The opening day of the Indiana youth turkey hunt started saterday the 18th.
Ill start the story off on friday night (bed time) I told Andrew he needs to try and get some sleep because we had a long day ahead of us. he said ok dad and gave me a big huge and told me thank you for letting him go turkey hunting this year, and i said well you showed me you were ready for it and you are welcome and off to bed he goes.
In the mean time(hour and a half later)im getting everything packed up in the truck so we wont have to rush in the morning, then I hear someone comeing down the stairs and sure enough it was Andrew he said dad I cant go to sleep im to ecxited and all I can think about is tomorrow and I said yeah I know it is exciting and I was the same way but you still need to try and get some sleep. so he head back upstairs to bed. and I finished getting packed up and went to bed.we both ended up only getting about an hour of sleep we were so excited about he hunt.
We get up and have breakfast and wait for one of my buddies (Joe)that is going to go with us to help call the turkeys in and video tape the hunt. he arrives and we head out for a hours drive to where we are going to hunt.
We have never hunted this place before but we new there was alot of birds in the area. we got set up in a brush ground blind (that we built a few weeks earlier) just as it was breaking day. LOL at this point Andrew is really excited and not knowing what to expect his eyes looked like golfballs sticking out. As it got lighter out we started hearing owls sounding off which we figured would set any gobblers off if they were in the area and sure enough about 5 mins later we hear the first gobble off in a distance then another sounded off followed by another we had atleast 3 gobblers around us but they were a good wase away. They gobbled and gobbled for another 10 mins we figured they were going to be hitting the ground anytime.
As soon as they hit the ground they never said another word so we waited a few hours hopeing some would wonder our way. we called and called and nothing they were not talking anymore. so we decide to get up and run and gun alittle bit to see if we could locate any birds. after 3 more hours of nothing and Andrew getting tired from walking we decide to go get something to eat and come back.
While we were eating we decided to go and hit another spot about a half an hour back towards our house. that we have hunted alot before. we arrive there around 1 aclock and get set up in another brushy blind we built plaining to spend the rest of the day there. we sat there for a couple hours and the sun was just beating down on us it made Andrew start feeling bad his stomach started hurting him. so we pack up and head to the truck to get out of the sun and try another area we new that had some pin trees where we could get out of the sun.
When we got back to the truck I turned on the air to help cool Andrew down and see if it would make him feel better by this time he is wore out from all the walking and not much sleep. He was ready to call it a day but the air made him feel alittle better and he said he would like to hunt some more so we head to the pins and to our suprise they did alot of logging in this area,but we decided to go ahaed and try it anyways we new there was a crop field on past the pins but it was a pretty good walk but Andrew wanted to try it. when we got there the field was all plowed up and niether one of us adults new for sure if turkeys would come to a plowed up field. Andrew was tired and not feeling good again from the long walk so we decided to go ahead and set up and try it. this was around 4:30.
We set up in some shad behind a bush and my buddy(Joe) set up 20 yards behind us with the video cam, we did some calling in hopes to hear a gobble but never did. and Andrew was feeling pretty bad and was ready to go home.right at 5:15 I was just about to tell Joe I think we need to get Andrew home so he can rest(the poor little guy was wore out) I hear a whistle from Joe and turn to look at him and he is pointing out in the field so I look out there and sure enough out about 3 hundred yards there is 3 turkey crossing the field. I quickly show Andrew where they are and tell him to get ready.
I pull out my DB custom glass call I won from Darin, and start doing some yelps and clucks and the turkeys threw their heads up and saw the decoys and two of them just started hauling butt straight at us. as they ran at us I could tell that they were Jakes the other one was a hen and she stayed back,when the jakes got out in front of us at 20 yrds they stoped and started walking. Andrew was rested on a branch that was layed over and it was just a little bit to high so he had to adjust just a bit and when he did one of the jakes saw him and just stopped and stared at us and I whispered to Andrew are you on him and he said yeah so i said shoot but before i could even get the word all the way out KABAMM Down goes the other Jake LOL, I thought he was going to shoot the one that was looking at us.
After that Andrew didnt feel bad anymore LOL he said dad my tummy dont hurt anymore.
Man what a great hunt this was for him, I think it will help him understand how things can be tough sometimes and also how fast thing can happen.
Joe the camera Man got it on video he did not get the kill because he couldnt see the turkey from where he was when they came in but he did Get Andrew fireing the gun off and the look on both Andrews and my face when we turn and look at the cam tells it all.
It is a awesome feeling to watch your son take his first ever animal
He kept thanking us over and over but we told him wejust played a small part in it and you are the one that got the job done. I AM SO PROUD OF HIM
I will put some of the footage up when ever I can figure out how to get it on my computer I my need alittle help from Robert with that.
It was a Jake that weighed in at 16 lbs had 7mm spurs and a 4 1/2 inch Beard
here are a few pics
Home 
I felt just like a little kid again. Conrats to him on his first turkey. It is always good to hear about kids getting outdoors and enjoying life.
