Easter Turkey!!

[totally_addicted]

Called in a nice Tom for my cousin this morning! He's 15, it was first time out this year. It was also his first turkey! Story and pics to follow later!

Happy Easter everyone!,

[IlliniWalli]

cool. congrats to both of you

[totally_addicted]

Saturday I awoke at 4:30 to head out and do a little scouting on my family's land in Wright County. I had heard my uncle had been seeing a few turkeys around the farm and thought it was worth a try to head out and take a look. My own season doesn't start til May 1st, so I thought maybe next weekend I would take my 15 year old cousin (more like my little brother) out. I have been taking him for the past few years without a bird to show for our efforts. After scouting for a couple hours, I found a lonely ol' tom that was very responsive to the calling I had been doing. So lonely that he made it within about 50 yards before I hightailed it out of there before spooking him. After that I had seen enough. I called my cousin to see what he was doing tomorrow morning (Easter). We got things squared away and decided we would be able to squeeze in a couple hours in the morning before family festivities would take us away.

I arrived in the dark this morning to pick him up. He has been doing this for the last few years with me and he seemed pretty pessimistic because of our lack of success over the last few years. We got down to the sod field along the edge of the woods and set up on the other side of the drainage ditch.

Nate was all set up as we listened to the toms in the area sound off on the beautiful, calm morning. We had to have heard at least 8 different toms within a half mile, but none in the immediate area. Even though the birds weren't close, as long as there were birds talking it was easy to stay put. After about an hour or so we both stood up from our spots and talked about the morning. We both knew our time was going to be over soon until next weekend if something didn't happen soon. We both agreed we would sit another hour before we pulled the plug and headed to our easter egg hunts.

At about 7:20 I heard a gobble that was by far the closest one of the morning. Sounded like he was only a hundred or so yards back into the woods. I called to the bird, and just like yesterday this bird was very responsive cutting me off with every sound I made. As I could hear the bird moving closer out popped a hen. I was trying to signal to Nate to make sure that he saw it and in doing so he thought that meant SHOOT IT! After he realized that this was a hen he finally understood that all I wanted him to do was get ready and be prepared because Mr. Tom was getting very close.

The Tom made his appearance only 35 yards from Nate about 50 yards from where I was sitting. He was already in full strut. The sun was shining on his beautiful colors and he was totally zeroed in on the two decoys in front of us. Nate was shouldering his gun as the bird moved closer. The bird only reached about 25 yards before BOOM!! Nate had dropped his first Turkey!!! We both quickly ran across the ditch and headed to claim his prize. We exchanged high fives, smiles, congrats, and thanks as we took a few pictures.

Nate and I were both very excited! His smile says it all! The bird had a 10.5" beard. It only had one spur that measured just short of an inch. We did not weigh the bird, but he was pleasantly plump.

It's always fun when Nate and I get to go hunting. We have been deer, duck, and turkey hunting together since he was a boy. I really enjoy sharing my love for the outdoors with new people. This memory will last for a lifetime! Hopefully, Nate and I will make many more memories together in the field!

Thanks for reading! Hopefully I have a story as successful as this one sometime in May for myself. If not, this one has already made my season!

[Traxxx]

Great job, he won't forget that hunt!

[Borch]

Great hunt with someone close to you. Sounds like a lot of fun!

[cw642]

Great job on the successful hunt!

It's also great to hear there are getting to be better numbers of birds down there. I don't think we ever heard any birds while I lived across the street!

[brittman]

Well done.

For future reference, most any local bait shop has a scale.

Most will enjoy listening to the story too !

[totally_addicted]

Any other day than Easter we would have made use of the scale or I would have ran and got mine. Time was at a premium. Thanks though for the tip.