First bird with my daughter

[bow4elk]

Thanks to the generosity from Sundance, LazyLab, and Prof , I was able to join them this past weekend and take my first bird with my oldest daughter by my side.  In a word, it was fantastic and I can’t thank these guys enough for a very memorable weekend for me and my daughter.

We were on birds all three days but things just didn’t pan out until Sundance made arrangements to get us on a new property for our final Sunday morning hunt.  We were up early and exited the trucks to the repeated thundering of gobbling up on the ridge.  These guys repeatedly helped carry the yard-sale of stuff needed to facilitate an 8-year old.

We had the blind/decoys up around 5:30 I guess and joined in with the calling to hopefully pull them out of the trees down our way.  We were set back a bit further than we’d have liked but it was getting light fast and we didn’t want to push it too hard.

My daughter was pretty into it but very tired so I pulled her boots off and tucked her into a sleeping bag where she rested for the better part of an hour.  I kept an eye out and eventually we had a lone hen clucking/purring around the blind, followed by four whitetail bucks sporting velvet nubs.  A couple more hours past and Abbey decided that she should put a tail feather she’d found out the opening of the blind for good luck.  Not long after that “BOOM!” – Prof nailed his bird up on the hill above us.  I immediately yelped hoping to pull the scattering birds our way to regroup.  Moments later I spotted a bunch of heads bobbing around in confusion so I let out a few clucks and purrs while pointing them out to Abbey.  They started coming our way so I handed her the hearing protection muffs and whispered, “Put these on – quick!”  I turned around to see them on a dead run into the decoys…hen, hen, hen, jake, hen, jake, hen, “BOOM!”

I was elated!  My first turkey after many years of hunting them, and my daughter was right there sharing in the excitement.  By the time Abbey and I were done hugging, I could see Sundance running down the hill toward us, followed by Prof with his bird over his shoulder.

What a morning – my daughter later told me this was the best weekend of her life.  She got that right!

There are a lot of great guys out there and I just want to say that Sundance, LazyLab and Prof are up near the top of that list.  These guys went out of their way to help make this a special weekend for me and Abbey.  For example, we were on a tight schedule yesterday so while I was trying to pack and get all the loose ends tied up  (little girls pack a lot of stuff!) they cleaned my bird, removed the fan and prepped it for drying, made Abbey a breakfast of wild boar sausage (another story from Sundance), potatoes and French toast!  Unreal hospitality and generosity.  Thanks guys – we’ll get some plans set up so I can return the favor.

More pics to follow...

[Machias]

Nice!!  Congrats!

[nw_bowhunter]

Great story..congrats on the bird

[carpsniperg2]

way to go guys

[Smokepole]

2 cool.  Congrats!

[coastalghost]

Awesome bird!  Congrats to both of you.

[bow4elk]

Thanks!...more pics.

[bow4elk]

and a few more...I went a little nuts with photos but there's only one "first" with kids.

[ribka]

Great photos
Good on you and your daughter. She will remember her "first" hunt  and her experiences  and time spent with your the rest of her life.

[tlbradford]

What a great experience.  So does she want to shoot one now?

[Michelle_Nelson]

Thats Great!

[Ranger91298]

Awesome...congrats to the both of you.... great story...

[carpsniperg2]

man she had it made in that blind i would of been passed out to

[LongTatLaw]

AWESOME brother!

congrats

thats a great story man!  Shes a sweety pie!

[h2ofowlr]

Congrats.  It's fun taking the little ones.

[Birdguy]

Right there is what it is all about. It maybe her best weekend to date but Dad you have a task at  hand to make better ones in the future  . What a great group of helpers you had and nice job of thanking them. Way to go.

[haugenna]

Great pics.  Great to see you getting the girls involved.

[Titan-1]

That's too cool. Great pic's. 

[SpokaneSlayer]

That is out-flippin'-standing!  Love the pics.  Hopefully we can hook up for a hunt this season.  Again, congrats!

[PA BEN]

That's way cool. I have 5 daughters, all killed there first deer at age 8. Only two of my daughters have gotten turkeys. My 19 yr old is at Eastern and found out I was heading over to hunt and wanted to go. We moved to the wet side 5 years ago so the last tom she killed was the youth season 6 years ago. She got a nice tom Sunday. It's makes the whole hunt when the kids score. Looks like you got her hooked.

[jackelope]

That's what it's all about right there...
glad it worked out for you..it looks like she had a great time. thats the stuff I look forward to.
Congrats Tom.

[croix]

Right there is what it is all about. It maybe her best weekend to date but Dad you have a task at  hand to make better ones in the future  . What a great group of helpers you had and nice job of thanking them. Way to go.

x2

Thanks for sharing a great story.

[SkookumHntr]

-Way to go Tom!! Great Story, my daughters name is Abbey too!

[bow4elk]

Cameron joined the site as "Prof", so with his permission I'm going to add a few pics of him and Sundance and my daughter!  Thanks again!

By the way, Prof is a hard-core fly fisherman to boot.  

[bearpaw]

great story and pics...

[Intruder]

Very nice!

[Skyvalhunter]

Congrats!!!

[turkeydancer]

So cool ... I have taken a lot of 1st timers out with me, and am really looking forward to taking Tom Tamer's daughter (and him) on a early fall turkey hunt this year.  Your buddies deserve big kudos !