RangerClay Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Wow! What a great day it has been for me! A day of many firsts. The plan for the last two weeks was to sit with my 6 year old daughter Abigail in our pop-up blind with my 12 ga. waiting for a turkeys. It was going to be our first turkey hunt together. But earlier this week she requested, "Daddy I want you to hunt with your new bow." I wasn't sure how I was going to make this happen. All I had were the practice arrows that I received with the bow two weeks ago. My new hunting arrows with my Exturkinator wraps were at the shop being put together. My Slick Trick broadheads are in the mail and probably will not arrive until later this week. So what to do?? I looked around and got these inexpensive 100 gr. Eastman broadheads at Walmart. I shot them about 20 times and they flew just like my field tips. I thought to myself maybe, just maybe a nice deer would wonder up. Our hunting trip is now a deer or turkey trip. Shortly before 6am I woke up Abi. We had breakfast, I got her dressed and I put on my new suit of Realtree AP. The temperature was 62 degrees and it was damp from rain a few hours earlier. We grabbed her toy gun and headed out the backdoor to our 26 acre playground. The action started almost immediately. We got in the blind and I unzipped two windows. I got her chair positioned and started to put on her face mask when I heard that familiar noise. Crunch, crunch, crunch. I could hear a deer coming in the wet leaves. I was struggling to get both of us ready and keep Abi quiet & still. "Daddy there's a deer!" and she shoulders her toy gun. The deer is a spike horn with about 3" spikes and he stepped out into my food plot. He spots Abi moving and me with no face mask yet almost instantly. He quickly decides that he isn't hungry anymore and quickly departs. I could only smile as my daughter started babbling on about the buck. She was stoked to say the least. Things calmed down for about a half hour. Light rains came and went. It was nice to be in a blind. Little did I know, but a big doe was coming in from behind us. I couldn't hear her in the leaves and she materialized out of no-where like deer sometimes do and only 15 yards from the blind. Well Abi saw her first because of the way I was seated. She let out this noise that I can only descibe as a "gasp". Now the doe is looking right at us. This time I was a little more prepared but this doe wasn't coming another step closer. I wispered to Abi to slowly get her gun up so she could get a shot with her gun. The doe jumped and ran behind the blind and stopped. In her excitement Abi pulled the trigger on her gun. "POP!" it goes and launches a big yellow ball into the food plot. The does starts blowing at us about six times. I can only imagine what she was thinking. Me, I'm laughing so hard that tears are in my eyes. Abi is upset because she scared the deer and she thinks I am mad at her. How do you tell a 6 year old that you are just loving every minute of this special moment and it doesn't matter if you get a deer. Well we sat there and never saw another deer. But it didn't matter. We did see some squirrels, grouse, geese and a timber tiger that tried to crawl into the tent. We sat for a total of 3 hours and that was about all she could take. So we started to pick up. I gathered up all our stuff, put the quiver back on my bow and reached for the tent zipper. That's when I saw them, turkeys, and coming in fast. I told Abi to sit perfectly still while I struggled to get my mask back on and my release out of my pocket. I renocked an arrow and told Abi to sit still once again. I saw that some of the turkeys turned but the biggest one was coming to a lane. I drew my bow and waited. The bird stepped into the lane, I put the 20 yard pin on her and released. THWACK! She started flopping around and the others scattered. I ran down to make sure she didn't run off but she was dead. My first bow kill. I paced it off at 23 yards. To say that Abigail was excited was an understatement. She had enough excitement for the two of us. We took a bunch of pictures in front of the blind where the light was better. We tried in vain to find my arrow but it was lost under the leaves somewhere. We gathered up our bird and headed back home. I filleted the bird and gave the tenderloins to the kids for lunch. We saved one breast and ran it through the grinder. We then mixed it with the apple Hi Mountain Seasoning for turkey jerky. Tomorrow I break out the smoker. It was a day of many firsts. My first hunt with my daughter, the first turkey I have killed on my own property, and my first bow kill to boot. It's tough to put into words the excitement and emotions that I have experienced today. But those of your who are parents probably know how I feel right now. Nothing compares to hunting with your kids. Lastly, thank you God for the blessings you bestowed upon me today. Sorry for rambling on so. Here are a few pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowtech_archer07 Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Congrats on the bird!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTBowMan Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 What a great story, Thanks for sharing, and I'm looking forward to taking my little girls out when they are old enough as well. -- Van Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBowHunter Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Very good looking bird! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alisha Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Congrats!!!! I read every word of your story and absolutely loved it! I bet you almost bust a gut when that ball shot out into the field! It'd be awesome if you knew what those deer were thinking when that happened! LOL! Again, great story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest outdoorgirl Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Congrats Joe what a beautiful story i had tears in my eyes reading it. You are one lucky guy to share your hunt with your daughter I love your pictures and Abigail is all smiles :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhine16 Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 That is aweswome! Both the story and the bird. Congratulations, i know it has to be a wonderful feeling sharing that with her. BTW- My little brother has one of those guns. Ha they are pretty cool . You need to get her the bow one like that also :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beagleboy Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Great story. Congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomer Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 What an awesome story and hunt! I'm sure your daughter will be dreaming of it! Congrats buddy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkinslinger Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Way to go RC..that was awesome. Wish I had 26 acres of my own world to enjoy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Joe you are a great Dad. That was a wonderful story and pretty darn funny. Maybe from now on the deer there will not be so scared since they think all you guys are packin is Nerf balls. LOL!!!!! Abigail is precious. She will never forget this trip with you. Congrats!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowtechTurkeyHunter Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Nice bird and great story. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Sheesh, That's almost a tear jerker!! Joe, thanks for sharing a great story with us. You and Abigail will always remember that hunt. It just doesn't get any better than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhunter91 Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Congrats Joe!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Finn Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 What a great day, Joe....congrats on so many firsts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GobblerBuster618 Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 A Big Congrats To You, Awesome pics!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M00N Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Congratulations! That's funny about the nerf ball. I think I would have laughed until my side hurt and scared everything in the woods away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Tell your little girl that her gun is awesome looking. Looks like a double barrel lazer shotgun... nice bird as well...good times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Congratulations Joe. Great story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Great story!! That day will be itched in your memory forever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 DANG !! I haven't even nailed a turkey with my bow yet ... :rolleyes: Sounds as if you and the litle ones are enjoying every minute of the outdoors together ... :cool: CONGRATS on the awsome turkey.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Boy,that's one of those hunts that will stay with you forever. I can just see the yellow nerf ball flying out of the blind.LOL Congrats on the turkey bird!That sounds like quite a hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckslayer Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 great story, and congrats!! What is a timber tiger though?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Ahhh Kids....They ARE the best You could not make up a story like that. Awesome memories and more to come. Congrats on the bird and being a Great Dad too. My son told me to look for this article and read about Joe and his daughter. Am I glad I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.