Loading ...
My First Turkey Hunt
Posted by Junior Shooters
By: Hunter Horvath (11)
Saturday, April 15 2017 was a day that I would never forget. I was hunting with my dad and his friend, Brandon, in Garden Valley, Idaho. I had just gotten my hunting license and it was turkey season. We were just getting back to the truck from hiking when they started talking about turkey hunting. Brandon offered to go on a turkey hunt at his in-laws cabin. Brandon called his in-laws to see if we could stay a night at their cabin so we wouldn’t have to get up as early and scare the turkeys with the truck.
There was fresh snow on the ground and I could see my breath in the porch light of the cabin. There were turkeys gobbling on the hill in front of the cabin, and that’s when I knew that it was going to be a successful hunt. I had a tag in my pocket for any turkey that had a beard.
We set up with a tom turkey decoy and me in the best position for a shot. We hadn’t even been calling for five minutes when we saw a tom coming. Then we saw a second tom. They started pacing by the decoy watching it from a distance. They were super close to each other so there wasn’t a safe shot. Then a hen came out of no where and started pecking the decoy. Then it came around like four feet from my face and stared me down. I had to sit perfectly still so I wouldn’t spook it.
After about 30 minutes of the turkeys pacing by several times I got a clear shot, so I took it. I aimed for his head so I could have a cleaner (more Humane) kill. We could tell it was a good shot because it started doing backflips. I couldn’t get up right away because my dad’s friend still needed to shoot one. So, we tried calling that one back in. After the turkey was well out of sight, I was able to get up and see my turkey. When I walked up on it was pinned up against a branch and a log and the feet were touching the ground. We figured out that it was still alive because it kept on following us with its eye. So, I took another shot to quickly end its pain.
I filled out my tag and we zip tied it to the turkey’s foot after we confirmed it was dead. We had to tie the turkey in a tree so the coyotes wouldn’t get to it while we were gone. The rest of the hunt was miserable for me because we spent a hour trying to get another turkey for my dad’s friend. My whole body was numb from sitting in one place for so long. So, on the way back a group of turkeys crossed over the trail and a nice tom was in the group. It didn’t take long before there was a clear shot so he took it. The turkey dropped dead. And just like that the hunt was over.
https://www.creedmoorsports.com/
Comments
Leave a Reply
Please note: Comment moderation is currently enabled so there will be a delay between when you post your comment and when it shows up. Patience is a virtue; there is no need to re-submit your comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.