Tristate
Long Time Member
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- 9,699
Well it was time to go find those spring Toms. I got hooked up with TP&W game wardens in tandem with NWTF for my oldest daughters first turkey hunt. Her little brother has killed a few birds and she has got the itch to do it herself. Last Friday we headed down around Goliad Texas. Grandma got to come along and so did my brother and niece. We stopped for lunch and sight seeing before going out to the ranch.
This is the actual county "Hanging Tree" in front of the courthouse for Goliad County.
We patterned shotguns and met the game wardens who would be our guides. They were really nice fellas who I already knew. It ended up they are pretty dang good turkey callers.
It rained hard Friday night and we woke up to cold temps and very high winds. We didn't here a single gobble on Saturday but right off the bat we had a nice Tom come in to a decoy spread but made it out before my girl could pull the trigger on him.
That afternoon my niece did kill a nice bird though and we all had fun around the campfire that night.
Sunday rolled in and we had to make the last morning count. We set up in a beautiful crossroads area with a big dirt tank in the center. At about 8:30 two hens walked out into the clearing about 150 yards away. Our guide played the cards right and started a cutting war with one of the hens. She soon trotted over to our setup and started scratching for bugs. As she was walking closer I noticed a big ol' tom turkey walk up on top of the tank damn. He was in full strut and flying the flag as high as he could. Soon he spotted our decoys which had one very live hen right in the middle of them and he strutted down the hill to meet destiny. Within a few minutes he was standing and drumming fifteen yards in front of us. When he showed us his butt I had my girl ready the shotgun and when he spun back around she pole axed him. What a first hunt!
Back at the house we set up both the girls birds and the Game wardens posed with them. I think they were happier than the kids.
After lunch we packed everything up to go. Five minutes into the trip home my daughter asked if we can do it again next year. YOU BET!
Thanks again to TP&W and NWTF.
This is the actual county "Hanging Tree" in front of the courthouse for Goliad County.
We patterned shotguns and met the game wardens who would be our guides. They were really nice fellas who I already knew. It ended up they are pretty dang good turkey callers.
It rained hard Friday night and we woke up to cold temps and very high winds. We didn't here a single gobble on Saturday but right off the bat we had a nice Tom come in to a decoy spread but made it out before my girl could pull the trigger on him.
That afternoon my niece did kill a nice bird though and we all had fun around the campfire that night.
Sunday rolled in and we had to make the last morning count. We set up in a beautiful crossroads area with a big dirt tank in the center. At about 8:30 two hens walked out into the clearing about 150 yards away. Our guide played the cards right and started a cutting war with one of the hens. She soon trotted over to our setup and started scratching for bugs. As she was walking closer I noticed a big ol' tom turkey walk up on top of the tank damn. He was in full strut and flying the flag as high as he could. Soon he spotted our decoys which had one very live hen right in the middle of them and he strutted down the hill to meet destiny. Within a few minutes he was standing and drumming fifteen yards in front of us. When he showed us his butt I had my girl ready the shotgun and when he spun back around she pole axed him. What a first hunt!
Back at the house we set up both the girls birds and the Game wardens posed with them. I think they were happier than the kids.
After lunch we packed everything up to go. Five minutes into the trip home my daughter asked if we can do it again next year. YOU BET!
Thanks again to TP&W and NWTF.
