PREPARING FOR TURKEY SEASON
Spring turkey season is fast approaching, and I’m so excited, especially after getting the email that I was selected in this year’s Spring Turkey lottery! My trips to and from work now mimic the sweet sounds of a hen sending out her serenade of love to any eagerly waiting tom within hearing distance. At least that’s how I hear it. In reality it probably sounds more like a rabbit in distress crossed with a crow with back spasms. Needless to say, a diaphragm call has been a work in progress for about the last eight years. Nevertheless, I seem to be just good enough to get the job done most years.
I am especially excited for this spring though as I have already gotten the verbal commitment from my son Reese to join me in the blind for some turkey madness! I’m even hoping that I can convince Greta to accompany us on a hunt and bring our daughter Brinley. I may need to get a bigger blind, but I can’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful spring evening in search of a mature gobbler, than sharing a blind with all of the people I love. We are still over a month away, but the preparation has begun; only this year, I have two little helpers to help get all of the gear ready.
The last time I had the blind out was late October when Reese and I were on our DON’T FORGET THE OREOS bowhunting adventure. Although I don’t remember having any issues, it is always good to check your gear and make sure everything is functioning properly. I’m glad we did, too! Somewhere, either in transport or storage, a clip had broke, which causes the blind to collapse inadvertently. It’s a good thing we have plenty of time to get it fixed. The minor issue with the blind still didn’t stop us from having a little fun in the garage while preparing for the upcoming turkey season.
Reese and I setting up the blind.
Even though Brinley is a little too small to get in on the setup, she sure was curious to see what we were doing.
Despite the broken clip, we were able to keep the blind erected long enough for the kids to have a little fun.
I don’t know what these two were doing, but both of them seemed to be pretty entertained by the ground blind.
Reese and I were having a good time in the ground blind….Brinley, not so much!
Brinley much preferred to be on the outside looking in!
Once I had the blind up and inspected, I thought it would be fun to pull out the decoys. Both Reese and Brinley enjoyed playing with them. Reese thought it would be fun to take a little ride on my Pretty Boy Tom, and Brinley would point to the decoy followed by letting out a soft, “Dada.”
Riding the decoy is one thing, but wearing it on your head is another. I guess Reese wanted to know what it felt like to “be the decoy”!
It ended up being a fun little evening in the garage. I could have setup and inspected the blind alone, but why not get the kids involved. They had a blast horsing around in the blind and playing with the decoys. Even though it wasn’t an actual hunt, activities like this help to introduce kids to hunting and piques their interest. Making hunting synonymous with fun is what it is all about! Plus, I know the next time we are in the blind, we are going to be listening to the thundering booms of a gobbler announcing the start of a new day! Gobble Gobble!
