wapsiguy
PMA Member
I took my oldest daughter Ally to a spot last night where a friend and I spotted 3 long beards and 4 jakes while we were out mushroom hunting. When we saw these birds it was 8:15 at night so I figured we had to be close to the roost sight. We got set up a little after 6:00 and waited for the action. I had everything ready when I realized I had forgotten a few things :thrwrck:. I had forgotten a chair for me, my binoculars and the video camera. All but the chair was sitting in my truck 400 yards away but I decided not to make the trip and just used my 4X range finder as binocs.....that sucked! and I figured I would just sit on the ground, that sucked more!
The setup
I see some birds working a freshly planted field a few hundred yards away and 1 was a mature tom so I felt good about our plan. A little before 8 I can see (barely with that 4 power range finder)they are working our way but I am having a hard time finding the tom. I then notice a male bird headed straight for the decoys at a fast pace and in tow he has a jake. The lead bird ended up being another jake but was significantly larger than his buddy. They came into the decoys that I had out at about 15-18 yards and Ally did a great job taking her time and leveling the bigger jake.
Looking back on the hunt I think the best part was hearing her breathing pick up as the birds were coming in :way:, She was definitely excited!
19.2 pound jake with a thick 4.75" beard and 3/8" spurs. I've shot mature toms that weighed less than him
The smile!
I am very proud of her. She shot a real nice tom last year 10 minutes after fly down on her first hunt. This was only the third time out but it did teach her that its not always that easy.
Thanks for reading
The setup
I see some birds working a freshly planted field a few hundred yards away and 1 was a mature tom so I felt good about our plan. A little before 8 I can see (barely with that 4 power range finder)they are working our way but I am having a hard time finding the tom. I then notice a male bird headed straight for the decoys at a fast pace and in tow he has a jake. The lead bird ended up being another jake but was significantly larger than his buddy. They came into the decoys that I had out at about 15-18 yards and Ally did a great job taking her time and leveling the bigger jake.
Looking back on the hunt I think the best part was hearing her breathing pick up as the birds were coming in :way:, She was definitely excited!
19.2 pound jake with a thick 4.75" beard and 3/8" spurs. I've shot mature toms that weighed less than him
The smile!
I am very proud of her. She shot a real nice tom last year 10 minutes after fly down on her first hunt. This was only the third time out but it did teach her that its not always that easy.
Thanks for reading
