Turkey VIDEO 2019 - First Bird @ 12 yards!

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I made this video last year of a hunt that turned out to be really special. My son, 8 years old at the time, killed his first bird - a nice gobbler, hunting with me and his grandfather. With youth season less than 2 weeks away, re-watching this video gets me pumped for the season, so I thought I would post it now.

It was April 27th, 2019, and it was the perfect spring morning. Calm, cool, and sunny, with a high in the upper 60's. It felt like it was going to be a good one, and it was. We had 3 generations hunting together, with me doing the filming and calling. We set up on top of a rocky ridge at the edge of a cow pasture with a steep draw to our backs. This was a spot that our previous hunts indicated they were using a lot last season. I like it because it drops off on 3 sides and there are several large boulders that are great for breaking up our outlines. I quickly figured out there were at least 3 birds roosted on the next ridge over, a few hundred yards away, but this spot seemed to be where they were heading each morning we had hunted. In the past, I have foregone the use of decoys, but with my son carrying a fixed-choke .410 this season, we had bought a new jake decoy to assist in the process. That turned out to be a good move as he was struggling (afraid to move) to stay on target as the birds moved across our face at close range.

This turned out to be a GREAT hunt, and one that we will always remember. I captured some of the best turkey footage to date, but because the birds circled us, I had shifted position, and almost missed the shot. I hope this puts you back in the woods on a fine spring morning with turkeys gobbling, like it did for me. The season is right around the corner, hopefully we will all get to enjoy it. Set it on 1080 and turn up the sound if you can.

 
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sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I know the questions are coming, so I'll explain the end. We were trying to get my son his first bird, but my Dad didn't want to let a good situation go to waste. Except, his patience is lacking a little. I tried to tell him if he would have just waited, he likely would have gotten a chip shot, but he tried the 'ol BANG-BANG. The second gobbler (which actually was the dominant strutter), ducked his head immediately at the first shot, and at 12 yards, Dad whiffed him. Oh well...
 
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oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I know the questions are coming, so I'll explain the end. We were trying to get my son his first bird, but my Dad didn't want to let a good situation go to waste. Except, his patience is lacking a little. I tried to tell him if he would have just waited, he likely would have gotten a chip shot, but he tried the 'ol BANG-BANG. The second gobbler (which actually was the dominant strutter), ducked his head immediately at the first shot, and at 12 yards, Dad whiffed him. Oh well...
yeah those hard headed dads can be a pain. enjoy them. :)
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Great footage ! I especially liked it when they gobbled and you could see their breath, that was awesome.
Yeah, watching it in person was beautiful, with the sun just coming over the far ridge. It was lighting up the tops of the grass, and also the turkeys' heads and fans. You could see their breath, and spit coming out when they flogged the decoy. They probably took 30 minutes from the time we first saw them on the other side of the fence until he shot, so it was quite a show.

I was trying to get him to shoot when they were to the left of that boulder, where I had a clear view, but he wasn't tracking them with the gun I guess.
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
That little man going to be a bad turkey hunter.....he done show us how to handle the pressure of taking one at 12 yds. Takes it up to another level when that close and he looked like a seasoned hunter to me.
 
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