Posted By: BarneyWho
1st Turkey - 03/16/23 02:47 AM
Backstory: Growing up my dad wasn’t into hunting much but turkeys. He took me from the time I could walk. I cut my teeth hunting public Easterns in Mississippi. I enjoy a lot of different hunting, but if I was told I could only choose one the rest of my life to hunt wild turkeys would be given a lot of consideration. So fast forward to my son getting old enough to hunt. He’s flat eat up with deer hunting, but like most kids he always wants to go with dad. So, I finally took him turkey hunting last year in between all the spring sports and fishing we did. Did I mention he’s eat up with fishing too? Anyway, his first hunt was about as picture perfect as you could want one without I’m killing a bird. The bird must have gobbled 350-400 times with us getting to see him gobble around 300 of those. He strutted in to 18 yards before he finally saw my son move. Bad on dad because at the time my son was thinking one bullet like his deer rifle and not lots of pellets in a shot gun pattern. He loves to be precise when shooting.
With that and talking to some friends as eat up turkey hunting as myself, I had a friend build me a Mossberg 510 Bantam with Fast Fire 3 mounted on top shooting 15/16oz of TSS #9.5’s thru it. For Spring Break this year, my son wanted to come see my parents in MS to work in the garden with my dad and fish. When dad suggested we take him turkey hunting since Youth season in MS was open, I cringed thinking about how tight lipped these Easterns are compared to Rios and the cold morning forecasted for this week.
My mom ended up having a medical issue on Thursday (she’s fine) which had us leave on our trip earlier than expected. The kids had games until Sunday, but we decided to skip and leave on Saturday to check on mom and see if I could help my dad. On the drive in, I meet up with my buddy to pick up the gun and ammo. Flat amazed at how light this gun is. It feels half as light as my youth model 20ga I built to hunt with. Plus the stock actually fits his small LOP. My buddy told me once I carried this, I’d sell my 20ga. Sunday it flat poured all day. After the rain, it got plenty chilly on Monday. He, dad, and I went to listen for birds on a spot dad has permission to hunt while a friend of dad’s went to listen on his property where the week bird they had a bird hammering. One bird at the spot we were at gobbled a hand full of time, but was on the neighbors property we can’t hunt. Dad’s friend heard nothing. That afternoon we shot his new gun. I didn’t want to take him hunting until we had shot his gun, and he understood how the pattern spread out to avoid our mistake last year. We got that accomplished. I felt confident in what I saw at 30 yards. He said the gun kicked about like his .22! He was all in.
Tuesday morning rolled around with a 37F temp on the truck. We decided to go to dad’s friends spot even though he heard no birds the day before. I discovered I didn’t bring the right hunting clothing. I won’t go into details, but we got on two birds with one gobbling more than most Easterns do. Had a hen come in to us and then feed towards the bird gobbling. As you experienced turkey hunters know, no more gobbling. By the time we got home, I had to take a hot shower to get rid of the chill. I’m glad I brought the right gear for him. He never got cold. He told me during the hunt when I was explaining I went on a lot of hunts in MS not even hearing a bird much less seeing one to lift his spirits. He told me it was just nice being in the outdoors that he knew most kids at his school don’t get to do this. Made me poke my chest out a little that he seems to get “it”!
This morning rolls around and it’s 34F in the truck l, but clear and still. I was hoping the birds would gobble better this morning. I thru in an extra sweatshirt for good measure. We decided to go back to dad’s friend’s place again where we were on the birds the day before. What I haven’t mentioned yet, is both dad and his friend love to sit around talking and drinking coffee. Not the greatest combo for keeping the spirts of an 8 year old up when getting up so early and waiting for the sun to come up. Dad and literally argue about this, but I agree he’s being a nice host and we should be respectful. So we go sit in the truck for a good 45 minutes before the first bird even remotely chirps. What’s even more funny is dad’s friend was tired of waiting on us at his house and is sitting by a tree down at the creek where we get out to listen for birds.
To be continued……
With that and talking to some friends as eat up turkey hunting as myself, I had a friend build me a Mossberg 510 Bantam with Fast Fire 3 mounted on top shooting 15/16oz of TSS #9.5’s thru it. For Spring Break this year, my son wanted to come see my parents in MS to work in the garden with my dad and fish. When dad suggested we take him turkey hunting since Youth season in MS was open, I cringed thinking about how tight lipped these Easterns are compared to Rios and the cold morning forecasted for this week.
My mom ended up having a medical issue on Thursday (she’s fine) which had us leave on our trip earlier than expected. The kids had games until Sunday, but we decided to skip and leave on Saturday to check on mom and see if I could help my dad. On the drive in, I meet up with my buddy to pick up the gun and ammo. Flat amazed at how light this gun is. It feels half as light as my youth model 20ga I built to hunt with. Plus the stock actually fits his small LOP. My buddy told me once I carried this, I’d sell my 20ga. Sunday it flat poured all day. After the rain, it got plenty chilly on Monday. He, dad, and I went to listen for birds on a spot dad has permission to hunt while a friend of dad’s went to listen on his property where the week bird they had a bird hammering. One bird at the spot we were at gobbled a hand full of time, but was on the neighbors property we can’t hunt. Dad’s friend heard nothing. That afternoon we shot his new gun. I didn’t want to take him hunting until we had shot his gun, and he understood how the pattern spread out to avoid our mistake last year. We got that accomplished. I felt confident in what I saw at 30 yards. He said the gun kicked about like his .22! He was all in.
Tuesday morning rolled around with a 37F temp on the truck. We decided to go to dad’s friends spot even though he heard no birds the day before. I discovered I didn’t bring the right hunting clothing. I won’t go into details, but we got on two birds with one gobbling more than most Easterns do. Had a hen come in to us and then feed towards the bird gobbling. As you experienced turkey hunters know, no more gobbling. By the time we got home, I had to take a hot shower to get rid of the chill. I’m glad I brought the right gear for him. He never got cold. He told me during the hunt when I was explaining I went on a lot of hunts in MS not even hearing a bird much less seeing one to lift his spirits. He told me it was just nice being in the outdoors that he knew most kids at his school don’t get to do this. Made me poke my chest out a little that he seems to get “it”!
This morning rolls around and it’s 34F in the truck l, but clear and still. I was hoping the birds would gobble better this morning. I thru in an extra sweatshirt for good measure. We decided to go back to dad’s friend’s place again where we were on the birds the day before. What I haven’t mentioned yet, is both dad and his friend love to sit around talking and drinking coffee. Not the greatest combo for keeping the spirts of an 8 year old up when getting up so early and waiting for the sun to come up. Dad and literally argue about this, but I agree he’s being a nice host and we should be respectful. So we go sit in the truck for a good 45 minutes before the first bird even remotely chirps. What’s even more funny is dad’s friend was tired of waiting on us at his house and is sitting by a tree down at the creek where we get out to listen for birds.
To be continued……