Youth Outdoors - July

Trey Heaster

I got my first turkey during the youth hunting day at our Punkin Center farm outside of West Union, W.Va. It all began when Grandpa and I got up while it was still very dark. We ate breakfast then loaded our hunting stuff in the 4x4. We drove up the hill and stopped close to our hunting stand. We walked out to the stand. We put out our turkey decoys. Then we got in our deer hunting stand.
We started calling for the turkeys. Probably after an hour we heard something. All at once we heard this loud gobble. The turkeys had come in behind us. There were at least five turkeys. I saw two gobblers out in the middle of the pipeline right of way. Grandpa gave me the 20 gauge shotgun, and I aimed it at the gobblers. I shot, and my gobbler fell over. We got out of the stand and walked to the turkey. Grandpa took pictures of me and the turkey. We drove back to the hunting cabin. Grandpa weighed and measured the turkey. The gobbler weighed 21 pounds, had a nine inch beard and the spurs were one inch.
Then Mr. J.T. Trent came out to help me clean the gobbler. We kept the tail, feathers beard and spurs to be mounted later. We are going to eat the turkey breast on our Fourth of July picnic. That day was the best time I have ever had.

Samantha Thomas

This year I shot my first turkey. My mom and I got up at 5 a.m. on Saturday, April 21, Youth Day in West Virginia. We decided to sit in the hunting shanty. After getting comfortable and setting up the decoys, we started to call, using a box call. We heard a few gobblers but were far away, a hen was answering us just up the hill. Around 6:50 a.m. we could see the hen and there was a gobbler with her but would not gobble at our call. I got my 20 guage shot gun ready. They kept on coming closer, I had my gun on the gobbler and when they were about 40 yards another gobbler came across the creek, it was bigger than the first. I got the gun on his head and shot, it went down. I was happy that I finally got my first turkey and that it was a big one. Bigger than any of the turkeys that my dad or mom have gotten.

My First Turkey
By Logan R. Hunt
Wintersville, Ohio

I started hunting with my dad on our land in Richmond Ohio when I was seven. Last Ohio youth deer season I missed a nice eight point buck with my 20 gauge Remington shotgun. I am now ten. Before the 2007 Ohio youth turkey season, I helped my Dad sight in my same shotgun at 30 yards. Opening morning my Dad and I loaded his truck and drove 12 miles to our land. When we arrived at 7:15 a.m. we grabbed a hen decoy and prepared to go into our hunting tower overlooking the clover field. Before we moved Dad used a diaphragm call and let out a hen yelp. Everything was quiet so we climbed into the tower. It was 7:25 a.m. and we just got situated in our tower. I was reading my American Revolution book and I heard a noise in the field. I looked to the side and I saw one massive turkey walking to our hen decoy. I told my dad and he helped turn on the red dot on my shotgun and I poked the barrel through the camo netting. When the turkey turned broadside I took my shot. The turkey went down still moving and breathing very fast and aggressively. I took another shot. I got out of the tower and went to my trophy turkey. The shot was 30 yards away. The turkey weighed 22 pounds, had a 10 inch beard, and 1.5 inch spurs. I have been turkey hunting before but have never seen a Tom before.

Joshua Flanegin

On Saturday (4-14-07) me and my daddy went trout fishing. We went to Big Wheeling Creek which isn't far from our home. When we got there, Daddy put a hook and a sinker onto my line. Then we cast my Spongebob fishing pole into our "secret hot spot". Daddy let me choose between green or red power-bait, I picked green. The fish were not biting so we ate our snacks and I looked under some rocks. We saw the tip of my fishing pole start to bounce around and Daddy said, "I think you got one." We reeled in a big trout together. My first rainbow trout was 16 inches long and weighed over 2 lbs! A little later my Daddy caught a trout. His was only 12 inches though. I must be a better fisherman than Dad. Later at home we cooked the trout on the grill, it was yummy!

P.S. My mom said "awesome"!