Since the girls didn’t have school on Friday, I took Jocelyn(9) and Sammy(7) up north to hunt Friday and Saturday AM. This was Jocelyn’s first official hunt of her life. We had to make 100 stops on the way up north since the snowstorm on Wednesday threw a monkey wrench in our plans. We weren’t gonna let 12″ + of new snow dampen our spirits though. We got to the cabin late, but we were ready!
The alarm went off at 4AM on Friday and I started waking up the girls. We warmed up breakfast sandwiches in the microwave and out the door we went. 17 degrees according to the pickup thermometer. We had our full winter gear on. Little did we know we were going to have a few challenges ahead of us. I got the pickup stuck twice but with a little grain shovel work we were finally parked and ready to load the ATV. I hopped on it, nothing… Dead battery. The night before it started fine, but that cold air must have zapped it. Jocelyn helped me push and Sam steered us to the front of the pickup. We jumped the ATV and I frantically started loading gear. It was getting way too bright for my liking. I made my first trip to the spot I wanted to setup, offloaded and went got the girls. We crawled in the blind and got settled shortly after 6AM. Later than I wanted to be, but what do you do…
We hadn’t sat long when Jocelyn and Sam were able to spot some deer out in a picked corn field. We no more than sat down when Jocelyn spotted a couple coyotes. I really wished I would have brought the 22-250 along. They stood out there at 175 yards just taunting me…. A little while later we had some cranes come into the field and start their very vocal morning songs. It’s crazy how loud those birds are. The girls sure got a kick out of them. We were seeing lots of wildlife, just not the kind we were after. I heard a couple gobbles to the far east of us, likely off our property. All we could hope for was a bird to show up to check the field after getting shunned off by a hen late morning. About 9AM, I could hear some gobbles coming closer and closer. I hopped on the box call but I got no response. I would guess the birds got as close as 200 yards before they headed north away from us. The girls did a great job of sitting until after 10:30AM with no electronic stimulants. It was time for lunch.
We headed back to the pickup to eat a sandwich and make our plan of attack for the afternoon. We decided to take a ride on the ATV and go check for any fresh tracks in the snow in other areas of the land. In typical fashion, we hadn’t been gone long when one of the girls needed to use the restroom. I said we could swing back by the blind to utilize the facilities(5 gallon bucket). I had it sitting up on a shelf of snow in the blind so I headed in to get ready for use. I zipped open the door and took one step into the blind. MUCH to my surprise, we had a visitor. A black with a white striped visitor. I’m quite sure I elbowed both girls and used language I try to refrain from around them in my haste to get out of the blind.
We all dashed about 20 yards from the blind and stood there in awe. I couldn’t’ believe I didn’t get a face full of spray. So now what? I’ve got a brand new blind, new backpack, rain gear and shotgun all sitting within inches of this stink bomb. I snuck up to the blind and snapped a couple picks. The silly son of a gun was eating our deer sticks. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was then I decided revenge would be swift and unmerciful. As soon as I figured out how to get him out of my blind…. Eventually I ended up un-staking the blind and tipping it off the top of the skunk. I drug it away and he waddled off. I was able to validate the Federal Premium 4 shot patterns nice at 20 yards.
At this point, we decided to relocate our blind closer to where we heard gobbles earlier in the day. We moved our gear & got it setup. We decided to go for a car ride. We ran into Isle for some new snacks and to refresh our batteries a bit. We ran into a nice conservation officer there and the girls got to tell the skunk story. We were headed back to the blind about 4PM and I could tell the girls were shot and so was I. We pulled the pin for the day and headed to the cabin for a nap and a movie.
Saturday AM we got into the bind much earlier. Ironically the girls hung back about 10 feet until I gave them the All Clear sign. I felt extremely confident in this spot since there were fresh tracks in the snow going right by the blind from the previous night. It wasn’t long before we started hearing gobbles but about the same time the wind really started kicking up. So much so I was holding the blind down. The cheap stakes that came with it just weren’t doing the job. It was 38 out, but it felt much colder than Friday. Our gobblers went silent and I assumed they went in a different direction. We sat for over an hour with no signs of birds. I could tell the girls hearts weren’t in it and I didn’t want to push them too hard on the first hunt. By 8AM were in the truck loaded up and headed home. We spotted 3 Toms just down the road from our position and I gotta wonder if those were the birds we heard??
While the turkey hunting was a bust, I’m quite sure my daughters have a memory for a lifetime. I know I sure do. I also know that I’m writing a letter to the Mn DNR thanking them for the new youth rules. It’s so great the kids can hunt any season any unit all spring long. This makes it so much easier to pull the pin and not push the kids too hard. The girls get a weekend off, but Todders and I are up this weekend. Hopefully this warmer weather kicks the breeding into gear.
Pic 1 – Sammy still sleepy on Friday
Pic 2 – Jocelyn practicing on the Field Pod at the decoys
Pic 3 – More practice
Pic 4 – Sam napping
Pic 5 – More practice
Pic 6 – Lunch
Pic 7 – Table for 2 please
Pic 8 – Kitty, Kitty, Kitty
