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well this past weekend my middle son and I headed out for some trout fishing and turkey hunting. we floated a portion of the Current River on Sat and did fair to good on trout, small mouths and goggle eye. then after returning back to camp late afternoon we changed clothes and headed out for the remainder of the youth turkey season. Missouri has a youth only (6 - 15) season weekend for turkeys. this past weekend was it. anyway we headed out late yesterday afternoon around 5:30 or so and after driving around for about a half hour we found a spot we liked. thinking at best we would roost one last night and return this morning to cap him we were more than thrilled that he fully cooperated late yesterday and came in for a day ending shot by my son. it was his first turkey, weighed 22 lbs and had a 9" beard but smallish spurs. I'm telling ya he was walking on clouds. anyway the kid is hooked, we had a great weekend, caught lots of fish, ate well and found success in turkey hunting. life is good!
Help keep our sport going. take a kid outdoors!
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Congratulations to you and your son! My son and I also had our first turkey hunt together that was successful this weekend as well. I will be creating a thread with pics of his first bird shortly. Keep those kids in the outdoors!!
may all your projectiles fly true!!
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Enjoying Each Sunrise...
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Help keep our sport going. take a kid outdoors!
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![[Linked Image]](http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e328/reflex264/Hunting/th_PICTURE3.jpg) .264 barrel current number of shots:2122
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Jim,
Were you on public ground there or private property?
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
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Jim,
Were you on public ground there or private property? Public Ground, it took less than 20 min from the time we got out of the truck and the time my son thumped him. not to mention the nice fish we caught earlier in the day. if only we could have stumbled upond some shrooms. but 2 out of 3 aint bad!
Help keep our sport going. take a kid outdoors!
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Congrats to your son Jim!!
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My dog is a member of the "Turd Like Clan"
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Jim,
Were you on public ground there or private property? Public Ground, it took less than 20 min from the time we got out of the truck and the time my son thumped him. not to mention the nice fish we caught earlier in the day. if only we could have stumbled upond some shrooms. but 2 out of 3 aint bad! I do some hunting on the Current in Reynolds and Shannon counties. Beautiful country... Congrat's on your successes!
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
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i took my very first bird down on the Current back in '83.
we floated in from Montauk trophey waters, camped at the mouth of Ashley Creek for 5 days and nights and bagged a 25 lb 12" beard bad boy. i had no clue what i was doing and dumb luck prevailed that day. i went another 10 years before i got my second bird!
Help keep our sport going. take a kid outdoors!
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Ten years? Goodness, you did have a dry spell for sure. The Ozark's have been hit hard by bad hatches and a lot of hunting pressure in the last decade or so. All that public ground is beautiful, rugged and remote, but in my experience the bird numbers aren't more than 1/3 what they were back in the 80's to mid-90's. And the number of hunters has doubled. Bad situation really. MDC just published an estimate of the statewide turkey population and it is only about 450,000 total now and probably most of that is in the farm country from mid-state and northward. In that time frame I mentioned from the late 70's through the mid-90's the same population estimates was often quoted to be 1,000,000 birds statewide and the Ozark's certainly had their share. That's when I cut my turkey hunting teeth. I could go out and strike a dozen gobblers on public ground. If you goofed up one, no matter because striking another bird wasn't too big of a deal. Now if you hear one you hang with him until you kill or run out of time. Then you're back in there the next day hoping another hunter hasn't also heard "your" bird. Nothing like the good old days.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
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Very nice! Can tell by the smile that young man is hooked! Congratulations to both of you and best wishes for many more birds hunted together.
"Kids don't remember their best day of television."
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Ten years? Goodness, you did have a dry spell for sure. The Ozark's have been hit hard by bad hatches and a lot of hunting pressure in the last decade or so. All that public ground is beautiful, rugged and remote, but in my experience the bird numbers aren't more than 1/3 what they were back in the 80's to mid-90's. And the number of hunters has doubled. Bad situation really. MDC just published an estimate of the statewide turkey population and it is only about 450,000 total now and probably most of that is in the farm country from mid-state and northward. In that time frame I mentioned from the late 70's through the mid-90's the same population estimates was often quoted to be 1,000,000 birds statewide and the Ozark's certainly had their share. That's when I cut my turkey hunting teeth. I could go out and strike a dozen gobblers on public ground. If you goofed up one, no matter because striking another bird wasn't too big of a deal. Now if you hear one you hang with him until you kill or run out of time. Then you're back in there the next day hoping another hunter hasn't also heard "your" bird. Nothing like the good old days. yes the population is way down from back in it's day. but last years brood was good and so far with the mild winter we had this past year and the way the spring is shaping up I'm hoping for a tick up in the population #'s. looking forward to getting out in another week or so when the spring season opens.
Help keep our sport going. take a kid outdoors!
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