After Elizabeth's successful hunt on Saturday, it was Molly's turn on Sunday! I checked the weather after she went to bed & saw that we were due up for some storms & heavy rain about daylight Sunday morning. So I decided that it would be best to sleep in & then head to the woods after Church.
We decided to hunt the same farm where Elizabeth had missed the Jakes mid-morning on Saturday. We got to the farm around 2:00, got the blind set-up & decoys out, and were settled in by 2:30. Molly & I were sitting in folding chairs while Elizabeth was laying on the ground playing her Nintendo DS. I cracked the right window & told Molly that her job was to watch that direction while I kept a look-out in the front & to the left.
After about 30 minutes, molly said "Daddy! I think you're really gonna want to look at this - right now!" Sure enough, a turkey had stepped out into the lane on her side of the blind - even better, it was a Tom! I quickly got Molly situated in my lap, adjusted the windows, and then let out a few soft calls. That was all it took! He turned & started walking directly toward us!
When he got about 50 yards from us, he broke out into a strut & made a bee-line toward our decoys. In order to get to the decoys, it looked like he was going to have to pass by the front of our blind at about 3 steps so we got the gun pointed in that direction & got ready! Just like I thought, he passed by the window in full strut - the only problem was that he was moving too fast from our right to our left for Molly to get the gun on him.
So now we had to readjust & get the gun out the left window toward the decoys. The Tom was still moving & in full strut so I clucked at him to get him to stop & raise his head up. As soon as he did I told Molly "kill him... kill him...kill him!" She finally said "Daddy I can't!" I helped her move the gun just a little more & told her "you've got to kill him now!". BOOM! SHE DID IT!!! He dropped in his tracks about 12 steps from our blind.
I didn't mention that I had my video camera running on both of the girls' hunts. I didn't get either kill shot on film, but we did get some great footage. The best part was watching the girls run out to the birds and seeing the excitement of their faces. In both cases they were just as excited for each other as they were for themselves. This was, without a doubt the best weekend of hunting that I've ever had - I think we all 3 made memories that we will cherish forever!
This was also a very memorable weekend for me. I love that you are sharing this experience with our girls. Love you!
Posted by: Brandi | 04/08/2010 at 08:39 AM