Little Pathfinder's 2023 Turkey Hunt

[Pathfinder101]

Little Pathfinder (gonna have to change that screen name soon, not so little anymore..) loves turkey hunting.  Every year we struggle to juggle school, baseball and turkey hunting.  This year (his last year to hunt this youth season) we got a gift; spring break and a long youth season both lined up.  Over the past 12 years that I have been teaching almost every spring break I have been gone with the high school rifle team that I coach, shooting the CMP Western Regional Championship during my spring break.  This year though that match falls on the following week, so I am home for the youth season and spring break. 
Opening morning presented poor weather in the form of wind and rain.  We braved it for the whole morning, and saw some birds but nothing came within range.  The spot we have permission to hunt is a narrow strip of cultivated land about 500 yards and around the corner from where the turkeys tend to roost, so drawing them to our set up usually takes patience.  The birds are currently flocked up in a giant group of over 100 and they tend to stick together.  We did notice that one big tom had corralled off about a dozen hens and was keeping them about 200 yards from the rest of the flock.
The next day the weather was better, and about an hour after light a half dozen hens came straight into our decoys.  Soon, another large group followed, including 2 big toms, but the second group passed by just out of range and continued down the river.  We pulled in a couple of curious jakes, but no shooter toms.  We saw the big tom again with his dozen hens.  He still kept them a couple of hundred yards away from the rest of the flock and wouldn't come near our set up.  We watched him breed 5 of the hens that morning. 
The next morning we woke up to a blizzard.  Figuring turkey hunting would be a waste of time, we decided to bag it on Monday, stay home and watch the Rocky movies all back-to-back. 

[Pathfinder101]

Woke up on the fourth day of the season to warmer weather.  Got out to our blind and set up the decoys in the dark and waited.  We could see a few birds roosted in their regular spot and saw them fly down.  By 7 am we could see both groups.  The huge flock was milling around about 500 yards distant.  The big tom had again corralled off about a dozen or so hens and wouldn't let anyone near them.  His hens were slowly working his way in our direction.  Eventually, they came within 100 yards and 6 of the hens made a beeline for our set up, coming right into the middle of the decoys yelping the whole time. 
The big tom and the rest of the hens hung up at about 50 yards, not liking something.  Little Pathfinder sighted in on the strutting tom and decided to take the shot.  The first shot knocked feathers off the tom and he flew up a foot into the air.  He came back down and started after the fleeing hens when LP hit him with a second shot.  Through my binos I could see blood on his head, but he was still following the hens.  After a few yards he stopped and stood unsteadily in the field while the rest of the hens ran back across the field to the rest of the big flock.  LP got out of the blind and using some brush for cover maneuvered in for a finishing shot. 

[Pathfinder101]

This turned out to be Little Pathfinder's biggest bird to date.  The beard tapes out at just a touch over 11".  The spurs are the largest I've ever seen.  They are hooked and 1 1/2" long. 

[Pathfinder101]

 Wish I could figure out how to keep these pictures from flipping sideways...

[Lucky1]

Nice job! Congrats to your son on a beautiful bird.

[Tree Killer]

That one bird is a beast!  Congratulations Little Pathfinder!   

[Pathfinder101]

Thanks guys.  Another pic of the spurs off LP's phone.

[HikerHunter]

That's an amazing bird! Congrats Little Pathfinder!!!

[Dan-o]

So you settled for one with those little spurs?

On a serious note, how COOL that you two were able to persevere and get that great trophy.   

[hunter399]

Giant turkey.
Heck ya congrats.
Massive bird.

[Pathfinder101]

So you settled for one with those little spurs?

Waaaaalll.... y'know... trigger-happy youngster....

[Machias]

Awesome, HUGE bird!  Congrats LP!!!!!!

[Pathfinder101]

Got him up on the wall in his room yesterday.   

[Pathfinder101]

He decided yesterday that if another Jake comes in, that would be a suitable option for his bow...