Mason's ...
Missouri Youth Weekend
Taking youth hunting is time well spent. We, as father's, parents, aunts or uncles, or adults who care about the education and assisting youth should do all we can for any child who wants to join in the experience.
Day one came and went with the turkey alluding us and being tight lipped. Joe Fryer explains to young Mason that he did a great job being quiet, remained still, but sometimes the turkeys just don't do what we want.
Although Saturday came and went ... we tried and that's all we can do.
As Saturday came to a close, ... we tried to locate some birds for Sunday morning. Knowing where birds are greatly helps if short legs are in your hunting party. ( Mason tried very hard, and did a very good job, ... but Joe and mine legs take about three steps to his one )
So, ... day two came with birds roosted from the night before, and Mason worked very hard to get in place. We sat up, ... decoys out. Super Tommy was looking great as ... a hen flew off the roost and landed on one of our hen decoys knocking it over ! Kampp Outdoors calls were working their magic.
With some calling and some strutting of Super Tommy ... the flocked moved into range. Mason, his Dad, and myself watched a GREAT show that morning. The birds worked fantastic. They gobbled, strutted and came in like I had them on a string. It was one of the best hunts I can recall in recent years. Seriously, ... a dream morning. Joey ... tries his best to explain this to Mason standing by Super Tommy. Mason, ... doing his best to understand, still felt bad that his shot was slightly over the top of the bird ... and didn't connect. I could not have been prouder of mason. He kept up, ... he walked as quiet as he could, ... his sat very still ... and we had the best hunt ever.
We saw beauty all around, ... we spent time together, ... we heard coyotes howling, crows cawing, geese honking, turkeys gobbling and most importantly ... we shared it together. That's what I call success. It's not the trophy one harvests ... but the values your instill, education you pass on that is the bases for success. Mason learned a lot in his first two days. Lessons that will only help him in the future and make him appreciate hunting more.
Drop me or Joey a note at ...
joey@thelodgeman.com or jeff@thelodgeman.com