5 Happy Youth Turkey Hunters

[BlacktailBowhunter]

What a great couple of days.

My friend Rick and I took 6 kids down to rural Douglas County near Roseburg this weekend. I started on the property that we hunted last spring and I was able to call up 3 different sets of jakes for my step son Robert and my nephew Nick. Nick got the first bird within a few minutes of the fly down, Robert missed with his bow a few minutes later on the second set, and then I called another 2 over and Robert (Team Longbeard) got one with the 20 guage, which has a 3 1/2 inch beard.

Robert's bird was trying to mount the Dave Smith Decoy. Nick and Robert were done by 8:00 am, so I took Jeremy (Team Longbeard) over to a new property 5 miles away that I got permission to hunt this year, and we called up some hens within a couple of hours, and Jeremy got this bearded hen that has a 7 1/2 long beard. Left to Right Jeremy, Nick, and Robert.


With 3 down and a whole afternoon left, I offered to take 2 more of the boys back to the spot Jeremy got the bearded hen. There are birds all over this rural Douglas County area, and the land owners want some taken out, so we were happy to oblige.

I had to take Robert and Nick over to Grandpa and Grandma's house, which is about 25 miles from where we are hunting, so I dropped them off and headed back to property #1 to to get Jesse and Jacob and take them to property #2 for an evening hunt. This was Jesse's first turkey hunt, and he couldn't have been more excited. We got back to the blind at 3:00pm, and it was slow going. We had a few hens show up, but we were miserably hot until it started to cool around 4:00. I kept calling a little bit about every 10 mins trying to get an answer and a mad hen showed up attacked my Dave Smith decoy for about 5 minutes, she put on quite a show for Jesse, Jacob, and me.

Several more hens showed up, which I think helped us out a bit, because while I was doing a routine check out the peep hole of the blind I spotted a big bird up on an adjacent 100 acre property that is mainly pasture. He was about 120 yards out, I started to yelp and purr and within 3 or 4 minutes he was in our lap, and Jesse made a great 17 yard shot with a 20 guage loaded with #5 Federal Turkey loads. This was right at 5:00 pm. Here is Jesse.


Day one with 4 up and 4 down. We stayed in the blind for Jacob until 7:00pm, and I was tired and we needed to get Jesse's bird cleaned and get pictures,so we called it a day. Fortunately, the people that let us hunt their land were professional guides several years ago and have a walk in cooler for game, so we were able to store the birds in there.

With day one over, I was too tired to drive home, so I stayed the night and took Jacob back out for a morning hunt.

We were in the blind at 5:15 am. At about 6:00 am we heard our first gobble about 200 yards away, then we started hearing gobblers firing off all over this valley. I mean they were in every direction, but quite a ways away. None roosted real close, and it was slow going until about 7:00am and some hens started to show up. 2 bearded hens showed but didn't offer a shot, so we kept calling. Every now and then we would hear a gobbler in the distance. They sounded fairly close like 150 yards, so we would call and get a response, but nothing came until about 8:40 am we heard some gobbles, and then we heard some more, so I called and purred, and they got closer. Pretty soon this hillside was loaded with toms. I counted 9 toms, and I could not believe it. Jacob was beside himself.

I started calling and purring and within a few minutes, we had a 5 inch beard and a 9 incher in front of us. First the 5 incher approaced the DSD and then the 9 incher. Jacob had to wait for the big bird to seperate from the smaller tom and get clear of my decoy. Once the big bird cleared, it was game over, and Jacob had himself a beautiful long beard.

Me and Jacob:


The 5 boys I called for all got birds and it was a great weekend. Now it's my turn.

[spit&drum]

Originally Posted by BlacktailBowhunter

What a great couple of days.

My friend Rick and I took 6 kids down to rural Douglas County near Roseburg this weekend. I started on the property that we hunted last spring and I was able to call up 3 different sets of jakes for my step son Robert and my nephew Nick. Nick got the first bird within a few minutes of the fly down, Robert missed with his bow a few minutes later on the second set, and then I called another 2 over and Robert (Team Longbeard) got one with the 20 guage, which has a 3 1/2 inch beard.

Robert's bird was trying to mount the Dave Smith Decoy. Nick and Robert were done by 8:00 am, so I took Jeremy (Team Longbeard) over to a new property 5 miles away that I got permission to hunt this year, and we called up some hens within a couple of hours, and Jeremy got this bearded hen that has a 7 1/2 long beard. Left to Right Jeremy, Nick, and Robert.


