Youth Outdoors - September

Cassandra Burke
Age 10
Mahoning County, Ohio
22 lbs. 9 1/2I” beard, 1 3/8” spurs

My First Turkey Hunt
On Saturday April 21, 2007, the first day of Youth Turkey Season, Dad woke me up and we got dressed. We left at 4:45 a.m for our friend Luke’s house. We went to our hunting spot and Dad started to call. Pretty soon some turkeys came in. Luke pulled up and shot a jake, his first turkey. We got Luke’s turkey and headed for the house.
Later on that day, Dad and I went to Paps. Around 4:30 p.m. we went to our hunting spot. We sat there and Dad started to call. In about 15 minutes two hens came by. Then all of the sudden Dad saw a fan tail pop up over the hill. It was a BIG gobbler. He comes in to about 20 yards and I shoot. I GOT HIM! I shot my first turkey, with my mom’s .20 gauge single shot. And he was a big one! Me and Dad were both very excited, we celebrated in the woods with a high five and a hug.
When we got home Mom and great, great Uncle Darrel were so proud of me. I was so excited, I called everybody. They all came to see the turkey. Mom took a lot of pictures. I have a lot of memories of my first turkey hunt. My Dad is the BEST turkey caller and hunting guide EVER!

Hunting Adventure!
by Cody French

I have been hunting with my dad before for deer and turkey but this was the first year I got to carry a gun. On my first turkey hunt we called in a jake and I shot it running at 22 yards with my .410. It weighed 15 pounds. The next day all we saw was a hen. The next day we set up real early and the tom started to gobble. It gobbled at least a 100 times! We waited and it finally came in to the decoy. I shot it! It weighed 22 pounds with 1 inch spurs and a 10 1/2 inch beard. I had a lot of fun hunting with Dad and Grandpa. MY turkey was bigger than Dad's and Grandpa's!!

By Kyle Gatrell

my turkey had a 4 1/2 inch beard and weighed 18 pounds.
On the first day of youth turkey season my cousin Todd Tatgenhorst took me hunting. We got out in the woods at 7:15 a.m. We heard a gobbler on the top of the hill on our farm. So we walked up the hill and kept calling as we walked. Finally we reached the top and found a nice big tree to sit by and we called for a while. It was about 70 yards away from us and we still couldn't really see it. Then it started walking right to us and when it got about 25 yards away I shot it. It flew a couple of yards then stopped. We brought it down to my house and my mom took a bunch of pictures and then we checked it in. It had a 4 1/2 inch beard and weighed 18 pounds. Then we took it to the taxidermist to get mounted.
Kyle Gatrell 12 years old

By William Paynter

It was Sunday of Youth turkey season and the first time I had been turkey hunting. It was on my grandpa's farm. In the morning we had only seen three jakes but I didn't have a shot because there tree was in the way and the decoy scared them off. We then walked to the middle of a field . We saw the bird two hundred yards away. Larry thought it would be a waste of time because it would see us and take off. We laid down, Larry held up the decoy, and my grandpa called him in to about thirty yards. I shot it as soon as it broke strut and lifted his head up. It went down instantly and that is how I got my first turkey.

William Paynter

His age is 12 and this was his first turkey - 5 inch beard 20 pounds
He shot on his great grandparents farm April 22nd 2007 at about 8:00 am.