Keep on keepin on . . . . . . . .

The ups and downs of my son Jamison's last two years of deer hunting has came down to this,a nice fat doe 40 yards away broadside.

The 2009 youth deer season was not good to him.The first day he had scout activities and that evening he got sick and could not hunt the next day.Altho his older brother Josh and I saw several deer that next day we went home empty handed,due to rookie mistakes that everyone must learn. Even with me coaching him along he missed an opportunity at a deer 10 FEET away from him.It happens.....

November came around and brought with it colder than average temps.Our first morning on stand we saw some does that never gave him a good shot.The morning ended with my son Josh killing his first antlered buck an 8 point.Jamison and I hunted hard for the next two days with no dead deer to show for our efforts.

Second season brought him one chance to kill a deer,a nice one,but him thinking he was an LAPD sniper left us caught with our pants down.

We were sitting between some round bales of hay in the middle of a cow pasture and he was not so sure of the spot that I had chosen for us. I had never hunted right here,nor seen any deer here,but I had a gut feeling this was the spot. In between the hay bales James could not see anything so he was laying on top of a bale trying to convince me that he can shoot from this position. While I'm trying to tell him he can not shoot from there I look over to see a 130 class 8 point buck standing 50 yards away LOOKING AT US ! ! ! !

James is afraid the deer will see him,I'm telling him SHOOT,and a bad case of buck fever result in a clean miss.That evening we have several deer come into the small field we were watching,but his again resulted in no dead deer.

The 2010 youth season ended with us putting a stalk on a field full of deer that contained 4 antlered bucks,two of them being huge,but a flock of wood ducks in a creek gave away our intentions and we were still 50 yards from a shot.

Fast forward to the last day or the 2010 first gun season. Josh and Cody had both killed a deer,Jamison is really feeling the pressure. He and I were sitting on a ridge overlooking a pasture that was covered in deer tracks.

We sat until 10:00,watching squirrels chasing each other up and down a tree,and gathering hickory nuts for the winter,and a flock of long beards searching for something to eat,but had not seen a deer.We decide to sneak to the other side of the property to finish out the mornings hunt.We had been on our feet for less than two minutes and a doe jumps the fence 40 yards in front of us and she has a buck hot on her tail. I whisper to him "Wait till he moves out of the brush and shoot". The doe takes a few steps and he shoots,at the doe and misses ! Thats when he saw the buck,and I could see that he was holding back tears. We double time it to the edge of the field and see the buck,a tall wide 8 point, standing on a pond dam 90 yards away. Jamison says that he knows the shot is to far for him to take,so he tries to get me to shoot.While the thought went thru my mind tow things keep me from pulling the trigger,one a small bush,two Jamisons feelings. Finally the doe took off across the field and the buck was right on her tail.A few seconds after they entered the woods three shots rang out.

Two weeks later during the second Illinois gun season it was the same old story.We were on a different property,loaded with deer but Jamison can not connect with one. We are seeing an average of 15 deer a day,most all of them are kill able to an experienced hunter,but I want him to learn to take only shots he knows he can make.

Several close calls and a few missed shots over the last two days James is at the end of his rope.He wants to kill a deer bad and is very discouraged.I have worked my butt off trying to get him a deer. We are sitting from daylight till dark,only taking a break at the truck long enough to eat lunch then right back into the woods. We we have a new set up now, a ground blind wedged between two large cedar trees and covered in cedar limbs in an area that has a LOT of deer traffic.He whiffed on a 30 yard shot that evening and he is feeling low.He tells me he is really thinking that deer hunting is not for him.

On the hour drive home I tell him that due to our new spot,and all the sign in the area that there is no way that he wont connect the next day,remember what Joe Dirt said "Ya got to keep on keepin on ".

The next morning brings 20 mph wind,and 20 degree temps. We are sitting a hundred feet into an over grown pasture.There is a draw that is 40 yards wide and several hundred yards long.Over the last 3 days wee have seen deer on either end of this draw and we are now sitting right in the middle of it in our very well hidden ground blind. The area is low enough that it is protecting us,and the deer,from the wind. We are armed with a back pack full of snacks and lunch,so we would not have to leave,and a Mr. Buddy heater borrowed from my friend Bob.

