When its not just a Jake...

John Henry

Six Pointer
Its crazy what a 5 inch beard jake can mean to someone. As a seasoned turkey hunter, I normally pursue longbeards. I have killed a couple jakes in the past but usually choose to let them walk in hopes of them turning into loud mouthed 2 year olds. But this morning, I just couldn't help it. I had my wife who is a first time hunting participant, and my two girls (4,6) tagging along.

Prepping for this hunt started months ago, with new food plots being designed and planted, as well as a controlled burn on a 35 acre block of pines. My kids had helped pick rocks and roots out of the plot. And they had been with me when we were out mopping up after the fire. My buddy called me crazy for taking the family on opening day. But its the only Saturday this season they don't have a soccer game, so if we were going as a family, opening day was as good as it gets.

We had set up a few blinds a couple days ago and saw encouraging signs when we were scouting. This morning started early with a 75 minute ride to the farm after a stop for donuts. We debated in the truck on where to go and I let the kids choose which set we would start out in. They chose down by a pond in a one acre food plot just off a big swamp. We got settled in about 6 just as the first song birds were calling. Normally I wouldn't have committed to a spot without hearing birds but with 2 excited little girls I thought this was the best strategy.

As it began to get lighter we finally heard the first gobble far off in the distance. We ended up hearing 5 different birds but nothing very close to us. A group of toms were hammering 4-500 yards away very close to one of our other setups. It was almost fly down time when finally we heard a bird sound off in the swamp about 200 yards away. We were all super excited. Up until this point I had been debating how we were gonna sneak over to the setup where birds were gobbling at but this made that decision easy. I let out a few yelps and let him know I was there but got no response. I did a fly down cackle and some yelps but got no response. Finally a lone gobble about 710 and it was about a 150 yards away. I called back and silence. In the meantime my wife is doing an amazing job of keeping the kids quite. Quick tip... cheese puffs are not the best snack for the turkey blind. 15 minutes went by and another lone gobble in the same area. This time I responded with a series of cuts, yelps, purrs, and the kitchen sink. I was hoping for at least a gobble in response. Nothing, nada, dead air.

A few minutes pass and suddenly I hearing a swooshing sound coming from behind the blind. Here come 4 jakes from the pines where we had heard the gobbles and were running by us at 10 yards to the decoys. I almost fell out of my chair in excitement. One jake did a wing smack to the jake decoy and then they all backed a few yards off eyeing the setup. By this time I had everyone in the blind at least looking at the birds. I was discussing whether I was gonna shoot one with them since they weren't longbeards when my 4 year old said "shoot it daddy!!" Well, thats all it took. They had moved off to about 33 yards at this point but at the crack of the .410 he fell. And the celebration was on. We all piled out the blind and ran over to him. Who knew a 5 inch jake could mean so much!
 

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Old Mossy Horns
Its crazy what a 5 inch beard jake can mean to someone. As a seasoned turkey hunter, I normally pursue longbeards. I have killed a couple jakes in the past but usually choose to let them walk in hopes of them turning into loud mouthed 2 year olds. But this morning, I just couldn't help it. I had my wife who is a first time hunting participant, and my two girls (4,6) tagging along.

Prepping for this hunt started months ago, with new food plots being designed and planted, as well as a controlled burn on a 35 acre block of pines. My kids had helped pick rocks and roots out of the plot. And they had been with me when we were out mopping up after the fire. My buddy called me crazy for taking the family on opening day. But its the only Saturday this season they don't have a soccer game, so if we were going as a family, opening day was as good as it gets.

We had set up a few blinds a couple days ago and saw encouraging signs when we were scouting. This morning started early with a 75 minute ride to the farm after a stop for donuts. We debated in the truck on where to go and I let the kids choose which set we would start out in. They chose down by a pond in a one acre food plot just off a big swamp. We got settled in about 6 just as the first song birds were calling. Normally I wouldn't have committed to a spot without hearing birds but with 2 excited little girls I thought this was the best strategy.

As it began to get lighter we finally heard the first gobble far off in the distance. We ended up hearing 5 different birds but nothing very close to us. A group of toms were hammering 4-500 yards away very close to one of our other setups. It was almost fly down time when finally we heard a bird sound off in the swamp about 200 yards away. We were all super excited. Up until this point I had been debating how we were gonna sneak over to the setup where birds were gobbling at but this made that decision easy. I let out a few yelps and let him know I was there but got no response. I did a fly down cackle and some yelps but got no response. Finally a lone gobble about 710 and it was about a 150 yards away. I called back and silence. In the meantime my wife is doing an amazing job of keeping the kids quite. Quick tip... cheese puffs are not the best snack for the turkey blind. 15 minutes went by and another lone gobble in the same area. This time I responded with a series of cuts, yelps, purrs, and the kitchen sink. I was hoping for at least a gobble in response. Nothing, nada, dead air.

A few minutes pass and suddenly I hearing a swooshing sound coming from behind the blind. Here come 4 jakes from the pines where we had heard the gobbles and were running by us at 10 yards to the decoys. I almost fell out of my chair in excitement. One jake did a wing smack to the jake decoy and then they all backed a few yards off eyeing the setup. By this time I had everyone in the blind at least looking at the birds. I was discussing whether I was gonna shoot one with them since they weren't longbeards when my 4 year old said "shoot it daddy!!" Well, thats all it took. They had moved off to about 33 yards at this point but at the crack of the .410 he fell. And the celebration was on. We all piled out the blind and ran over to him. Who knew a 5 inch jake could mean so much!
Awesome
Back to the real meaning of why we hunt...I’ve spent the last few days hunting with my 8 yr old...it has brought much clarity and humbleness

todays world of killing the biggest and best has blurred that...even for me

congrats!!
 

para4514

Eight Pointer
Contributor
Way to give into to the pressure! Congrats buddy! Glad the 410 was part of the story.
 

hot_rod_eddie

Six Pointer
Excellent story, thanks for sharing. I took my dad (71) on his first turkey hunt yesterday. Hens yelping and gobblers gobbling from first light. Ended with a nice tom, but the highlight is that my dad had fun.
 
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