This week is a school holiday in MN so my son Theo was home. Last night I asked if he was interested in going turkey hunting with me. Dumb question! He set his alarm for 5:45 AM and was in my room ready to go at 5:30 AM! Just like me, Theo doesn't need an alarm to wake him up to go hunting! This is my 4th season hunting turkey and I have yet to shoot a bird. I've shot at one and missed which was a very humbling experience! My previous 3 seasons have been in the spring calling in gobblers; this is my first fall season and the tactics are very different. My plan was simple: set up the double-bull blind between the roosting trees and the bean field and ambush one unlucky turkey!

We arrived to the field about 6:30 this morning. First light is at 7:00 AM but with the full moon it was already very bright out. We got our gear together and made the 200 yard trek to where I wanted to set up. I knew the general area wanted to be in and as we approached I saw the perfect location. We set up
the blind and load everything inside. As I went to set up my decoys a turkey flushed from the tree behind our blind. Not good. A minute later, 4-5 more bird left a different tree on the other side of the blind. Really not good. I was bummed out because those were my birds and the odds of them coming back anytime
soon are probably not great.

At about 8 AM Theo's patience had about worn out. He suggested we convert to goose hunting as a large flock of geese flew over. We both could hear turkeys across the field so we knew there were some on the property. We decided to walk around the outer edge of the property and see if we could break up a group (gaggle?) of turkeys and call them back in.

We had a great walk...saw lots of deer trails and a pretty good scrap. We hit a fence line at the edge of the property and walked down a plush grass trail about 6' wide. The occasional downed tree forced us into the woods but we walked the trail for about 200 yards. There’s a nice draw and water to our left
and an open field on our right; I’ve seen deer and turkey in both places before so I knew I needed to be ready. As we approached a downed tree about 15 yards ahead of us I noticed a rustle in the brush. I was thinking it could be a coyote, skunk, raccoon, or even a possum. Next thing I know a big turkey flushes straight up like a Minnesota grouse. I shot the bird when it was about 15’ in the air. It went down hard into some brush. I ran up to it not knowing how well I had hit it and heard it flopping. I pounced on the bird as it flopped around but he wasn’t going anywhere! I picked up and ran over to my son Theo who was almost as excited as I was. I remember telling him “it took me four years and I finally got my first turkey!”. High-fives and hugs went on for about 5 minutes. We snapped a couple of pictures with the cell phone and headed back to camp.

We retold each other the story of how it happened about 10 times before we made it back to our blind for some more pictures. We packed up our gear and headed for home. I had sent the cell phone picture to my wife and a few friends so it wasn’t long before the phone started ringing. We registered the bird at the local Holiday gas station and made our way home to show our bounty to my wife and sons Will & Aaron. After a few additional photos it was off to work for me! Work, of course, included cleaning my turkey, telling everyone in the office the whole story, and writing this blog! It’s not bad work if you can get it!

Those who know me well know I’ve worked pretty hard for this day. I’ve hunted with shotgun and bow every season I could for the past 3 yrs. I taught myself how to use a mouth call. I’ve put countless hours in field trying to whack one of these monster birds. I think the amount of effort it took to get here makes it all the more rewarding.

When I first started turkey hunting I heard Babe Winkelman on the radio talking about a turkey hunt he had been on. He said “The first time you hunt turkey is for the adventure, every time after that it’s for revenge!”. He’s right, and revenge is sweet!

I love this photo of Theo and my bird because my next mission will be to help him get his first turkey!

As always, I owe a very special thank you to my beautiful wife that tolerates my hunting obsession! Thanks Kristin!

-MJP

Here's the raw data:

Eastern Turkey

9" Beard

19#

3/4" Spurs

Harvested 10/16 @ 8:15 AM

Prior Lake, MN.

Minnesota Muskie, 50", 23" girth, approx 30#

Sorry for the ALL CAPS title but as you can imagine I'm a little excited. Yesterday morning I took a client out for his first ever muskie experience. We fish about 5 miles south of my house on Lake Minnetonka in MN. I was fishing a top-water bait, Joe Bucher's Topraider (Orange/Black). This is the first summer I've ever seriously fished for muskie and I have to tell you I'm totally addicted! Check out that fish and you'll understand why. The last 3 times I've been out we've see several fish over 50" and boated one that was 51.5". This lake was stocked with muskie in the mid 80's so having large fish in great numbers is new and exciting. If you've never fished for muskie, I suggest you do it....it's like fresh-water tarpin....probably one of most ornery fish found in lakes.

I don't mean to keep this so brief but I'm tired and need to go....I'm sitting a several awesome photos of albino deer that I'll try and write about in the next week or so (Albino deer). Until then, check out our new website at www.duenorthoutdoors.tv. Also, be sure to watch Rocky Geared Up on the outdoor channel. I'll be in during the Alberta Bear show which will air the 2nd to last week in October.

Thanks for reading!

-MJP