Easter Weekend Hunting Miracle

[barry]

1:45 is way too early for a man my age to be getting up to chase a turkey, BUT...this was no ordinary day of hunting. Today we were hosting our 6th annual Wheelin' Sportsmen spring turkey hunt. By "we" I mean the James River NWTF chapter of Bedford, VA. Nine hunters from around the State were coming in for this hunt, I would the 10th. Our scheduled meeting time was 4:30 AM and I did not want to be late. I arrived at the empty parking lot at 3:45 and sat in the drizzling rain practicing my calling as hunters and guides gradually filtered in to be paired up and sent on their way. Eventually we were all on our separate way to one of the 10 different farms we had set up to hunt on this morning.
We had acquired permission to hunt several new farms for this year's hunt and I had high expectations of our hunters getting shots at birds. I told my hunting partner Freddy as we sat in the blind after our victorious morning - another story altogether - that my goal for the group was to kill 4 birds on today's hunt. This would be a lofty achievement since 2 birds was the most we had taken on any of our 5 previous Wheelin' hunts, still I had hope.

Lunch for all was going to be at a pavilion at one of the local churches. When we arrived at the church there was already one hunter standing in the parking lot giving the "thumbs up" sign. Good start, 2 hunters in and 2 birds down, and it's only 9 o'clock! Several other hunters came in behind us, unfortunately one came in early because he was not feeling well and he was soon on his way home. Two more groups arrived and each with a bird. Wow! 5 hunters in and 4 birds down! Mission accomplished and we still had 5 more groups out. It is nearly lunch time now and 3 other groups have come in and added 2 more birds to the "pile." The ninth group to arrive comes in with a sad story, "had birds in range and no shell in the chamber." It is now after 12:00 and one group still out. We phone them to see how far out they are because we have some guys ready to leave on a long drive home and we need to take some pics. 10th group says they are on the way in and "bringin' a bird."

Unbelievable!!! 10 groups go out. One hunter gets sick and has to leave early. Another has birds in range but does not have a shell in the chamber and we still manage to bag 7 birds. The tally for the morning hunt: 4 longbeards, 2 short bearded jakes and 1 super jake with about a 6 inch beard. On this day however, bird weight and beard length are secondary when compared to what we accomplished. We had 3 hunters take their "first ever" spring bird, one takes his first since being in a wheelchair and another takes his "second ever" spring bird at the age of 82. I know my late friend and mentor, Gene Parker, for whom this hunt is now held in memory of, was looking down from above with a great big smile.

Let me throw out a big THANK-YOU to the 25 volunteers that gave their time to be a part of this event either as a guide or to help with lunch. Without you none of this would be possible. Thank-you so much for making this event such a success.

We schedule this hunt every year for the 4th weekend in April. This year for the first time it happened to fall on Easter weekend. After speaking with a friend Monday morning I realized that I was about to give this thread the wrong title. The hunt was, as he called it, an "Easter Miracle." It was indeed!

Here's a few of the lucky hunters...
Mr. Tom Saulsbery and his first spring bird from his wheelchair.

Mr. Sam Ward and his first ever spring bird.

Mr. Chris Ratcliff and his first ever spring bird.

Here's the entire crew and their birds...


T-shirts we had made for the hunt.

[fallhnt]

Congrats to all.God bless

[Basser69]

That was a great read. Thanks for sharing!

[njdevilsb]

That is great.  That is pretty special for you guys to put this together and for so much success to be had amongst the hunters is just a bonus to what seems like a very good time. 

[turkey slayer]

Thats awesome barry!

[bowhunter84]

 

[LX_Trkyhntr]

Congrats Barry!!!!  That sounds like a GREAT hunt!!

[Hognutz]

Congrats, Barry. That looks like a heck of a good time for all involved. 

[Wrangler95]

 



Very nice going,congrats!!

[doepee]

You guys had some awesome success thats great, congrats to the guys that killed birds and especially to those that got their first!!

[mossy835]

Now that is community harmony. A big kudos to all of the volunteers and the farm owners that allowed the use of their property for this great event.

[Reloader]

Awesome Barry. Congrats!

[OLE RASPY]

simply awseome.

[Timber Chicken]

Barry it was an awesome day.Me and Hunter can't wait to do it again next year.

[strutnva]

great story, good times