We setup as close as we could get without crossing the creek and hoped for the best. The birds were roosted where we expected and moved off to the east. Unfortunately before we could make our move across the creek the farmer came in to that field to plant so we were done there for at least the day. We left there and headed to a public spot a few miles away and they were planting there too. By this point I’m feeling pretty defeated but we start driving around door knocking but to no avail. I reached out to my buddy in the area who got us the permission on the original spot and he calls back a couple of hours later and has got us permission on another property. We meet up with the landowner and get some intel from him on where he has been seeing and hearing birds.
We were finally setup a little after 2 and feeling good about this spot based on the intel from the landowner and the sign we saw on the way in. Shortly after setting up we hear a gobble behind us. Over the next 30 minutes or so we have sporadic gobbling from a few birds around us but finally one bird seemed to have responded to us. Things got quiet for awhile and I called again and a gobbler cut me off with a yelp and he was close. I called again and he immediately yelped again. I told my daughter to get ready because that bird was close . I barely finished that statement and could hear them walking and 3 redheads moving through the brush in front of us. Three gobblers emerge and one goes into strut and they are coming. A hen fires up to our left and they start fading her way a little but still closing on us. I cut her off a couple of times and they start coming on a more direct line again. They closed on us quickly at this point and commence to giving our jake decoy an absolute beat down.
My daughter has killed a few birds but this is the first time she has witnessed this. I start thinking I need to have another shell ready in case she misses but I realize that I have no idea where her shells are. I told her that she has the green light and to just take her time and wait for one to clear the others and standing still. The beat down continues and after what seemed like an eternity she takes her shot and only ruffled some feathers. I break the news to her that I don’t know where her shells are and while she is figuring that out I grabbed my bow, nocked an arrow and killed the bird that was still on the decoy. She tells me where her shells are and I get her reloaded as the birds are moving away. They stopped and were picking on the bird I killed and by this time she was settled back on her shooting sticks and smoked one. What started out as a pretty rough day turned out to be one of if not the best hunting days in my life. I’ve been taking her hunting since she was old enough to walk and watching her kill some deer and turkeys has been awesome but to actually hunt together on a road trip and pull off double together brought a whole new level of excitement to it.
