We have an expert hunter in the family. On his first ever turkey hunt, Nathanael bagged himself a big 'ol turkey. In fact, he did it in the first two hours on openning day! Here he is with his proud pappa:
Deacon Jim encouraged us to give the youth turkey season a shot, pardon the pun. In fact, he even helped outfit us and let Nathanael use his shotgun (mine wasn't big enough!). Thanks to Mr. Jim's expert instruction and turkey calling expertise, we had a great time. Here's Mr. Jim and his prize pupil: 
On a cold morning, with a little freezing drizzle even, we hit the woods before 5am. And by 5:45 we heard the first gobble. Mr. Jim began his calling and within an hour or so we had a big ol' Tom right in front of us! He was a bit closer than we expected, and when Nathanael tried to re-aim, the old bird saw us and started to leave. But Mr. Jim gave him a couple more clucks on the caller and like any male, he stopped to look at the girl he thought was there. That was all Nathanael needed. One shot. One turkey dinner. 
This old bird was 23 3/4 pounds, with an 11 inch beard and 1 1/16 inch spurs. Not bad for the first time! Kenaniah even wanted to get in on the fun, but he'll have to wait a couple years. Still didn't stop him from getting all dressed up:
Dad even had some fun pretending to be Rambo or something:
Of course, now Dad is going to have to give it a shot come regular spring season. Can't have the boy braggin' too much, can we?
