(P) Turkey hunting with the kido's!

I finally had the opportunity to take Ryder and Ashlynn turkey hunting today. They wanted to wake up in the morning and be in the ground blind by day break. I had been up late the night before completing water rescue night drills until midnight. So the last thing I wanted to do was wake up at 4 am. My plan was to sleep in until 7 and try to be in the ground blind by 9am. Ashlynn had other ideas though and proved to be more motivated than I was. I heard my bedroom door open at exactly 4am. It was Ashlynn asking if I was ready to get up and go turkey hunting. I was shocked! I asked her how she happened to wake up at exactly 4 am. She replied, " I don't know, I just knew it was time." I managed to talk her into another hour of sleep but that was it. Ashlynn and I woke Ryder up at 5 (with no problems by the way) and drove down to the farm.

We arrived in the ground blind shortly after daybreak. We sat in the ground blind for about an hour and a half with no sightings of a turkey. We were hunting on the point of a clover field where I often see turkeys around 9 am. I had a Primos decoy out (Killer B) with a string tied to the tail of the pretend Tom. The kids had a great time making the decoy move in different directions. While they were making the decoy dance, I started to fall asleep. All of a sudden the kids woke me up saying that there were lots of turkeys in the field. I thought they were playing off of their imagination but when I opened my eyes I saw approximately 15 birds headed our way. In the group were 3 Toms. Unfortunately when the first hen saw our decoy she turned and walked away from us. All the other birds followed giving us no shot with the bow. My calls brought no interest to the Toms that were secure with their group of hens.

We decided to take a break mid-day and helped my Dad work on our farming equipment. Around 4:30 we headed back out to the woods and set the ground blind up in a natural travel route that the turkeys use to get to a nightly roosting sight. I decided not to use the decoy this time so I didn't scare away any hens that may have a trailing Tom. The afternoon was filled with excitement. I called in over 15 hens from every direction, sometimes 4 at a time. However, we did not see our first Tom until about 20 minutes before dark. For some reason most of the Toms stayed just out of shooting range as they headed for another group of hens that were located about 80 yards away from us. I only had one shot opportunity at a very large Tom. He actually came in behind us and caught us by surprise. I had to reposition the kids in the ground blind to get the shot off before he was out of range and I rushed my shot. I shot too low and missed out on the opportunity. Truth be told, I was a little too excited which also could have played a role in my poor shot. I was very disappointed not to be successful with the kids but they didn't seem to mind much. In fact, on the drive home that night they said, "Dad, this will be one of the best days we ever had." The day was obviously a success even without the thunder chicken!

(P) Doe headed to the meat locker! Thanks kids!

October 7th-
Ashlynn (my 8 year old daughter) and Ryder (my 6 year old son) had been waiting all year for this day. It was their first hunt of the season for a doe. We got up in the morning and had a big homemade family breakfast (thanks to Liz/Mom). All 3 of us showered up to stay scent free. Then we loaded up all of our hunting gear, picked up the trailer with the Sportsman Ranger, and headed down to the farm. The 3 of us were very excited. The drive seemed to take forever as the anticipation was thick like a morning dew. What would we see tonight? A shooter buck, a few does, some thunder chickens, or would we see anything? Which food plot should we hunt? We had a uncharacteristic east wind at 5 mph. The temperatures were in the low 80's and would drop into the mid 60's overnight.

We sang songs together, told jokes, I acted silly, all to pass the time. We arrived at the farm around 2:30 pm. We quickly unloaded the Ranger and headed out to check 3 of our Bushnell trail cameras. I was hoping they would tell us where to hunt. I threw up a Primos Double Bull ground blind on one of our food plots and a Primos Vision ground blind on the other. With the kids still relatively young, I love hunting with them in a ground blind. They can move around, eat snacks, listen to music (with ear buds), read books, color or draw, and sit with me when they are bored. Ground blinds also help to reduce your scent but I still hunt with the right wind. Now I had to pick between the 2 food plots.

Let me stop and explain how we can just throw up a ground blind without spooking deer on a food plot. Last year Dad and I built 2 wood frame box blinds and placed them on two different fields. The box blinds sit on the ground and have canvas tarps covering the openings which were strategically designed for the ground blinds. We built these wood box frames with, no roof, to allow the ground blinds to fit inside of them. When we are ready to hunt we place the ground blind inside the wood box and drop the canvas tarps which usually cover the windows. Turkeys and deer never know we are there. I have yet to have anything spook from the changes to the wood box blind. I know they are not camouflaged in but they have been sitting there for over a year and the animals eventually got used to them.
Anyways, the kids and I raced back to the car and unloaded all of our gear. My Dad has a 5th wheel travel trailer that he keeps down on the farm during deer season. As we were getting situated, I discovered that we had lost power to the trailer over the last couple of weeks (since we were down there last). It was too late to get the power company out to check a breaker on one of the power poles. So, Dad drove all the way down to the farm (while we were hunting) and brought us a generator (thanks Dad!). We looked at some of the trail camera pictures and decided to hunt over a clover food plot where we had just placed one of the ground blinds.

The kids and I got dressed and headed out to the woods. We arrived in the ground blind a little late but were all settled by 5 pm. I have learned that my kids can survive in a ground blind for a maximum of 3 hours and 15 minutes (which is pretty good for their age). The kids and I took turns shooting little video clips of each other while they would pretend they were hunters like those found on common hunting videos (they have seen them all). Around 5:30 we had a mature doe followed by 2 nubbin' bucks come into the food plot. I really wanted to shoot her because next year she will chase those two bucks and their genetics off our property. As I worked to maneuver around the kids, I just could not get a good shot angle on her. As they were leaving the food plot, more deer began to filter in. Ashlynn was videoing the deer and tried to show the impact shot as I took one of the does at 3o yards. She fell out of sight around 55 yards away. She was the first deer that I had shot with my Mathews Z7 and a Rage broadhead. The 2 inch cut went through the lower portion of her breast plate and through her heart. The kids were so excited when we found her.

Dad was still at the trailer when we finished hunting so he helped me gut the doe, clean her out and he took her home for me. The kids and I stayed to spend the night in the trailer. The following morning we ate breakfast (Captain Crunch- sorry Mom). Liz took the deer to the meat locker for us. We shot bows, checked trail cameras, adjusted a stand, picked up our ground blinds, explored the woods and creek, and packed up the trailer. I let Ryder drive the Ranger with me then I taught Ashlynn how to drive it by herself. As she drove by me one time she yelled "I'm living the dream". We had a great time just being together. Based on past experiences with the kids, I know this will be a memory that they won't forget. I sure won't!