My oldest grandson has been hunting with me since he was around 6. We had a few early opportunities but something always messed us up, spooky birds, movement... As some may remember he took a real stud of a bird when he was 9 in Alabama, it weighed around 22 pounds. Since then we have struggled to get him a follow up and I must admit grandpa has been feeling a little bit of pressure to provide a repeat performance. He got out of school for spring break on Friday and his mom brought him up to stay with me and also do some hunting. NW Bama has their youth weekend on the 25th/26th and MS is, of course, already in full swing. He was a bit under the weather yesterday and we opted to take my parents out to celebrate their 64th wedding anniversary. By last night he was doing some better but I didn't want to push him too hard. Since it was a balmy 25 this morning I opted to wait and slip into our family property around 10 and see if we could call one in around midday. I kinda decided last minute to take my new Franchi I3 20ga that I bought last season but had never taken to the woods. After getting set up we began cold calling but as the minutes ticked by I began to question my decision on this hunt. We were in the same spot I took my bird on opening day and I told him how the gobbler came in from behind me to my right and therefore sat him up on my left so he could see that way better and have the best shot possible. Around 1:30 I began what felt like was another fruitless set of calls when out of the corner of my left eye I saw movement. 3 long beards came charging into our decoy setup and I whispered to my grandson to ease around, take his time and drop one when he had a clean shot. After what seemed like hours he let the little Weatherby loose and his bird dropped like a stone. The other 2 seemed confused and ran a few yards up the hill and stopped to look back at their buddy. Big mistake. By this time this old man had his gun up and dropped one of them. We sat and watched the 3rd bird run a round his buddies for several minutes before giving up and walking away. Honestly he may have been the biggest of the 3, at least I know he had a longer beard. We exchanged several high fives and relived the hunt for the next hour while packing up. He then wanted to let his great grandparents see his bird and we headed home to clean them and eat. He turns 15 week after next and I know my chances of sharing these experiences with him will dwindle as girls, cars and friends become more important. I'm just glad I got to share my first time doubling on turkeys with him and hope he will remember this day when he's my age and maybe smile when he remembers his grandpa acting like a kid in the moment.
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Heck yeah, well played. Congrats to you both on a lifetime memory!!!
Awesome memories - congratulations to both of you
Congratulations to you both... making forever memories
Congrats to Both.
Congratulations to both of you, well done. I hunt with my grandson too and there's nothing better!
Very nice and excellent story!
Awesome, Congrats!
Fantastic, congrats!
Congratulations to you both! Great story with great pictures, thanks for sharing. I hope you both get to do it again next year.
Nice going, congrats on a successful, special day
Awesome congratulations
Congratulations to the young man!! Congratulations to you Grandpa and good job! Lifetime memories for sure.
Great story! Congratulations on the hunt, and the memories!
Making memories Congrats!
That's Awesome!!!
Congratulations to you both love to kids in to hunting sure it makes you proud and memories that last a lifetime
Great write up buddy. Well done!!
Well done
That's awesome memories made. Congratulations to you both
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Sounds like a special morning that neither of you will forget! Congrats to both of you on the turkeys and memories made!
Congratulations to you both. That is a hunt both of you will never forget.
Congrats on the double!!
Got my 1st double ever last year with my son he's 13 now and thats one of my best hunting memories to date!
Congratulations! What a great memory you two will have of an awesome day!
That is GREAT!!!
Heck of a memory for both you and the youngster.
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Congratulations, memories for life.
Congrats on a perfect day and memory brother. This is what matters. Great hunt and story. Thanks for sharing. Z
Stories like these get me excited, Congratulations to both of you!
Congratulations to you both.