2017 Youth Spring Turkey Hunt Contest Official Thread-Deadline is April 27

[letinmfly]

Once again this year I will be running the youth spring turkey hunt contest, with the help of Paula and Wooly as judges.  If any of the members take a youth out and they are successful please take the time to participate in the contest.  Lets grow this contest and get the youngsters involved!! 

 

This thread will serve as the official rules and entry thread for the youth hunt.  This year there will be three judges... Wooly, Paula and myself.  We will judge the contestants based on the following rules...

 

1. The youth hunter or mentor must submit a picture of the youth or of the two of them with their harvest.

2. A brief story of the hunt, preferably written by the youth, must be submitted.

3. You must post both your picture and story on this thread only!!! PLEASE DO NOT START ANOTHER THREAD FOR THE CONTEST ENTRY!!

4. The deadline for submitting your entry is 12:00am ( midnight ) on April 27.  So if you harvest a bird make sure to enter it on this thread before then!!

 

The winner will be chosen based on a combination of best picture and story submitted.  The size of the bird WILL NOT be taken into account, although we encourage that you post the birds stats.  As far as the judges are concerned all birds harvested are a trophy!!

 

There will be some great prizes given away this year and we wish everyone a safe and successful hunt!!!

 

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!

 

 

This contest is not run by HuntingNY.com

[letinmfly]

If any members wish to donate a prize or prizes for the contest please PM me.  I am posting this thread a little early cause I am having shoulder surgery next week and typing with one hand is gonna be a little rough.  Lol

[grampy]

PM sent.......

[letinmfly]

PM answered grampy.  Thanks

[letinmfly]

I would like to thank grampy and The_Real_TCIII for donating to the youth contest.   Grampy will be donating a Bass Pro gift card and TC will be donating a knife.   I also contacted my good friend Al Shoemaker of SS Custom Calls and he will be donating a box call again for this year's contest.  I have some calls that will be adding as prizes.

If anyone wants to donate please PM me.

[reeltime]

is this for ny state only?

 

[letinmfly]

13 minutes ago, reeltime said:

is this for ny state only?

 

Yes for NY only. 

[Paula]

That's great you guys!

[letinmfly]

So who's taking a kid out for the youth hunt? 

[grampy]

I'll be taking my soon to be 13 year old grandson, and possibly a co-worker and his 14 year old daughter.  Just have not been seeing or hearing many birds on our farm property so far. But there are some. Added challenge I guess!

[G-Man]

I expect I'll get asked by someone last minute.. Nephews are to old this year.. 

[turkeyfeathers]

Already have that weekend off on work schedule. Looking forward to getting Samantha out there again for her 2nd youth season. No bird got a headache last year but we definitely had some fun playing with a few. Dad just couldn't get those 2 long beards across the field and drag all their hens with them lol.


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[The_Real_TCIII]

I'll be out with one of my daughters, the other hasn't snuck a course in yet. Can't wait!

[f3cbboy]

i'll be bringing out the boy.  first youth hunt that i am off for the whole weekend.  He is 14 this year.  I am so hoping he gets a shot,  last year was a heartbreaker, he missed at less than 10 yards....very excited to be able to go out all weekend if needed!

[Adkhunter1590]

I'll be out there with j-Mark and his son. Flock behind the house is looking good with quite a few big gobblers to choose from. Been seeing a decent amount of them around the area too. Should be prime time for youth season! This is j-marks sons first time hunting so it should be a awesome time regardless!

[Shadd Rapp]

I'll be out with my nephew. It's his first year of hunting. I'm hoping to get him one!


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[letinmfly]

The hat and knife were donated by The_Real_TCII and the $30 gift card was donated by grampy.  Big thanks to both of you!!

[mowin]

Taking my nephews boys out. Only one is old enough to hunt this spring tho.  We're going to sit under the same tree his dad and I sat under for his first bird many years ago. There dad passed away 4yrs ago, and kayden is excited to use the same shotgun his dad used.  I'm sure Adam will be looking down at his boys, and be proud their continuing the hunting tradition.  

Good luck to all the youth hunters this weekend.  And thanks to all the dad's, uncles, mentors ect, that take these kids out.  

[The_Real_TCIII]

Emma and I went out to my friends to shoot tonight, he's got a sweet little 20ga that he setup for his grandsons that he's letting her use. She's leery of the kick so we just had her shoot low brass field loads.


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[letinmfly]

Big thanks to wooly for donating a Wildgame trail cam for the contest. 

The first pic is of some of the calls I am donating for the contest.  I am also waiting for a boxcall donated by SS Calls. 

 

Edited April 18, 2017 by letinmfly

[grampy]

What a great weekend for all the youth hunters! And some very nice birds taken! Congratulations! 

Zac didn't get a bird this weekend, but we definitely had fun trying!

[WNYBuckHunter]

Here is Haleys entry. Written by her. 