Soon after day light James spotted 3 deer making their way up the draw.In just a minute they will be right in front of us.They slowly make their way to us and end up right in front of our position 40 yards away,and the best part is they have no clue we are in the world. The worst part of this is they are in the brush offering NO SHOT ! After a little convincing on my part Jamison lets the deer pass by.

An hour or so later we are sitting in our blind whispering back and fourth to each other I look up and see a nice fat doe standing broadside 40 yards away.There is nothing in the way,so he raises his gun. I coach him thru it,tell him to stay calm,dont rush the shot when you feel good squeeze the trigger. At the shot the deer goes down in its tracks.The celebration had already began.Hugs and high fives,screaming and yelling. We go over to the deer and find the shot just a bit high and a follow up shot later,Jamison had his first deer.

It had been two long years for him,and me.There were lows and then there were lows. I have sat by my oldest son,Josh, when he pulled the trigger on several deer.I have killed some very respectable deer myself,but I was more proud that day of Jamisons deer than I had been of any of them. We worked and worked for this deer. If you want to feel a since of accomplishment take a kid hunting,and dont give up.

Just in time for coffee................

For the first time in several years I actually remembered to apply for a spring turkey permit. In December all I have on my mind is killing ducks,not chasing toms.I was surprised to see mail from IDNR and opened it to find my first choice,Jackson county first season.

Alot of my favorite hunting areas were destroyed in the May '08 storm so I was gonna have to do a little more scouting than I normally would. Two weeks ago Jamison,Josh,and myself scouted an area that I had deer hunted before and had always wanted to turkey hunt,so we spent the better part of a Sunday looking at areas that I thought looked good in the past. After our 4 mile hike we saw several hens,alot of turkey sign and brought back SEVERAL beer cans. Even though we saw a few other trucks parked in the area I would probably hunt here for at least a few mornings.I do have another farm that I can hunt that always has a few birds there so I did have a back up plan.Even though I had a plan B I always like to have several options when it comes to hunting.

April 2..............

I had plans all day to squeeze in some scouting ,but since my wife and I have been working opposite schedules,I hung out at the house for the most part of the day and didn't leave myself alot of time. My original plan was for Mason and I to just walk down the road in one of my favorite hunting areas,but the sun was low in the west so I decided to go somewhere a little closer to home.

Five minutes later we were in the parking area and could hear atleast 2 gobbling .Checking the sign in box,no one was on there during the youth season so I have high hopes. Down into the woods we went. We had reached a field and what sounded like a big tom was hammering REAL close to where we were.After a short sneak down a holler and up a ridge there he was,a nice tom gobbling every time a crow called. Mason took his gun out of his pocket and went "BANG BANG" " I got him daddy." Mr Turkey didnt really like that or the white and red Handy Manny hat Mason had on so he went down the ridge into the next holler.After we walked around for a few more minutes Mason was ready to go home.

April 3.........

After a long day at the St. Louis Zoo we were home and I was off to the woods with about 2 hours of day light left.The plan. . . . to roost a turkey for the next morning,the problem. . . . 40 mph winds and 50 mph gusts. My thoughts are that if I do actually hear a turkey,chances are that with the wind he may be blown into the next county by morning.

Off I go to another area that I have been to once last fall squirrel hunting that looked promising. With a mile hike to the place I wanted to start looking and a crow call in my hand I'm off. About half way from where I wanted to be I top and take a breather and noticed a skunk !

Now Im were I want to be blowing a crow call but cant hear anything and I'm sure they cant hear me so I cross two ridges and head up a good looking ridge. I find deer hair,some bones and an arrow. 50 or so feet from there lays a 8 point deer skull !

I'm seeing fresh turkey sign with every step and I'm thinking more and more THIS is were I'm gonna be sitting in the morning.

