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

What's a FARSMBIBT? I'm glad you asked....it was the First Annual Ron Schara Minnesota Bound Invitational Bass Tournament held August 1-2 on Gull Lake in MN. The event included over 45 professional bass anglers and raised funds for the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame. On Thursday evening Ron Schara hosted a dinner in honor of the MN hall of famers and the who's who of fishing showed up. They were met by my kids and many others for autographs and photos. Where else can you rub elbows with the likes of the Lindners, Mr. Walleye Gary Roach, Dave Genz and of course, Ron Schara?!!

Here's a nice picture of my boys meeting Gary Roach. And I know you're interested in some inside information so here's a nugget. Gary Roach will be featured on Season 2 of Legends of Rod & Reel.

We had a chance to catch some nice fish on Gull Lake while the tournament was going on. We hung out with Travis Frank from www.trophyencounters.com and caught some nice bass (sorry tournament anglers!) and a bunch of nice blue gills. Great fun was had by all of us! Here's a shot of Aaron with his first blue gill!

You know when you're a member of the MN Fishing HOF like Ron Schara, you can't pass up a chance to fish. He's Ron at the trout pond and in true legend form, he was one of the few to actually catch one!

I took my 9 yr old son Theo out with a guide last week, Travis Frank from Trophy Encounters in the Minneapolis area. www.trophyecounters.com.

Our trip was planned on short notice; I didn't tell Theo until we were in the car on the way to the lake around 5:00 PM. Needless to say when I told him we were going out with Travis to chase big walleyes and bass, he was pretty excited. Theo sat in Travis' boat several weeks ago while it was trailered at a local sporting goods store so he knew that we were about to be treated to a first-class experience! 

We eventually made it to the marina and Travis was ready to roll. He gave Theo a Ranger hat which Theo proudly wore and then it was off to our first  walleye hot-spot.

If you've ever fished with Travis you know it didn't take long for us to boat our first fish. In fact, Travis had a nice walleye hooked on the first cast but was a little cocky trying to swing it into the boat and it came off.

A few casts later travis set the hook and handed the rod to Theo. We were all pretty excited when Theo fought the fish and boated a nice 17" largemouth bass. It was the biggest bass of Theo's life by about 6"! A few casts later we caught another 15" bass followed by another 17"er...Theo had a blast reeling them in
.

 We set off for a new fishing spot that Travis new would generate more action for us....he was right! Theo hooked the largest Northern of his life (6#)!

While the walleye never really turned on that evening, Travis still managed to put Theo on his first ever walleye and me onto the largest crappie of my career...15".

As the sun set on our perfect evening of fishing it was clear that Travis had provided a fishing experience that neither father nor son would soon forget. Thanks Travis for sharing your passion for fishing and life. And to everyone else, follow Travis' lead and introduce a kid to the outdoors this weekend!

I had an opportunity to experience the Wisconsin walleye opener with legendary fisherman, Ron Schara. Despite the 35 degree weather, 44 degree water and 20 mph sustained winds, it was a memorable day!

The weekend started on Friday evening. I drove about 2.5 hrs NE of Minneapolis to a small resort near Spooner, WI., The Ike Walton Lodge on Yellow Lake. As I was introduced to the rest of the group it became apparent that this weekend was more about camaraderie and tradition than big fish and bragging rights. To be honest, bragging rights play a small part in the weekend. After a quick dinner and short trip to the casino (where I played $100 worth of blackjack and received a “free” cup of coffee in return), it was time for bed. At bedtime we had about 40 degrees with 20 mph winds and heavy rain. 6 hrs later we had 36 degrees, 20 mph winds but thankfully, no rain.

With the conditions being less than ideal, we were in no hurry to hit the water. After breakfast we headed to the landing to launch the boat. We were on the water by 7:30 AM. The NW wind wasn’t an issues for us on the north shore public access. About 1000 yards off shore is where we really felt the wind. We were dealing with 2’ swells and a steady wind….I was happy to be wearing Ron’s Arctic Ice jacket/bibs….what at awesome product! We struggled for about ½ hour trying to find a underwater island that Ron has fished in previous years. The wind and waves made it too difficult to keep our position so we opted to move to the wind-protected north shore. We were both fishing Fireball jigs (green) with fathead minnows in about 22’ of water. 10 minutes after our arrival I hooked into the first walleye of the day. I looked to the front of the boat and said, “Ron, I’ve got one on”. Apparently Ron didn’t hear me because about 10 seconds later he looked over to see my rod bent over. Neither one of us anticipated early success as we had the net stowed! I minute later Ron netted my fish and the skunk was out of our boat. I went into the day thinking it really didn’t matter whether or not I caught a fish, but one in the boat felt pretty damn good! Ron too, was happy for me. He did say, however, if I caught the second fish he'd be a little annoyed. I have proof he was joking because about 15 minutes later I boated my second fish- a 16" walleye. Ron joked "you're done...there's no party fishing in WI!".

I had my limit by noon on opening day....not a bad day's work! There were five fish caught on the first morning between seven of us so I had more than my fair share of fish.

So, what's it like to fish with Ron Schara? Awesome. Ron is a pro's pro. He's a lot of fun to be with and when he hits the water, it's all business. Not alot of talking, no music, no distractions. This is serious business. Thanks for a great experience Mr. Schara!