looks like a great setup guys. the best of luck to you both!

Quote:

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A good guide would have made sure that her gun was loaded.

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ahahahaha!!!

Thanks again Mike for coming out in the morning with us! The video editing was awesome Can’t wait to go out again!

My hunt began on Thursday, April 14. My dad, Dan Pearson, my uncle, Mike Pearson, and I got into our setup where dad had put 3 toms to bed the previous night. Mike and I were set up in the ground blind on the edge of the field, while dad was about 15 yards behind us calling. The birds were gobbling right away in the morning, which was exactly what I was praying for. The past several years I’ve been turkey hunting the birds havent been very vocal, and I have been waiting to hear those gobbles! So just hearing the birds in the roost got me all fired up! About 15 minutes after the first gobbles, we heard another lone gobbler sound off to the left of us, and it nearly knocked Mike right out of his seat! We weren’t expecting any to come from that direction, so it was even more encouraging.
After the sun came up, we had a bearded hen in the field right away, it just about walked right into our ground blind, and then made it’s way over into dad’s lap.
About 10 minutes after the hen left, Mike spotted a tom in the corner of the field. Out came 2 toms, about 6 hens, and 2 jakes. Everything was going perfectly. I got my gun ready, Mike had the camera going, and Dad was getting the toms all fired up with his calling. After a few minutes of watching these birds, I could no longer control the adrenaline running through my veins! I was shaking so bad that Mike told me to lower my gun for awhile until the birds came in closer so I could calm down a bit. (Even after 6 or 7 years of hunting, i always feel the excitement like it’s my first hunt) Turns out, they had no intention of coming in any closer than 31 yards so I was getting ready to put the shot on one of these toms. Unfortunately, I never felt comfortable taking the shot because the birds were too close together almost the entire time and I didnt want to risk getting two in one shot. After they strutted for several minutes, Mike said there was another tom in the woods to the left. I leaned foward to look out the window, and if you could have seen the sight of him, you would have thought it was from a picture. He was in full strut standing right on the edge of the woods..it was breath taking and it will be a sight I never forget. Unfortunately, the hens led the other toms into the woods without seperating and allowing me a shot. The jakes, however, put on quite the show after everyone else left. Finally, they walked off and we had to get going because I had to get to my 8:00am class. I had asked Mike if he could put the hammer back on my gun because I get nervous to do that while it’s loaded. He put it back, opened the action, and said “Well, it would have been nice to have had a shell in here”..as he’s laughing. My jaw dropped immediately because earlier in the morning as we were getting ready to walk out, Dad had gotten my gun out for me and I heard him open the action and close it again so I had assumed he loaded it already! So I guess I can be thankful I never squeezed off (and it also saved the embarrassment that would have been on video forever!)
After class, Dad and I went back out at about noon and decided to bring out the decoys..two hens and b-mobile. We also moved the blind closer to their strutting zone so we could hopefully have a better chance at getting one as they went to roost that evening. Dad said every time he saw them in the afternoon, it wasn’t until about 6:00pm, so we were pretty laid back for most of the afternoon. Dad called a little bit every hour, on the hour, but never more than that. At about 4:00, dad decided he was going to take a quick nap and I was going to keep an eye out.
Then at 4:25 or so, we heard what sounded like a tom spitting. Dad quickly lifted his head up, and the sound was confirmed when we heard it for the second time. Dad tried to get the camera going, and then all of a sudden I saw the red head outside of the blind. I said, “oh my gosh dad, he’s right there! don’t move, he’s right there!” He quickly strutted right up to b-mobile. Thankfully we had a pine tree in front of us that he went behind so we could get situated without being spotted. He was strutting around b-mobile, and got spooked so when he turned around again, Dad said, “take him now”. I put my bead on his head and pulled the trigger. After I was able to steady myself after getting knocked over by the blow of my single shot 12 guage, I quickly got out to claim my prize!
I can’t imagine spending my time doing any other sport and I love that I am able to spend this time with my dad (and Mike when he comes with). So, thank you dad for spending this time with me. I cherish it more than you know.
Measurements:
20.5 lbs
beard one: 2 1/4in
beard two: 9 1/2in
spurs: 7/8in

Your score is 20.5 + 8.75 + 8.75 + 23.5 = 61.5

hahaha these pictures are great! i think the captions are the best part! thanks dad and mike for takin me out and thanks pat for taggin along!

count me in too.

thank you for all of the kind words! ive never been on a website like this and i can already tell i am going to like it its fun listening to others hunting stories and listening to the comments. i know my family (ask mike or dan pearson) like to tell me i can tell really long stories, but i just think it makes the story more interesting that way
thank you everyone again

i begin my hunt tuesday April 27- evening before the third season of turkey hunting. my dad, Dan Pearson, my uncle, Mike Pearson, and i went up to the farm in hopes of putting a couple of long beards to bed. sure enough, we spot three toms out in the field, saw where they were roosted, and prepared for the morning hunt.

