YOUTH HUNT STORY- LONG READ.......Well after hunting hard all weekend for the youth opener and South Florida we ended up empty-handed. It wasn't for a lack of effort that's for sure. So, for the past few weeks we have scouted a specific bird and we knew the area he was roosting in. He roosted every night in a strip of cypress trees or the Pines at the end that intersected it. 2 days before the hunt my buddy and I snuck in there late in the afternoon and saw him on the road as we were coming in. He slipped off out of sight and we snuck in and set up a blind. The stage was set for opening morning.
Saturday morning rolled around and the alarm went off at 3:30 am. I woke my seven-year-old son Easton and he did not hesitate to jump out of bed. I met my buddy Ryan and his son out at the management area and we slipped into the blind. We were all set up and ready to go by 5 am. An hour and 25 minutes until legal light and the anticipation was growing. At 6 a.m. he gobbled the first time and made his presence known. He was roosted a mere 80 yards from us. I could see him through my binoculars strutting and gobbling in his pine tree. There were a few hens putting and cackling in the Cypress in front of us. As it got lighter we hoped he would see our decoys and fly into them. He started to get restless in the tree and then he flew down. He was headed straight in our direction but disappeared as he went into the Cypress. He couldn't be more than 50 yards from us at this point. We let out a few soft calls and nothing. He did not gobble again until he was on the backside of the Cypress in a field. He was out there with his hens and gobbled a handful more times before going silent never to be heard again that morning.
We only had a limited amount of time that morning as my son had two baseball games that day. One at 11:30 and another at 2:45. At 9:30 we decided to slip out and check out the field and see what it looked like out there and get a game plan for the following day. We found his tracks out there and found the perfect spot to put the blind up. All he needed to do was follow what he did that morning and all would be good. Everything was set up and we skedaddled out of there.
Now to make the our trip to the baseball field to make it in time for his game. I knew he was going to be wore out but he played incredible. They won the first game 11-0. He went three-for-three with a home run and two triples. He made some outstanding catches at first base as well. I figured he would be completely dead after the first game but he played another great game at 2:45. Once again he went 3 for 3. One triple and two doubles in this game along with some more great plays at first. He even switch hit his last up to bat and put it in the outfield in the air. His talent on the baseball field is unrivaled for his age! So after getting up at 3:30 a.m. Hunting the morning and then a full afternoon of baseball in the 90-degree heat of South Florida he was whooped. I had my doubts that he would be ready to go in the morning again but he was.
Sunday morning and that 3:30 a.m. alarm came too fast. Once again he was ready to go. We met a different buddy this time and got out to the new setup and in the blind a little before 5. I had a great feeling we were going to get him this morning! As the sun started to peak out and the woods began to wake up we heard the first gobble of the morning. It was behind us and to the east. My heart sank as I thought it was him in a different spot. A few minutes went by and then a gobble in front of us. He was roosted in the Cypress right where I thought he was. All he needed to do was fly out to us. Between both birds they probably gobbled 75 times. The first hen flew down and she flew to the backside of the cypress my heart sank as I knew the rest of the hens and the gobbler would be following. One by one they all did the same as the first hen. I wasn't sure if they were going to skirt the cypress and come into the field so we hung tight for a little bit. After about 30 minutes of silence I slipped out of the blind and snuck out to the road. There he was a hundred yards down the road in the middle of it in full strut. Had we just left the blind and the same spot as Saturday morning he would have come right to us. I snuck back to the blind we hung out till 9:30 or so hoping maybe the other gobbler we heard to the East would make his way to us but we never heard or saw another bird that morning.
We decided to head home for lunch and the cool off for a little while and head back out for the evening. This time we decided to set up a blind right off the road near his roost in hopes that we would catch him coming back. We got all settled in at 3 and our hopes were high once again. We saw a couple hens but the gobbler never made his appearance. Not sure if he was to the north and came in to roost from there but he never crossed the road that we saw of. We did hear one gobbler fire off about 20 minutes till dark to the northeast of the cypress head where he had been roosting so maybe he had given us the slip.
Oh well, I had high hopes he would get his first bird this weekend. We definitely gave it our best. I could tell he was a little disappointed but I know he had fun. I explained to him that it is not always about the kill but more about the memories and the time we get to spend together! I wouldn't trade them for the world!
Unfortunately that was the only permit he drew this year and I did not draw any in my name. So, unless we get lucky and find someone with a piece of private property to kill one on his season may be over.
DSC_8849 by
Eric Orlando, on Flickr
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