to cook some hot meals and "marshmallow sandwiches". The next morning we headed to the same area again, except this time on the top side of the timber in a blind over looking the long narrow greenfield. We had a few birds hammering behind us but nothing in front of us. It was about 25 degrees so I didn't open the front windows of the blind very far, I didn't want Hudson or Nicole to get cold too fast. Sure enough at first light three jakes flew down INTO the decoys and I couldn't open the window without spooking them. So close in the first few minutes of his hunt. Then at 9am a lone tom we had watched come off the roost earlier, was working his way our way and he was HOT. He gobbled about 100 times as he worked from 200yds to 60yds but he was leary of the decoys. He put on a show for us strutting, gobbling, and finally we coaxed him into the plot. He slowllllly strutted from 40yds to 27yds, never acting too aggressive towards the jake decoy. Hudson has practiced to 20yds with his setup and it sure looked like the bird was going to give him a shot. I started to help Hudson get his scope on, safety off... and the bird broke strut and walked directly away from us. Hudson loved it! I on the other hand was pretty annoyed by the birds actions. haha
Fast forward from the above hunt to Friday April 22nd - we hunted that same plot another 4-5 times and each time we got soooo close to getting Hudson a shot but the birds just wouldn't commit to the decoys. Each time we'd hunt the black blind on the south end of the plot the birds would go infront of the white blind on the other end, and vice versa. There was also a group of aggressive jakes up there that kept chasing toms off. You'd think we'd be able to get those jakes to come into our setup but we couldn't get the timing right. There was always a lone tom up there too, we'd see him in person and on trail cam and that's the one that gave us the slip.
After being so close to killing the big tom I also decided to go get Hudson some TSS turkey loads... only time I'll spend that kind of money on shells. Yikes!
After work on Friday April 22nd we headed back to the same blind Hudson had the close call with the big lone tom two weeks previous. It was windy on this hilltop... but trail cam showed the birds didn't care about the wind. Right after getting setup we spotted the local flock, a group of 4 toms and then a lone tom about 50yds away from them. Those were our birds! But they were about 1/3 mile away and had four hens with them. They were hanging out of the wind and I kinda wondered what the odds were of them working their way alllll the way back to the roost 100yds infront of us. But they did! We lost sight of them for a while until a tom and bearded hen came into the plot... of course at the complete opposite end right under the blind we had hunted a few days earlier... always worked that way. We laughed at how they had a knack for doing that every single hunt.
But this time it was different - it was just one hen and she was the boss. She walked that tom clear across the plot, never stopping, and she came in to our look out Avian hen and wasn't happy. That was all it took to get that tom to break full strut at 50yds and come charging into the jake decoy at 20yds. He got one flying kick at the decoy and about 15 seconds of looking the decoy eye to eye before Hudson pulled the trigger on "his lil 20 gauge" and put that cloud of TSS shot right in that tom's face! We were so excited! I plan on editing the full video up here in the next couple months and will be sure to share.
Hudson already has his second turkey tag and is ready to do it all again tomorrow!
We've watched the video of his cleaning this bird's clock 100x - straight to the head - no BB's in the body, just how we like 'em!
