singleshot1
Well-known member
When i was applying for my Illinois spring turkey permit this year my 13 year old daughter says "Dad i would like to try and shoot one too". Since she has never showed any interest in hunting before i gladly accepted the challenge and applied for one for her also. Next we had to go through all the safety and handling of a firearm and of course the shooting and a couple months of target practice working up from trap loads to a turkey load. We successfully drew tags and she was immediately pumped, then i remembered Illinois has a 2 day youth season that the tags can be purchased over the counter, I thought what the heck a couple extra days in the field wouldn't hurt and the experience would be invaluable. So my new hunting campanion and i spent many days scouting, locating, and watching turkeys. We knew where they were roosting, where they liked to eat, and where they were strutting and hanging out. It was starting to look almost to easy and of course it was, Saturday morning we got to the spot we wanted to be and got no more than set up and the coyotes let loose between us and the birds, needless to say when they flew down they were no where near us but we stuck it out and tried to call them back...no luck. We went and grabbed some breakfast and then off to a spot we seen them in the mid-morning before. We set up and call, hear a faint gobble, call again, faint gobble, after glassing around we see nothing and decide to move and close the distance, we no more than cross the fence and there stand 25-30 birds about 250 yards away, since it was so windy it sure sounded like the birds were farther away. We both hit the dirt immediately as she crawls back to the closest tree i'm sticking the strutting decoy in the ground and crawl back behind her. I make one call and they start moving towards us, but with us in direct line of the decoy and the direction the birds are coming from we make a quick move off to the side when the birds dropped into a little valley. We are set up perfect now, it hit the call one more time and 5-6 gobbles errupt not more than 50 yards away, after that the rest was a blur, they saw the strutting decoy and ran as fast as i have ever seen, 5 toms were beating on the decoy as a couple jakes and hens stood back watching. As soon as there was enough seperation between one of the toms she let the Winchester bark and fed this big ole boy a load of #5's at 15 yards, not even a twitch out of him.
Couldn't wipe that smile off her face if you tried! To say she is hooked would be an understatement.
I can't even begin to describe the feeling that came over me when she walked up to that bird after it was all said and done. One of the greatest moments of my life.
Couldn't wipe that smile off her face if you tried! To say she is hooked would be an understatement.
I can't even begin to describe the feeling that came over me when she walked up to that bird after it was all said and done. One of the greatest moments of my life.
