Opening day of 2013 turkey season in Missouri had finally come. On this hunt I let my friend Nikki tag along with me, her first ever turkey hunt! (Yes our husbands stayed home in bed!) We got all of our gear together & headed to my hunting property down the road.
The sun was starting to come up by the time we made it to our property & turkeys were gobbling all around us so we hurried to get to the blind. My blind was set up on the edge of a small pocket field in the woods that the turkeys usually fly into off of the roost. As soon as we got set up 2 jakes flew down in front of us. I let them walk & once they were out of sight I got my hen decoy set up about 20 yards in front of the blind.
I started calling & the toms answered immediately. We could hear them all around us but only one got closer & closer each time I called. Finally I look to my left and am able to see the tom making his way towards the decoy, drumming and spitting the whole way. I got my shotgun ready & just waited until he came close enough to shoot. Once I did Nikki and I both jumped up & down and did a little happy dance (I admit this was a total “girl” moment).
I was so excited & actually a little surprised that I was able to call in such a nice tom. (He was 22 lbs and had 11.5” beard, 1 ¼” spurs). This was my first time turkey hunting that I did 100% of the calling and I really didn’t have much confidence in my turkey calling skills. It made me even happier that Nikki got to have that experience on her first ever turkey hunt. Even though she didn’t do the shooting she was just as excited as I was! The Missouri turkey season opens this year on April 21st and I can’t wait to take Nikki along with me again!