2001 was my first season on my current lease. I got on the lease right before deer season started, and really did not have time to scout out the property and understand the wildlife or their patterns at that time. I did kill an 8 point during deer season, and Bobby killed a spike during youth season, but when turkey season rolled along, we had a little bit better handle on things.....

I took Bobby out of school on a Wednesday in late April. By this time, the hunting pressure had slowed down, but there were still plenty of gobblers to be taken. Bobby had not been turkey hunting with me ever in the past, and I knew he would love it because of the call and move strategy. Lots of calling and moving around to locate Gobblers is why I think turkey hunting is so good for kids.

Bobby was 11, and had gotten a Remington 870 youth model .20 gauge for Christmas. My good friend Charlie Boswell, owner and inventor of Comp-N-Choke choke tube company, had made Bobby a full set of personalized choke tubes for his new shotgun. In the set was a XXXFull turkey choke that we patterned nicely with some #4 shot. Charlie had told me that this choke would allow Bobby to break a turkeys skull at 65 to 70 yards. I have used these Choke tubes since I met Charlie when filming hunts for "Gobblin' Fever" and "The Fever" hunting shows, and when you have a turkey choke in your gun, you have to aim it like a rifle, especially if the turkey gets within 30 yards. I made sure Bobby had practiced this and knew what to do.

We set up early not too far from a stand of trees I knew birds were roosting. I put out two hen decoys in the open about 25 yards in front of Bobby. I set Bobby up against a small cedar elm, and positioned myself just far enough behind Bobby to draw the turkeys attention away from him and toward me. I had to be careful to stay within earshot to make sure Bobby could hear me give him the shoot signal. As soon as the birds started to pitch down from roost, I started with some very soft calling on a Quaker Boy slate call. Just lightly purring, and I got an immediate and close GOBBLE! It almost shook Bobby out of his shoes, and then here he came, a really nice Gobbler in full strut. This Gobbler had love on his mind. He stayed in strut and marched toward those decoys. I had told Bobby that I would let him shoot when the turkey stuck his head up, but I could not get this bird to come out of strut. The Gobbler was hypnotized by those decoys. I finally had to give Bobby the kill signal, and he made a perfect shot. The Gobbler folded up right there. There is nothing like the rush that comes from a good turkey hunt! Bobby was so excited, and was thrilled to death to get his first turkey.

We went back to camp, had breakfast and reveled in our common glory! Bobby told the story of his kill shot over and over again. I listened and responded like it was a new story every time he told it to me.

After we finished breakfast and cleaning the bird, I asked Bobby if he wanted to go back home, or try to get another bird. He was so juiced he naturally wanted to go back out.

We tried to call and stalk, but by this time the Gobblers were pretty henned up, but Bobby was a trooper. We probably walked 10 miles when we decided we better go eat some late lunch. On the way back to the truck we came across a rattlesnake...a big one! Bobby is terrified of snakes, and this one really freaked him out. I took his shotgun and immediately dispatched the snake with a head shot, but Bobby was pretty shaken up by the experience. He was even afraid for me to pick it up and put it in the truck.

We went back to camp, ate, and I let Bobby calm down. Later I asked him if he wanted to go out again, as I knew a group of Gobblers usually hit a particular feeder around 3 p.m. every day, and I was surprised when he said yes.

Bobby and I set up in a cedar thicket adjacent to this particular feeder, and I started to call. Within minutes we had a Gobbler answering and heading our way. It was another good bird, and Bobby made a great shot at least 50 yards out. Two birds in one day was pretty good for a little fart on his first hunt ever!

What was funny is that right after we picked up his Gobbler and were getting our stuff together, Bobby broke wind pretty loudly, and I kidded him that it was a good turkey call. We both laughed and as I packed up, I took my box call and made a farting noise and hit the box call at the same time. Remarkably we heard a loud Gobble and looked up, another Gobbler was standing there looking at us both!

It was a fabulous experience for the two of us to enjoy.

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