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I already posted this story partially in another thread, but here it is again with more detail and a different picture.

Well a couple weeks ago, me, My 12 year old brother, and my dad went to a youth turkey hunt in Cleo Springs, OK. The hunt was put on by H.U.N.T.E.R.S. 24/7 and Drop Tine Hunts. We flew into Oklahoma on a Friday morning. The season actually didn’t start until saturday, so Friday evening we met up with the guides and they decided to take us out to get some cool pictures and put the turkeys to roost. We left the cabin at about 5:45 and headed out. We arrived to the land we would be hunting at about 6:15 and right away saw a group of about 60 turkeys. My guide saw my dad’s nice camera and asked him if he wanted to go in for a nice snap shot. Of course my dad replied yes. My dad grabbed his camera and we all got out of the truck. We climbed over a fence and crawled on our stomach’s over a ridge until we saw the group heading to the tree line to roost. My dad handed me the camera and I got a nice shot. (The picture is below) We then headed for the trees and saw the turkeys roost. We got them to gobble a few times then we headed back to eat and hit the sack.

The next morning we woke up about 4 a.m. We met at the cabin and got with our guides to head out. My dad and little brother went with a man named Montie and I went with a guide named Blake. When we got to the woods, we walked until we reached the edge of a patch. “they’re right above us” he whispered to me. He put out his decoys and we waited. About 30 minutes later they started flying down on the other side of the patch, but the turkeys above us flew the other direction! It sounded like a tornado was going! My heart pounded 1,000 miles an hour as they flew down. The birds on the other side were about 200 yards away and Blake told me he saw about 60. He handed me the binoculars and I looked through them. I saw them! I had never seen a group of Turkeys that big in my life. They never got any closer and eventually we had to head in for lunch and afternoon festivities.

That afternoon I won a skeet shooting contest that won me a free duck hunt in Arkansas with H.U.N.T.E.R.S. 24/7. I can’t wait to go! But that evening was the worst hunt of the weekend. The wind was blowing a steady 50 MPH and it was 28 degrees. Even worse, we didn’t see a single Tom! I had a pretty easy shot at a Jake, but with Toms every where on the ranch, I let him walk. That night we got in and ate dinner. The owner of H.U.N.T.E.R.S. 24/7, Adam Brassfield, heard my story and was very upset with my guide. Apparently, My guide didn’t listen to him and took me where I wasn’t supposed to go. I was upset, but I was extremely happy to find out Adam would be my guide the next day. I couldn’t sleep that night I was too excited!

The next morning the weather was the same as the night before. It wasn’t fun to be in, so Adam decided we would drive around in the truck until we saw something interesting to check out. We tried several spots and at one spot we even saw a group of about 80 turkeys. We got out and started to stalk them. We could see them over a ridge so we got on our stomachs and started to crawl. When I was about 10 yards from getting over the ridge, a hen popped its head up and looked me straight in the eyes. At that moment about 100 turkeys flew over our heads and onto the property next to us. We had no clue there was another group of turkeys that close to us! Of course the noise and confusion scared the other group of turkeys and blew our chances with them, so we decided to go back to the truck. On the way back in, Adam slammed on his breaks and put the truck in reverse. He had spotted a group of Turkeys and we decided to go after them. We set up in an island of trees behind them and started hitting the calls. Hens were cutting everywhere, but we didn’t hear a single gobble. Just as we were about to pack up and head out, a jake walked out from behind a tree no more then 30 yards from me. I wanted to kill a long beard Rio, but with only seconds left on the hunt and having never killed a Rio Grande, I decided I would take it. I put my Mossberg 12 gauge on my shoulder and pulled the trigger. That Turkey had a major headache. It was the hunt of a lifetime and I would do it again for anything. It wa a great hunt for every one. 25 hunters 8 years to 16 years old were at the hunt, and of those 25, 19 of them killed a turkey! It was an amazing hunt and I can’t wait until next year when go on an adult hunt and try to get my first merriam’s turkey!

(this picture was taken at a place where they had already set up some decoys. One of the toms in the picture in the decoy, the rest are not.)

Bailey Turner

Mobile, Alabama

16 years old

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