Between t-ball and major house projects it's tough to get out these days, but I was able to sneak out today for a couple hours with my 6 year old daughter. It was her first time tagging along with me for turkey so I figured let's hit it late morning after the crowds have gone and maybe we'll luck into a wandering gobbler.
Well, luck into one we did.. my buddy Matt @barretwm was already set up in a spot we've hunted before and as soon as we get there around 10am there's a lone gobble a couple hundred yards out. We worked the box calls at first but as he closed in we switched to lighter calls, he with some purrs and me with a Flydown diaphragm. He was gobbling his head off, double and triple gobbles, which was super exciting for my kiddo. But soon enough we realize he's behind us and won't commit, and we each made the mistake of sneaking a look around the tree to see what he's up to. Sure enough, there he was at 30 yards from Matt and 80 from me, periscope up and eyeing us. $HIT. Of course he splits over the knoll and goes silent. I thought day over for sure.
Not going down without one last try, my daughter and I wait a bit before we sneak around the knoll and start calling. Boom, we get him gobbling again. Minutes go by and he's not committing, so we try to get in closer and suddenly there he appears, making his way up a draw. Busted now, I took a long shot (60 yards?) that rolled him, and I start sprinting uphill (out of shape) to finish him off. He poked out of a bush at 20 yards and KAPOWW he's finally done. Ended up being a good sized jake but hey it was a heck of a hunt so I'm stoked.. and so is my daughter on her first time out!!
Well, luck into one we did.. my buddy Matt @barretwm was already set up in a spot we've hunted before and as soon as we get there around 10am there's a lone gobble a couple hundred yards out. We worked the box calls at first but as he closed in we switched to lighter calls, he with some purrs and me with a Flydown diaphragm. He was gobbling his head off, double and triple gobbles, which was super exciting for my kiddo. But soon enough we realize he's behind us and won't commit, and we each made the mistake of sneaking a look around the tree to see what he's up to. Sure enough, there he was at 30 yards from Matt and 80 from me, periscope up and eyeing us. $HIT. Of course he splits over the knoll and goes silent. I thought day over for sure.
Not going down without one last try, my daughter and I wait a bit before we sneak around the knoll and start calling. Boom, we get him gobbling again. Minutes go by and he's not committing, so we try to get in closer and suddenly there he appears, making his way up a draw. Busted now, I took a long shot (60 yards?) that rolled him, and I start sprinting uphill (out of shape) to finish him off. He poked out of a bush at 20 yards and KAPOWW he's finally done. Ended up being a good sized jake but hey it was a heck of a hunt so I'm stoked.. and so is my daughter on her first time out!!
