When my kids were teenagers, we had some great adventures while chasing wild turkeys. On one hunt in Virginia during the youth season with my daughter and son, we had one of the most memorable days ever.
We pulled down an old logging road to an area with some pastures and a food plot. We were getting our gear out of the truck when we heard him gobble. He was down an old fire break about two hundred yards off the food plot.
The Excitement Begins
The plan was for my daughter to video the hunt while my son, who was eleven, was going to try shooting the turkey. We slowly moved towards the bird who very graciously kept gobbling so we knew exactly where he was. We got to within one hundred yards of where he was strutting and gobbling and made a set-up. I had my son set up just below the edge of the food plot so he could have a clean shot when the gobbler strutted into the open. Except he slipped around the food plot and stayed inside the tree line.
The Intensity Builds
This turkey gobbled at every call I made. Another bird started gobbling out on the pasture and our bird started heading in that direction while skirting around us. Once the gobbler got past us, I had the kids switch places and my son sat on a tree next to me while my daughter moved behind us to video. Man, things were so turned up when I hit that bird with a loud come-here cutting and yelping. He triple gobbled and about-faced. He walked back down the road we walked in on and was standing twenty yards away behind some thick brush.
The Final Moments
He spit, drummed, and hammered for a good ten minutes in the same spot. There was one small opening in front of us and I had my son point his Remington 1100 20-gauge at that spot. I told him to just breathe and try to stay calm. All the while, my heart was pounding out of my chest. I started scratching in the leaves trying to replicate the sound of a hen feeding. He roared a double gobble in response. I did some feeding purring as softly as possible and scratched the leaves, one-two-three, one-two-three.
He was nonstop drumming and gobbling. Then he finally broke and started for us. Each footstep closer to our position. Things got so intense that my kids were both shaking like leaves in a windstorm. My heart was pounding and my eyes were devouring the entire woods for the smallest movement. The walking sounds got louder and louder until he stepped in the open and Boom! The gun roared and the big bird fell to the ground, flopping and kicking until I could get my boot on his neck. He was already dead but no sense taking any chances.
Celebrating the Moment
We started high-fives and hugging all around. It was incredible how the emotions of the game had taken us up and down a roller coaster ride of heart-pounding excitement and now jubilation was upon us!
Passing Down the Tradition
Nothing is more satisfying than seeing your child experiencing the excitement of the hunt and becoming a hunter. To know that they are prepared for the future in this tough world as a hunter!
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