This is the first day I have been able to get my 10 year old daughter out to hunt turkeys since youth day. She came close then to tagging her first bird but a nasty cough kept them out of our shooting range. Today we headed to a new area with hopes of setting up off a field that we know birds are using. We arrive plenty early (5am) but find two trucks already parked off the field. Thinking fast, I come up with a B plan to back track down a logging road about 1 mile and set up off what looked like a small clearing on Goggle Earth. After a long walk packed down like a mule, we finally get to the spot. What looked like a small clearing turned out to be a swampy patch of grass about 10 feet wide. Now my daughter is starting to complain about her legs hurting so I know that this is it - whether I like it or not. I set up the ground blind and put a hen decoy out about 15 yards just on the other side of the puddle. We listen for some bird talk at dawn but the woods are very quiet. I give some soft yelps and purrs every 20 minutes or so and settle in for a quiet morning. By 7:30 my daughter has drifted to sleep leaning on my chair when I hear a thunderous gobble directly behind us - I would guess within 30 yards. We only have the blind open in the front and the right side so I can not be certain. I quietly try to wake up my daughter but she is out. Five minutes later, I hear him chime off again. I give some soft purrs then shut up. I can hear him spit and drumming but he won't come in. I finally get her up and tell her that there is a gobbler right behind us. She does a great job getting the gun into the rest as we wait for him to go to the decoy. After an hour of this i can hear him walk off in the opposite direction. Now my daughter is confused why he did not like our decoy and ask if we can get another decoy that he may like better. I tell her that sometimes gobblers are just stubborn, but he knows we are here and he may come back later in the morning. After a couple of more series of soft yelps and purrs, my daughter has fallen asleep again when I spot the bird strutting up a ridge to our right. I can see him walking back and forth, strutting and stretching his neck out to look. He even looks to be sitting down, keeping an eye on the decoy. I was wishing I had brought a jake decoy with us today - but honestly I do not think I could carry anything else. So we got a good show for an hour with the bird - but no cigar. On the way home my daughter was asking when we can go back and kill that bird - so it was worth it just to see her so excited.
Thanks to gobblerstopper for the great ceramic pot - sounded great to me and the bird.
