Juvy Sunday

[Knothead]

I took a 15 year old (son of a friend of mine) on his first turkey hunt Sunday morning.

It was a chilly 35 degree morning! Got all set up by 5:30 am. He was in ground bling on field edge. I was a bit behind the blind and off to the right, against a big tree. First gobble was at 5:59. I bet he tree gobbled 50x. Pitched down with two hens into field 125 yds out from us. Each time hens would yelp, I would do a cutoff yelp. Finally pissed off one of the hens enough and she started feeding toward us ---- with Tom in tow, in full strut and spitting and drumming all the way. They put on a good show. Walked right in front of us. They casually walked along, feeding and flirting. Stopped about 75 yds in front of us. He was in full strut for practically the whole show. One hen 'assumed the submissive position' and he bred one of them — right there in front of us.

It was a cool show to watch. Fun hunt.
Just wish he woulda shot, (but, of course, I didn't tell him that). I told him if he's not comfortable with the shot, he made the right decision not to take it. Thats OK. Confidence and knowing your own limits come with time and experience and he took the first step toward gaining that..

This kid is a heck of a trap shooter but just inexperienced at hunting and simply didn't think he could make the shot due to the limbs, twigs and privet in between him and the Tom. Soooo…….he just walked right past us at 28 yds.

All good. I'll just go back after that Tom this coming Saturday morning, opening day!

 

[RoyalPrudent]

I took a 15 year old (son of a friend of mine) on his first turkey hunt Sunday morning.

It was a chilly 35 degree morning! Got all set up by 5:30 am. He was in ground bling on field edge. I was a bit behind the blind and off to the right, against a big tree. First gobble was at 5:59. I bet he tree gobbled 50x. Pitched down with two hens into field 125 yds out from us. Each time hens would yelp, I would do a cutoff yelp. Finally pissed off one of the hens enough and she started feeding toward us ---- with Tom in tow, in full strut and spitting and drumming all the way. They put on a good show. Walked right in front of us. They casually walked along, feeding and flirting. Stopped about 75 yds in front of us. He was in full strut for practically the whole show. One hen 'assumed the submissive position' and he bred one of them — right there in front of us.

It was a cool show to watch. Fun hunt.
Just wish he woulda shot, (but, of course, I didn't tell him that). I told him if he's not comfortable with the shot, he made the right decision not to take it. Thats OK. Confidence and knowing your own limits come with time and experience and he took the first step toward gaining that..

This kid is a heck of a trap shooter but just inexperienced at hunting and simply didn't think he could make the shot due to the limbs, twigs and privet in between him and the Tom. Soooo…….he just walked right past us at 28 yds.

All good. I'll just go back after that Tom this coming Saturday morning, opening day!

just a thought... but had you been in the blind, you could have told him to shoot.

 

[Gravey]

Not always about the kill and sounds like a great morning. Maybe you'll hang your tag on him this weekend.

 

[megalomaniac]

Not always about the kill and sounds like a great morning. Maybe you'll hang your tag on him this weekend.

This 100%.

For some reason we have taught folks that if we don't punch the tag the hunt wasn't a success. We really need to rethink our definition of turkey hunting 'success'. And whats more, once you kill that tom, you will never get to hunt him again.

My favorite hunts this year were from birds gobbling right in my face and I couldn't even see them, much less shoot them.

 

[REN]

This 100%.

For some reason we have taught folks that if we don't punch the tag the hunt wasn't a success. We really need to rethink our definition of turkey hunting 'success'. And whats more, once you kill that tom, you will never get to hunt him again.

My favorite hunts this year were from birds gobbling right in my face and I couldn't even see them, much less shoot them.

funny thinking about it. I dont recall EVERY detail for all the turkeys I have killed in my years of hunting, however for some reason I remember the "almost" hunts vividly. Dont get me wrong I have a ton of memories of hunts that ended with a kill but man A LOT of those almost mornings just seem to be ingrained into my head as much as the others.

 

[Knothead]

just a thought... but had you been in the blind, you could have told him to shoot.

That thought is a good one. But….His dad was in it with him. Not room for 3 people. And his dad isn't a hunter.

 

[Knothead]

This 100%.

For some reason we have taught folks that if we don't punch the tag the hunt wasn't a success. We really need to rethink our definition of turkey hunting 'success'. And whats more, once you kill that tom, you will never get to hunt him again.

My favorite hunts this year were from birds gobbling right in my face and I couldn't even see them, much less shoot them.

Agree! At the end of the hunt, I told him, "Hey, don't beat yourself up. We were successful. Success is not about killing; the experience and if you learned anything to help you next time is how you define success at this early stage. You have plenty of time to kill a bird; learn the game before you try to always win!"

He's ready to go again!