3.27.10 Tennessee Juvenile Hunt... By Chris Barnes

Luckily we got back from Florida early enough Thursday night that I was able to get up & go scouting for the Juvy hunt Friday morning.  I was VERY excited to be taking both of my girls on this year's hunt.  Elizabeth (8) would be hunting for the first time while this would be Molly's (7) second year.  

I did hear 6 different Toms which was very good, but it was a far cry from the 18 - 20 that I had left on this place before I left for Florida!  Oh well, it happens every year.  I could tell that the birds were already fighting & jockeying for position before I left plus our Juvy hunt was a little late this year because of the way the calendar fell, so I shouldn't have been surprised!.   

I still felt confident in this spot so I decided to go ahead & set my blinds mid-day Friday.  The plan was for Keith & I to get in one blind with the girls & for Lee to get in the other blind beside us to video.  Keith was going to help me shuffle the girls around in the event that we did get 2 shots & he was also going to run a second camera.  

We got to the farm nearly an hour early since I KNEW that the birds were going to be roosted close to the blinds [I didn't get to roost 'em the night before because of a Disney program that Brandi & I were taking the kids to].  We got settled into the blinds with minimal noise and waited patiently for the first gobble... waited... waited... and waited.  I am still waiting.  My 18 - 20 Toms the weekend before, down to 6 the day before, had COMPLETELY left! UNBELIEVABLE!

So after licking our wounds, Lee left for work, and Keith & took the girls to check another farm.  As luck would have it, we spotted about a dozen Jakes just off the farm road as we were driving in.  I thought I knew where they were headed by the direction that they were headed, so we continued up the hill.  After we got on top, Elizabeth & I jumped out & sneaked over to the edge of the woods.  I let out a couple of yelps as soon as we got settled.  I could hear footsteps in the leaves as soon as I called - they were close & they were headed our way!

I spotted red heads just a couple of minutes later.  It took Elizabeth another minute or 2, but she was finally able to find them in the red-dot scope.  I could tell that she was being soooo careful to line up the scope... I COULD NOT believe that she missed :((  It didn't seem to bother her at all, but I was heartbroken!  I gave her a huge hug, told her how proud of her I was for getting the shot off, and promised to try my best to get her another shot.

After a break for lunch & naps, we headed back to the farm where we had started that morning.  We had moved the blind to a different pasture after the morning's hunt so that's where we decided to sit.  We had been there with no action just long enough for 2 little girls to be bored out of their minds when I finally spotted some birds at the top of the hill.  I put the binocs on them & saw that it was 3 Jakes.  

I could tell that the Jakes really wanted to come into the pasture because of the way that they were pacing back & forth along the fence.  I explained to the girls how turkeys often weren't willing to fly over a fence even though they were quite capable.  Sure enough, they were able to find a hole in the fence & were quickly on their way down the hill toward us.  I got Elizabeth situated on my lap & got her gun up on the shooting stick & pointed out the window of the blind.  

Even though they did skirt us at about 30 yards, the Jakes were more interested in scratching in the piles of hay at the bottom of the hill than our decoys.  Of course we were a little disappointed, but I was still confident that they would pass back by us on the way to roost.  And after scratching & pecking around in the hay for 15 minutes or so, they did!

This time instead of skirting our decoys, they made a bee-line for them!  Once again I got Elizabeth settled in my lap, helped her get her gun lined up, and told her to wait for a good shot.  She picked her shot like a PRO!  I couldn't help but scream when she shot "YOU GOT HIM!!!!!!!".  We all got out of the blind as quickly as possible & ran to see Elizabeth's FIRST TURKEY!  Can you tell that I was just a little proud?? :))

   

Comments

[Angela Beyer]

Nice bird! Glad you had a successful hunt!

[Allison]

Exciting!! So Proud of you girls!!

[kenneth counts]

WOW! very exciting. i love it when kids go hunting.