With 3 down and a whole afternoon left, I offered to take 2 more of the boys back to the spot Jeremy got the bearded hen. There are birds all over this rural Douglas County area, and the land owners want some taken out, so we were happy to oblige.

I had to take Robert and Nick over to Grandpa and Grandma's house, which is about 25 miles from where we are hunting, so I dropped them off and headed back to property #1 to to get Jesse and Jacob and take them to property #2 for an evening hunt. This was Jesse's first turkey hunt, and he couldn't have been more excited. We got back to the blind at 3:00pm, and it was slow going. We had a few hens show up, but we were miserably hot until it started to cool around 4:00. I kept calling a little bit about every 10 mins trying to get an answer and a mad hen showed up attacked my Dave Smith decoy for about 5 minutes, she put on quite a show for Jesse, Jacob, and me.

Several more hens showed up, which I think helped us out a bit, because while I was doing a routine check out the peep hole of the blind I spotted a big bird up on an adjacent 100 acre property that is mainly pasture. He was about 120 yards out, I started to yelp and purr and within 3 or 4 minutes he was in our lap, and Jesse made a great 17 yard shot with a 20 guage loaded with #5 Federal Turkey loads. This was right at 5:00 pm. Here is Jesse.


Day one with 4 up and 4 down. We stayed in the blind for Jacob until 7:00pm, and I was tired and we needed to get Jesse's bird cleaned and get pictures,so we called it a day. Fortunately, the people that let us hunt their land were professional guides several years ago and have a walk in cooler for game, so we were able to store the birds in there.

With day one over, I was too tired to drive home, so I stayed the night and took Jacob back out for a morning hunt.

We were in the blind at 5:15 am. At about 6:00 am we heard our first gobble about 200 yards away, then we started hearing gobblers firing off all over this valley. I mean they were in every direction, but quite a ways away. None roosted real close, and it was slow going until about 7:00am and some hens started to show up. 2 bearded hens showed but didn't offer a shot, so we kept calling. Every now and then we would hear a gobbler in the distance. They sounded fairly close like 150 yards, so we would call and get a response, but nothing came until about 8:40 am we heard some gobbles, and then we heard some more, so I called and purred, and they got closer. Pretty soon this hillside was loaded with toms. I counted 9 toms, and I could not believe it. Jacob was beside himself.

I started calling and purring and within a few minutes, we had a 5 inch beard and a 9 incher in front of us. First the 5 incher approaced the DSD and then the 9 incher. Jacob had to wait for the big bird to seperate from the smaller tom and get clear of my decoy. Once the big bird cleared, it was game over, and Jacob had himself a beautiful long beard.

Me and Jacob:


The 5 boys I called for all got birds and it was a great weekend. Now it's my turn.

that is awesome, you had a youth weeken like we did last year, this year it has been tough to get birds into range due to the big flocks they are still in. I had a bird within 35 yds but it was on the other side of the ridge and out of sight. My son let 6 jakes walk that flew down infront of him and his sister.( I was impreesed with his patients for a long beard, he got spoiled after last years bird he shot.
we are going out tomorrow to the same area in white river, i know where they are roosting and i am going to get up on the roosta nd sit where they have been flying down before the hens take them off another direction. good luck

[micah]

Sounds like you and the kids had a great time down there. Congratulations! They're a bunch of happy kids and nice birds.

[PacificPointer]

Awesome job

[Cornbread]

Dude straight up you rock for getting kids into it like that!

[Dave Smith]

Originally Posted by Cornbread

Dude straight up you rock for getting kids into it like that!

Eeeeeeeeexactly!!! Nice work, as ALWAYS Paul

What, no hero decoy shots for our website?????

[DukAddict]

Paul, amazingly well done job! That is fantastic

Brett Neffendorf

[Limbhanger]

Paul....... That is awesome.

[Big Unit]

Priceless.

BU

[Crayfin]

That rocks!!

[oregoncritters12]

You are the man!!!!
Those kids lives have been changed forever for the better...

[just_hunt'n]

Nice Job, Looks like everyone had a great time

[beardbuster]

Nice work Paul. Congrats to the boys!

