Thanks to NoWiser

[Scoot]

My son, Ryan, and I hunted with NoWiser (Jim) this past weekend. Because of a scheduling problem on our end Jim took Friday off of work to hunt. Jim tagged out some time ago, so he was just coming along to serve as our (unpaid, unrewarded) guide for the weekend. We had a blast hunting with Jim again! However, we struggled mightily. The usual honey hole we've been at in the past was slim pickin's. The other places we went to it seemed we should have been just a couple hundred yards one way or the other. We had one bird headed our way and a guy on the neighboring property blasted him before he could get to us. That's just the way the weekend went...

Ryan said he missed Jim after we got about five miles down the road! LOL Jim was a great host and we really enjoyed spending time with him again down there. Thanks Jim, for a great trip and fun time- we really appreciate it!

[NoWiser]

You are welcome, Scoot, but the pleasure was mine! It was a very enjoyable weekend.

I feel bad that the hunting was so poor but, that's hunting. How so many turkeys can just "disappear" over a 2 week period baffles me. We gave it our best shot and certainly can't blame a lack of effort.

We'll have to try to put a 2016 hunt together next year!! I think it could be good with some of the new landowners we met. In fact, out of nothing but pure generosity, I'll give you first dibs on the property owned by the guy from Deliverance while I check out the land next to the lady with Daisy, the cute puppy.

Good luck to you and Ryan on the remainder of the season! I do believe if anyone can get it done it is you two. Just keep the beans away from him. I know they say turkeys can't smell, but......

[Powerstroke]

Sounds like you guys had a great time. I was hoping to try and hound in on lunch one of those days, but you guys were pretty busy trying to seal the deal!

Good luck to Ryan the rest of the season! Scoot, I'm not too worried about you.

[Scoot]

Sounds like you guys had a great time. I was hoping to try and hound in on lunch one of those days, but you guys were pretty busy trying to seal the deal!

Good luck to Ryan the rest of the season! Scoot, I'm not too worried about you.

Sorry Powerstroke, it was a whirlwind couple of days-- got to the Cities at midnight, slept in the truck for a few hours, left Jim's at 3:45, hunted our butts off the whole time until the last minute we could, raced back to Jim's, threw all our stuff in my truck, and zoomed off at 100 mph to make it home in time for a piano recital. Eeesh!

I am worried about us! We don't have a lot of time to hunt and if Ryan couldn't seal the deal on either of the birds we had at 12 and 3 yards last night, I don't think he ever will! Grrr!!! So close, but no shooting!

[Scoot]

Just keep the beans away from him. I know they say turkeys can't smell, but......

LOL- that kid doesn't need beans! I'm not sure quite what the GI issue is, but there does seem to be one...

[Scoot]

Rumor has it that NoWiser is a much better guide for family than for HSO members and their gaseous kids.

NoWiser, care to shed some light on this rumor?

[NoWiser]

Rumor has it that NoWiser is a much better guide for family than for HSO members and their gaseous kids.

NoWiser, care to shed some light on this rumor?

The rumor is true, and I think it puts to rest any questions about my guiding skills, though it raises lots of questions about certain people that I take hunting

Last year my younger sister had expressed some interest in hunting. She took it upon herself to go through the Hunter Ed courses over the fall and pass the test. So, a month or two ago I asked her if she had any interest in turkey hunting. She said yes and we made plans to spend the last two days of Season E trying to get her a turkey. It had been a very long time since she had shot a gun so I had her practicing with the .22 whenever she was out at my folks this spring. It didn't take her long to catch on and soon she was shooting very tight groups with the open sights. I then handed her a shotgun, and had her take a few practice shots with it. Bingo, she was all set. With a standard full choke on a 20 gauge, I was going to make sure any shots she took were under 25 yards and preferably under 20.

Wednesday and Thursday of this week I was up early before work to locate some gobblers on a piece of property I have permission to hunt. It is steep, wooded country in the MN River Valley. I heard a single tom each morning. He roosted in different locations each night, but both were on finger ridges that jutted out into a very steep valley, about 200 yards apart. I decided to set up right on the edge of that ravine, between the two ridges. There was a flat area with no underbrush that looked perfect. I picked out a single birch tree where the blind would go, and went to work yesterday.

Sitting at my desk yesterday afternoon I couldn't take it, and left work an hour early. I wanted to set the blind up while it was light so that we'd be ready to hunt the next morning (today.) My sister was at my folks when I swung by and said she wanted to hunt for a few hours despite the dark clouds to the west that promised storms and rain. So, we loaded up and took off. Not expecting to hunt that day, I didn't even have a call with me, just the blind and two decoys.

It was a 20 minute hike to where we were going to hunt, the first 1/2 up a very steep hill. We got to the top and it absolutely started pouring on us. I was struggling big time to try to find my tree to set the blind up, and a turkey was gobbling like crazy down in the valley. Finally, after getting completely soaked, I found my tree. The turkey was getting closer, gobbling every minute or so.

I popped up the blind, told my sister to throw everything in it, and I sprinted out 12 yards to set up my jake and hen decoy. Pulled the jake out, staked it down, and a gobble rang out down the valley from way too close. Probably 40 yards away, but out of sight. I opened up the bag with the hen decoy in it but realized there was no time to set it up, and sprinted back to the blind as fast as I could. I jumped in the blind, loaded the gun, and handed it off. I said "pretend the decoy is a turkey, could you shoot it?" She said "yup". 5 seconds later the tom popped up over the hill 5 yards beyond the decoy. I told her "shoot when you're ready." The gun went off and the turkey was down. A couple of high fives were followed by about 4 minutes of laughter, in disbelief of what just happened. Who gets a tom turkey less than a minute into their first hunt??

The turkey ended up flopping and rolling most of the way down the ravine, breaking half his tail feathers in the process. We snapped a few pictures and were back at the truck less than an hour after we had left it. He weighed 22 lbs, had an 8" beard, and 7/8" spurs.

I woke up this morning to a text from her in the middle of the night saying "I can't sleep, I'm still too excited." It was an awesome hunt that turned into an awesome memory that I'm sure we'll be laughing about for many years.

Congrats to my little sister!!

[DonBo]

That's an awesome story. Sometimes this sport looks so easy, most often as we all know it is not. It's days like this that keep us going even on the toughest of hunts.

Big congrats to you and your sister!

[Scoot]

Congrats to you both, Jim! Awesome!!!

[Borch]

Very cool story! Congrats!

[123fish]

Congrats to you and your sister. Now you have to convince her it's not always that easy.