as always, i started off in high hopes of the opening morning hunt and felt confident that at least one of us would be able to bag a turkey. we were very fortunate to have Brad Juaire tag along with us hoping we would be able to get a kill on film. we first set up in the middle of the field we had seen the toms in before, about 200 yards away from where they had roosted the evening before. dad was in one blind and mike, brad, and i were in another next to him. we saw them come out of the roost into the field, however, they stayed well out of range the entire day even after we relocated later in the afternoon- those hens can really mess a hunter up! about 7:00pm or so brad and i decide to head down to the opposite side of the field hoping the toms would give us one last chance before they hit the roost. unfortunately, this was not the case and we headed back to camp for dinner and got some rest for the next morning.

thursday morning, dad and i set up in the blind where we had last seen the toms and brad and mike were down the field from us. right away we had a tom come in view however, he was a very cautious bird and went right between both of our set ups multiple times until a hen finally came and took him away. mike and brad could hear him gobbling all morning, but dad and i could not because of the howling wind. we decided to try and go after him but were unsuccessful. we then went back up the field and down the other side of the ridge to get some relief from the wind and took a nap.

i am startled awake by a hen coming down the side of the ridge i was sleeping on. (dad said if i hadnt moved, she would have come right down on top of me). so we got up and tried to figure out what to do- in the middle of a logging road mind you- when i saw something move down the ridge from us. i put the binocs on it and its a jake with no beard, we then hear a hen to the left of us (she spotted us) and i loss the jake. we traveled down the ridge a bit and heard a gobble. so we set up where dad is on one side of a tree looking down the ridge and i am looking up it towards where we heard the gobble. as i am picking dozens of ticks off of me, i hear dad say something so i turn slightly and ask what he said (he told me not to move..oops!) and i spot the coyote. i get real excited because i have never seen a real live coyote so i turn more and he spots me. he then goes around the other side of the tree and i turned as well, still fascinated, when he sees me again and begins to run up the ridge. before i realize whats going on, dad whips around the tree and i hear the crack of his gun and down goes the coyote.

by the end of the day dad decides it would be best if we just set up in our blind again hoping we would be able to see something since we couldnt hear any gobbling with the wind. again, we come up empty handed and head back to camp. we are now up to 29 hours of being out in the woods.

4:00am friday morning came especially fast and the rainy and windy weather did not help me wake up. the evening before dad and i set the blind up in the field where we had seen the tom that morning. so we head out to the blind, and i am just exhausted. we are barely in the blind for no more than a few minutes and i am already trying to catch some more sleep. i try as hard as i can to keep my eyes open for more than a couple seconds and am unable to do so.

the rain finally stops and i am awake for only a couple minutes. it is about 7:00am and i am not really paying attention to anything out in the field- my eyes are completely glazed over, when i suddenly see a bird out of the corner of my eye stretch out its wings. well, naturally, this get my attention and my eyes widen and i tell dad we have a bird in the field. he slowly turns and looks out the window of the blind and identifies it as a tom. i slowly bring my gun up and take the safety off. i spotted the tom at about 150 yards and he slowly started to make his way towards our hen decoy. i am waiting patiently as i watch him come in..60..50 yards when he starts to head down away from us..i can feel my chances slipping away.

he then starts cutting across in front of us but as he does this he begins to go behind a small hill to the point where i am now only able to see his head. ive got my sites on him ready to pull the trigger whenever he lifts his head up. however, when he lifts his head it is between two corn stalks and i want to double check i am aiming at the right thing so i pick my head up to make sure i am on his head and not on one of the stalks. yep, im on him so i put my head back down and then so does he. this happens one more time and i know i am going to miss my chance if i dont do something soon. the next time he lifts up his head there are no corn stalks to mistake him of so i pull the trigger and BOOM! dad is ready for the follow up shot since i am using my 12 gauge single shot, but there is nothing to follow up on- we cant see anything! after a brief moment of panic, we finally unzip the blind and run over half expecting to see him running down the hill. thankfully, we spot him lying on the ground. dad turns around and gives me a huge hug (the best feeling in the world) and i go over and grab onto my bird to make sure he doesnt get up and run away while dad goes back to the blind to range my shot. it was a 44 yard shot and i found only four bb’s in the head. we finally take some pictures, register him at the local gas station, and i go back to camp to take, what i believe, was a well deserved four hour “nap” my bird registered at 21 pounds, 9 1/2 inch beard, and 5/8 inch spurs (he was not a dominant bird)
NWTF Score: 52.5

in the end i spent 31 hours hunting for my bird and as tired and exhausted as i was, i wouldnt have changed anything. it makes it so much more worth it when i know i have worked my hardest and have earned it.

thank you dad for all of the time you put into helping me prepare for this (and all of my hunting for that matter) and for sitting out there with me. i love every minute of it and enjoy sharing my rewarding experiences with you. Love you dad!

thank you also to uncle mike, i absolutely love hunting with you too! and to brad.. being “miked up” was a new experience for me and it was still pretty cool even though we werent able to get a kill on film.

i had tons of fun and thank God for every opportunity i have to be out enjoying His absolutely beautiful creation.