Youth turkey triple!

Hilltop

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2014
3,796
2,162
Eastern Nebraska
Had a great weekend hunting with my 8 year old son. I purchased 3 permits for him and planned to hunt Saturday and Sunday to try to fill his tags with a camp out Saturday night in the back of the pickup. We set up Saturday around 2pm. Everything was pretty quiet for the first 90 minutes but the birds turned on about 3:30 and never stopped. The first big tom to come in really put on a show for us. He was drumming and gobbling within 10 yards of the blind. My son shot him at 20 yards when he finally presented a head up shot. We let the woods quiet down for 30 minutes and started calling again. I had responses immediately. Toms were gobbling from all sides and one dominant hen was really going at it. I ended up calling her in with her whole flock. She got within 2 yards of the blind and was yelping constantly to my lost hen call. Two medium sized toms brought up the back of this flock. My son shot the first one to stick his neck out at 15 yards. Instead of running away, the second tom tried to seize the opportunity to beat up his competitor while he was down, giving my son another chip shot for his 3rd bird of the day.

This picture shows how excited he was when the first long beard went down.


Here is a picture with all 3 toms.


Here is a pic from our simple camp.


Since he filled all tags early we had a lot of time to hike and just have fun around camp. We got to see a wide variety of wildlife including seeing his first bobcat at 40 yards. The coyotes and turkeys made noise off and on all night. It is one of those trips we will both remember forever.
 
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Work2hunt

Veteran member
Mar 2, 2013
1,366
11
St. Louis, MO
That is awesome. Congrats. I took my daughter out for the MO youth weekend, too. Unfortunately we didn't luck out. Had one gobbling Saturday morning and afternoon, but he was on an adjacent property and I couldn't get him to come over. I guess we will try again when the regular season opens up.
 

ElkTrout

Veteran member
Feb 2, 2012
2,443
50
Parker, CO
Hilltop that is awesome! What an accomplishment! Glad the two of you got to share such an awesome experience! He has become a pretty darn good little hunter! His smile says it all!!


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AKaviator

Veteran member
Jul 26, 2012
1,819
1,082
Wow, Hilltop. Your son has shot exactly three more turkeys than I have! A hardy congratulation to him and you both!!
He looks like a darn good moose packer in the making! 2018?
 

Hilltop

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2014
3,796
2,162
Eastern Nebraska
Wow, Hilltop. Your son has shot exactly three more turkeys than I have! A hardy congratulation to him and you both!!
He looks like a darn good moose packer in the making! 2018?
Looking at it really hard right now but still haven't made any decisions. The research is a blast.

These were actually his 3rd, 4th and 5th turkeys. He started at 6 years old with a borrowed 28 gauge from NE69. That little gun really was the perfect start for him. He has now graduated to a youth 20 gauge so we are polishing up the borrowed gun to return next trip out west.
 

sigpros

Very Active Member
Aug 10, 2011
512
124
missouri
Wow what a great hunt. The camping part looks like a really fun time too. You just gave me an idea. Thank you
 

huntman

Member
Mar 2, 2014
53
1
Holy smokes, that's a load of gobblers!
Congrats to your son!

I'd love to try Nebraska for spring turkeys with the kids someday.
Is there much public land anywhere in the state that's worth trying?
 

Hilltop

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2014
3,796
2,162
Eastern Nebraska
Holy smokes, that's a load of gobblers!
Congrats to your son!

I'd love to try Nebraska for spring turkeys with the kids someday.
Is there much public land anywhere in the state that's worth trying?
We have taken several birds off of public through the years. There are just a ton of turkeys in Nebraska. Private land isn't typically hard to gain permission on. I would encourage you to come out to hunt public and then knock on a few doors while out here. May is typically easier than April for permission as the few landowners/relatives that hunt will usually be done.