Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Me and the boy and his first turkey

I didn't have time to scout this year, and my expectations were VERY low when Rowdy and I jumped in the pick-up and drove north a couple of hours after school let out on Friday. The plan was to go light and be mobile. We would just sleep on the side of the mountain in the bed of the truck somewhere on Friday evening, hopefully after we located a bird to chase in the morning.

We didn't locate any birds Friday evening, but we did have a great dinner of elk-burgers and donuts before slipping into the bags for a few hours of sleep. We were up around 5 the next morning, and started driving roads to see if we could light one up. By 8 o'clock, I'd about given up as we'd hiked and driven non-stop for three hours without cutting a track or hearing a bird. We were having a blast making each other laugh and just generally enjoying the company of one another, but were beginning to think we'd come home bird-less once again.

I had one last spot across the valley to try, and we drove there with much-diminished hopes. A couple of miles up the road we came around the corner to a likely-looking spot and stepped out to relieve ourselves and give a quick call. Before both feet had touched the road, I heard one a half-mile or so away gobbling his head off. Soon, several more joined in. We were all smiles as we grabbed the gear and headed off in pursuit.

We closed the distance to within a couple of hundred yards pretty quickly, but we were behind them and they wouldn't turn back to come take a look. We grabbed the decoy up and started climbing up the mountain to get in front of them as best we could. It was pretty steep getting there and I still have my winter fat on, so I had my doubts we'd be able to catch up.

Just as we crested the top of a mostly bald mountain, I heard one light up below us and just over the rise. We threw the decoy out settled in next to a snag that offered the only available cover. We were more exposed than I would have preferred, but didn't feel like we could move much at that point as it sounded like he was closing fast.

About two minutes later I felt Rowdy tense up as he readied for a shot. I was mostly hidden behind the snag, but could see through a small, rotten spot in the snag and got to watch as the bird approached. He was only about 25 yards out, and Rowdy rolled him with a perfect shot as soon as he stopped for a second.

Here he is just after the shot. You can actually see a wing sticking up just over his thumb if you look closely...



Lots of hugs and high-fives later we got down to the business of tagging the bird and posing for a picture to be sent to mama (and shared with the Campfire)..



As we stood up to leave, another group across the valley started gobbling and I took this picture as he listened to them. It's one of my favorite photos ever...



On the hike back down the hill, Rowdy made me pose for a "selfie" because he wanted at least one photo together. "Selfies" are stupid, but I was happy he wanted me in the photo and acquiesced.



It was an absolutely great expereince, and I feel blessed to have the opportunities I do with my son in the great state of Idaho. Finally, here he is on the ride home. I usually make him stay awake to keep me entertained, but all the adrenaline of the day got the better of him and I didn't have the heart to keep him awake any longer...



All in all it was a pretty awesome weekend. I hope yours was just as great.

Dave