Post by: bow4elk on April 19, 2010, 05:06:57 PM
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...
Post by: Machias on April 19, 2010, 05:18:05 PM
Post by: nw_bowhunter on April 19, 2010, 06:00:32 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on April 19, 2010, 06:14:13 PM
Post by: Smokepole on April 19, 2010, 06:30:25 PM
Post by: coastalghost on April 19, 2010, 07:29:52 PM
Post by: bow4elk on April 19, 2010, 08:01:44 PM
Post by: bow4elk on April 19, 2010, 08:07:01 PM
Post by: ribka on April 19, 2010, 08:28:08 PM
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.
Post by: tlbradford on April 19, 2010, 09:28:38 PM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on April 19, 2010, 09:37:26 PM
Post by: Ranger91298 on April 19, 2010, 09:44:21 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on April 19, 2010, 09:55:17 PM
Post by: LongTatLaw on April 19, 2010, 09:55:41 PM
congrats
thats a great story man! Shes a sweety pie!
Post by: h2ofowlr on April 19, 2010, 09:57:57 PM
Post by: Birdguy on April 19, 2010, 10:06:02 PM
Post by: haugenna on April 19, 2010, 10:21:32 PM
Post by: Titan-1 on April 20, 2010, 06:17:33 AM
Post by: SpokaneSlayer on April 20, 2010, 08:09:59 AM
Post by: PA BEN on April 20, 2010, 02:49:56 PM
Post by: jackelope on April 20, 2010, 03:14:04 PM
glad it worked out for you..it looks like she had a great time. thats the stuff I look forward to.
Congrats Tom.
Post by: croix on April 20, 2010, 03:21:03 PM
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.
Post by: SkookumHntr on April 21, 2010, 02:17:58 PM
Post by: bow4elk on April 21, 2010, 02:27:33 PM
By the way, Prof is a hard-core fly fisherman to boot.
Post by: bearpaw on April 21, 2010, 02:39:30 PM
Post by: Intruder on April 22, 2010, 11:26:40 AM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on April 22, 2010, 11:29:53 AM
Post by: turkeydancer on April 24, 2010, 04:11:19 PM