Jocelyn's First Game Animal – Mn Eastern Tom - Turkey Hunting - Turkey Hunting

This past Saturday I found myself in sherpa mode as I humped 3 chairs, a backpack full of water & snacks and a shotgun to our blind we had strategically placed the weekend before. It’s 5:30AM, my 10 & 8 year old are in tow. In surprisingly good spirits for a 4AM wake up call. By the time we got to the blind and I got the two AvianX LCD breeder hen decoys deployed, it was getting pretty bright out even with the overcast skies. This is Jocelyn’s 2nd year hunting but she hasn’t fired shell at a live animal to this point. She did great at the practice range this summer at 20 yards so I was confident we could shoot that far. We had just got settled in when we heard the first distant gobble. Both girls’ eyes lit up. I’m guessing Dad’s did too.

For the next 20 minutes, birds were losing their minds all around us. Nothing real close but one hen that must have been within 50 yards. I’m still in the learning mode when it comes to calling and I savor the time I get to spend listening to live birds. I looked out to the west and see 3 Jakes entering the field. I did a couple soft yelps on the diaphragm but they wanted nothing to do with my AvianX girls. As I was watching them shake off the night and stretch, they turned and headed for the woods. At first I thought they must have been bumped by a predator. I soon realized about 3 yards east of us, 4-6 Toms were strutting in the field and those Jakes must have had enough beatings this spring.

I turned my focus to the east and sent a couple pretty loud yelps in the direction of the Toms. They were gobbling like crazy and to be honest I wasn’t sure they even heard me. Suddenly, around the point of trees comes a beautiful bird on a trot/run. He must have heard me and knew right where we were. I gave him one last yelp at about 50 yards and he let out a gobble. The look on the girl’s faces was priceless. We all readied into our positions knowing this could happen fast. We were setup for one shot, in the direction of the decoys, mostly northwest of our position. Wouldn’t you know it; the Tom started strutting and circled around behind the blind. We had no windows open but he was so close we would hear his wing tips dragging in the grass and you could feel the vibrations from his spitting and drumming. Who knows, maybe it was my heart….

What seemed like a week was probably less than 5 minutes for the old Tom to show his face behind the blind. He was 5 feet from us. I so badly wanted him to gobble but knew I didn’t want to chance spooking him. As he circled the blind, I made sure Jocelyn was in a good position and ready to take aim when he provided us the right opportunity. Finally, he committed to the decoys and was headed in. I got a great view out my window but the girls couldn’t see him until he was “in” the decoys. I was coaching Jocelyn on where to aim and to wait as he would move and turn etc… Finally the bird was in full strut facing us at 8 yards. I said when you are ready. Jocelyn whispered back, “It won’t shoot”. OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I HAD ONE JOB. TAKE THE SAFETY OFF!!! I reached over and clicked the safety off and said take your time, when you are ready, shoot him in the face where the red and blue come together. BOOM, she shot right over his head. I could see the shot go through his tail feathers.
The bird ran off, maybe with slightly less hearing and a half a tail feather lighter. As I turned to Jocelyn she was in tears and started apologizing right away. I immediately went into life lesson mode reassuring her she could talk to anyone of my hundreds of friends who have hunted. Misses simply happen. Jocelyn wanted to leave and was pretty down. I told her NO. We are not leaving yet. I could still see birds out in the field some 2-300 yards away. After some time, she calmed down and we had a snack. I pulled up a picture of the bird out my window and zoomed in on it. We discussed how to aim small/miss small. It turned out to be a great lesson and one I hope she carries with her for a long time. After some snacks and letting the field settle down, I could see the Toms strutting away across the field from us. I told the girls just give it a couple hours. Those hens will head to the woods and the Toms will be looking for new girls to flirt with.

The next hour and 45 minutes was a bit brutal fighting off the I wanna leave and I’m bored whimpering. I knew there was a fine line between pushing too hard and showing them what perseverance could do. Thankfully a single Tom peeled off from the group and was headed to woods. I grabbed my box call and at the same time hit him with the diaphragm. He instantly stopped and stared for at least 20 minutes in our direction. Every once in a while I’d hit him with a soft yelp with my mouth covered, facing the opposite direction. Finally, he was coming to investigate. It took him forever and he was very skeptical but some soft purrs on my slate call were just too much. He finally committed at about 75 yards confirming with a few gobbles. All right, we are on again. Everyone in your positions!

The Tom closed those 75 yards in about 10 minutes or 3 hours depending on who you ask. As he came into Jocelyn’s view, I reached over clicking off the safety and to her to get ready. As he presented a great shot at 9 yards, I heard her say, “I can’t do this Dad.” I was horrified of course. Thankfully the father in me turned to her and said sit back from the gun as I clicked on the safety. I said let’s take some deep breaths together. I asked what was wrong and she said she was afraid she would miss. Little did I know at the time little sister sitting directly behind her was whispering, “don’t miss”. I looked Jocelyn right in the eye and said you got this. We practiced this spring and you got this. Get on the gun, you aim it and I’ll check it for you. She’s a lefty so me being on her left was perfect.

I looked out at the bird for the first time in a bit and couldn’t believe my eyes, he is mounting one of the decoys. I had Jocelyn aim the gun and get where she thought it was right. I verified and said, YUP, you got this. Clicked the safety off and told her to take your time, make sure it’s right and squeeze when you are ready. The shotgun bucked; all the while I’m watching her. I see/hear her say “I GOT IT!!!” I looked out the blind and sure enough, she stoned him. After verifying he wasn’t going anywhere, the hugs started and the blind was shaking with excitement. Might have even been a few tears but definitely the best moment I’ve ever shared with a hunting partner in the woods. As you can see from the pics, we were all pretty darn happy.

P.S. Look who showed up on my trail camera this AM, Ol’ missing tailfeather himself.