In February of 2018 my son was born and the first thing I thought was “yes, I finally have my future turkey hunting partner”. Well fast forward and he turned 5 this past February. I have had my .410 setup for the past few years and hunted with it every now and then. The past few weeks have been spent getting him use to the gun and proper sighting with the red dot. After shooting the gun and him not having a problem with getting the sight on target, a plan was made on a group of gobblers I have been watching for a month now.

We brushed in a ground blind and had everything ready for Sunday morning. As we got into the blind I placed a jake and hen decoy out front about 23 yards. Of course the forecast had strong winds so there was no roost gobbling but these birds were consistent and I had got a couple pictures of his hens the evening before just before fly up time, so I knew the longbeards wouldn’t be far. Once it was lift enough for birds to be on the ground I gave out a few yelps. Not 5 minutes after a second series of yelps I spotted a turkey in the teeeline across from us, his glowing white head I knew a longbeard was on the way. I told my son he’s coming and he had just stepped into the field. Once in the field he immediately saw the decoys and went into full strut. For the next what seemed like 10 minutes, but realistically 2 minutes we watched him strut across the corner of the field and right to the jake decoy. Once at the decoy, my son was locked down on the gun and the hammer was back. The longbeard then began his beat down of the decoy and climbed on top of it, once he finally picked his head up I told him to go ahead and shoot if the red dot was on him. At the crack of the .410 the bird front flipped off the decoy and never flopped. The amount of emotion and excitement that came after that was something that will never be topped.

20lbs, 9 inch beard, 3/4 inch spurs

Very big day for the whole family. Congratulations to your son. That’s a monster bird. I hope you and he continue to be able to hunt together for the rest of your lives.

Awesome.

Congrats! Great memories!

Awesome, good job Dad/s!

Can not put in words that moment that 3 generations had at that time. Congradulations!


Earl

Congrats to all involved..

Congrats hope he gets many more

Wild Bill

Congrats, Love that first bird pic. A Whopper too

Congratulations for your first turkey!

Congratulations! Memories that will last a life time.

Nice job Dad, and your son has nerves of steel. Great pics, love the smiles.