Out of the woods and on my way to the truck I decide that i want to look on the other end of the field just to see what is over there.I make the turn to step into the other part of the field and there stands a hen ! I looked a little more and theres a gobbler ! No wait 3 gobblers ! ! ! A few hundred yards down from them are several jakes and hens for a total of 15 ! This place looks like a turkey hunters dream. A winter wheat field 70 yards wide,400 yards long and a strip of last years corn in the middle. I watched them till they flew up. I know where I'm gonna be in the morning.

On the way back to the truck I bust up another flock of aprox. 15 birds,hens,jakes,and atleast 3 long beards.I'm in heaven.

On the way home I call my brother to see if he has a full choke for an 870,or his Benelli. A few days ago I realized that I couldn't find my box of choke tubes,and could not find one for my SX2.he had one so after a quick stop at home to eat I was on my way to get his gun.

By the time I get home its 11:30 and i had another realization,now I need a hunting licence ! Not wanting to drive to the evil WalMart I bought it on line,quick and easy.Now all I have to do is find my turkey hunting gear.I rumage around and gather it all up,stuff it into a back pack,every few minutes remembering an item that was not in there.Somewhere around 12:30 I make it to bed.

The forcast for the next day is rain,lots of rain,but atleast the wind will only be 20 mph !

0500 came way to soon after a night of wind and the power flicking on and off most of the night,but I'm wide awake and ready to be in the woods,get soaked,and hopefully shoot a turkey.

I pull up in the parking area at 0520 and happy to see that I was the only one there.I slowly gathered my gear,and 2 trucks pull up.They jump out and start gathering up their gear. I walk up to them and ask where they plan to be. I'm very pleased to hear" Bub you where here first,you tell us where you are gonna be". I tell them my plan was to sit by the narrow field till at least 10 and then off into the woods. They tell me their plans and after a few "Good Luck" exchanges I'm off into the field. It is getting lighter by the step so I pick up the pace.Once I was just about in the middle of the field I looked for a place to sit. There it was,a nice big pine with brush on either side and a nice wide shooting lane.

Once my Hunters Specialties hen and jake decoy were out,I headed to my new home away from home for the next few hours.By now it's 0612,shooting time. I start to settle in. As I'm getting my calls where I want them,I think I'm as ready as I can be.At 0618 I make a facebook post,"Thunder Chickens will die today" As soon as I close my phone I hear a turkey gobble,CLOSE. Gun on my knee, Knight and Hale " Yeller Hammer" slate call in hand I give him some soft sweet talk. I pop a mouth call in just in case and wait. Calling moderately loud because of the wind,hoping the bird is not just out of view.

Just as I was thinking he was gone here he came. Walking,his beard draging the ground, 20 feet away from the woods straight to my decoys ! He closed the distance fast and just as he got up to the decoys I cut pretty loud on the mouth call wanting him to gobble........for the last time. He was not interested in preforming for me,all he seemed to care about was the jake that had a hen. 20 yards away from me he stood and looked at the impostors for a few seconds,and pecked the jake decoy on the head.The second peck was on its back and it made a hollow "THUD". Mr long beard didn't like that and started to walk back the direction he came from. Gun on my knee I have the bead on his head following him .Then the unthinkable happened.the gun barrel hit a small tree in front of me ! I almost lost it,but I calmly moved the gun around the tree,put the bead in his head,and squeezed the trigger.

The Winchester Supreme 3 1/2" #5 did its job and he dropped like a rock.0625 turkey season had been in for 13 minutes and it was over for me.When I shot 3 other birds gobbled.I walk out to my bird and it keeps getting bigger.Than never happens.I take a quick pic and send it to my wife and friends,tag him,gather up my stuff and off i go.

On the way back to the truck I saw 2 of the guys I talked to earlier.They were climbing out of their blind to see what I had. After we chatted for a few minutes I told them that there was at least 3 birds where i just left and told them to get over there and kill them.

I called my buddy Terry to see where he was working.I told him to put on some coffee.After short drive to the Ava ambulance base I pulled my bird out to show them.He handed me a cup of coffee I checked the time 0701.

April 4 2011

24 pounds

10" beard

1" suprs