[sharpshott]

Awesome Pics! Just what i needed to see

[CombinationLicense]

Awesome weekend BB! You definitely were "THE MAN" on this trip - What could have turned out to be a pretty slow weekend was transformed into an "all time best" by your generosity and experience -




The rest of the story is pretty anti-climactic after that but here goes:

We tried to fill that last boy's tag for most of the day on Sunday. I had him set up in the "Go To" spot well before daylight and as the birds woke up we could hear they were all around us. A bit after legal shooting time, one small flock flew down into a field about 100 yards away and I began working them up to our setup. It was going well until one noisy hen in the creek drainage didn't like that idea and out-called me to turn the birds in her direction. Once she got their attention they scurried out of sight and were not seen again. We tried an adjacent property after that but the birds were again AWOL so it was time for a little break. After lunch we had time for one more hunt before heading home so I took him back up for another try. We glassed some birds on another property about 300 yards off and were successful in getting them close, but they wouldn't cross the road to come into the area we had permission to hunt. After that, we heard one lone Gobbler on a property above us and we tried unsuccessfully to get him in - which brought our weekend to a close

Compared to Blacktail Bowhunter's great success, leaving one boy without a bird made for a bit of a bittersweet feeling for me. As we headed for home, we had a chance to have the conversation about why they call it "hunting" instead of "Killing", sharing in the happiness of your fellow hunter's successes and how to take something positive from every hunting experience, successful or unsuccessful.

Still, I really wish I could have gotten him a bird for his hard work...

"CL"

[Limbhanger]

Originally Posted by CombinationLicense

It was going well until one noisy hen in the creek drainage didn't like that idea and out-called me to turn the birds in her direction. Once she got their attention they scurried out of sight and were not seen again.
"CL"

When this happens and you get a boss hen trying to compete with you match that hen call for call......if she yelps 12 times you yelp 12 times, when she cutts you cutt. I like to cut them off while they are yelping and that can really chap them up. Sound aggressive and if you have a box call, run it till she smokes!! A lot of times they will come looking to kick your butt and the gobbler will follow her like a puppy. I have done this several times and by the end of the cat fight there is a dead gobbler on the ground. Give it a try.

[traks44]

Thats a pretty great report and pictures, gotta love the young one's gettin involved like that!!!!

[Art Vandeley]

Awesome! Congrats to everyone!

Mitch

[shinook65]

Paul, I'll be askin for advise tonight at the meeting.. Great Job!!
Combo Licence, If it's any consolation, I spent all day Saturday, and almost all day Sunday trying to get my son his first archery bird. We had a couple "almosts"! If we could have taken hens, we'd have had two.. They both came in and "talked" to Dave's decoy.. I thought I had some good video, but apparently something isnt working...
Goodluck on the next trip!

[BlacktailBowhunter]

Originally Posted by Dave Smith

Eeeeeeeeexactly!!! Nice work, as ALWAYS Paul

What, no hero decoy shots for our website?????

Dave,

I think that decoy played a big role in our success. We did good last year, but the birds would get close to the deeks and figure something was wrong. This year they were attacking the decoy and trying to mount it.

I matched the hens yelps the first morning bit for bit with a loud ass box call and within a short time I had birds all over us. I remember Limbhanger telling me that last season and it really works. I like the box call for that and the slate for a tom that is within 100 yards doing soft yelps and purrs seemed to work very well this year. I just learned the purr this year and it really made a difference.

Thanks to all of you for your kind comments.

[duck_crazy101]

Originally Posted by mitch.callas

Awesome! Congrats to everyone!

Mitch

good job

[buck0523]

Congrats!!! Its always great to see the youngins getting into hunting and having success....

[jjelkhorn]

Paul great weekend It's a great feeling taking kids out hunting! Good luck tomorrow!

[CombinationLicense]

Originally Posted by Limbhanger

When this happens and you get a boss hen trying to compete with you match that hen call for call......if she yelps 12 times you yelp 12 times, when she cutts you cutt. I like to cut them off while they are yelping and that can really chap them up. Sound aggressive and if you have a box call, run it till she smokes!! A lot of times they will come looking to kick your butt and the gobbler will follow her like a puppy. I have done this several times and by the end of the cat fight there is a dead gobbler on the ground. Give it a try.

Thanks for the tip Limbhanger, I tried to keep their attention but was afraid of calling too much - guess my inexperience is showing. That was only the second time that I've heard a hen be that aggressive and didn't realize that ALL of the birds in the area were going to go with her. Anyway, live and learn - next time the gloves are off...



"CL"

[beardbuster]

Let em have it! I called two hens into our lap hoping to draw the attention of the toms with them. I think the toms had another agenda and dying wasn't on it. Your boys sure looked like they had fun. Good work guys!

[Santiam338]

I am not much for turkeys,but I just love to see happy faces..You did good...

[scottishsetter]

Spit!

Way to make some great hunters.
Now Make some great mashed potatoes.

[Old Coot]

Good for you! How fortunate that those boys were able to link up with you and your partner. You have set a grand example.

OC