On Saturday, April 22 2017, my Dad and I woke up really early and in the beginning of the hunt, I was very tired and grumpy because at first, I was not really in the mood to go. When we got to the blind I set up the chairs and got comfortable and started to get excited. I was thinking that maybe if I was lucky I could get a nice Jake, but I never thought that I would get the opportunity to harvest a Tom. Shortly after we got settled in we heard some turkeys gobbling off of their roost. As I listened for some gobbles, I began to get very excited. About a half hour after the sun had rose, there were more, but quieter gobbles that we heard. I was getting really pumped and kind of nervous. My Dad and I sat there for a while until the big moment. My Dad lightly tapped my shoulder and said that there was a Tom or a Jake over in the brush across the field. That was when I started to get nervous. We soon saw that the turkey was a Tom and a pretty big one. The Tom went back into the brush and I began to think that he got spooked or something. Until he strutted out of the brush about ten-yards away from where we had first spotted him. As he strutted out, a hen soon followed out of the brush and he was watching her and our decoys (a Jake and a hen). Soon after that, he started to strut out onto the field heading towards our decoys. That was when I began to get really nervous. I was shaking a very nervous about if I would miss him or not. Eventually he came into the area where I could get a good shot and when he was in a good position, I shot him. I will never forgot when I pulled the trigger and a few seconds later seeing my Dad celebrating and repeating “You got him! You got him!”. All in all, this was the first time that I hunted, and harvested an animal and I will never forget it. This was a pretty much perfect hunt and I will never forget my first turkey.

[grampy]

What an awesome story Haley! You really did great! Congratulations! That is a great Tom right there! Your Dad is so proud of you I'm sure. Me, and I bet a lot of people from this hunting site are sending you a BIG High Five! 

[Christine]

On ‎3‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 9:13 PM, letinmfly said:

Once again this year I will be running the youth spring turkey hunt contest, with the help of Paula and Wooly as judges.  If any of the members take a youth out and they are successful please take the time to participate in the contest.  Lets grow this contest and get the youngsters involved!! 

 

This thread will serve as the official rules and entry thread for the youth hunt.  This year there will be three judges... Wooly, Paula and myself.  We will judge the contestants based on the following rules...

 

1. The youth hunter or mentor must submit a picture of the youth or of the two of them with their harvest.

2. A brief story of the hunt, preferably written by the youth, must be submitted.

3. You must post both your picture and story on this thread only!!! PLEASE DO NOT START ANOTHER THREAD FOR THE CONTEST ENTRY!!

4. The deadline for submitting your entry is 12:00am ( midnight ) on April 27.  So if you harvest a bird make sure to enter it on this thread before then!!

 

The winner will be chosen based on a combination of best picture and story submitted.  The size of the bird WILL NOT be taken into account, although we encourage that you post the birds stats.  As far as the judges are concerned all birds harvested are a trophy!!

 

There will be some great prizes given away this year and we wish everyone a safe and successful hunt!!!

 

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!

 

 

This contest is not run by HuntingNY.com

 

 

My_First_Turkey.rtf

Edited April 25, 2017 by Christine

[Christine]

My First Turkey

Thanks to my science teacher Mr. Scott Jordan, I had the wonderful opportunity to hunt with his amazing friends Mark and his son Dan. They are amazing callers who helped me to get my first turkey this year, but my story doesnt start there.

Last year, Mr. Jordan offered to take me turkey hunting. I was nervous since this would be my first time ever hunting, but I said yes. when he told me he would be at my house at about 3AM, I was very shocked, especially since I usually sleep in whenever I can, but I got up anyway. All I really knew at that point was that I was going somewhere in Allegany with one of Mr. Jordan's friends while my friend Chloe, who also went with us, went with the other. Dan took me to a different place then my friend, Mark, and Mr. Jordan were going. Once we got there, we walked for a while to the top of a hill and waited until sunrise. We found out that Chloe had shot a monster bird, and that another one was responding to Mark. Dan sped me to that hill to try and get it.  We made it up the hill just in time. I didn't know what to do, so I just followed my teacher to a large tree and waited. I was a nervous wreck, and was saking so badly that I was sure I was going to be seen, but the bird kept coming. when I saw it I aimed and took a shot. And missed. Because of my excitment, I hadn't lined the sights correctly. I was  heartbroken, as we all climbed back down the hill. We didnt hear another bird that day, but Dan had offered to take me out again the next day and I went. I missed again the next day, and as feeling horrible. If it wasn't for Dan and his stories, I probably would've lost my confidence completely. Mr. Jordan took me out a few days in the mornings before school, but we saw nothing. This meant I was top on his list for the next year(which is this year).

This year, opening day, Mr. Jordan took me out again, this time with Mark, and another one of my friends, Ryan(Dan was unable to make it). We all followed Mark to a hill. He had been calling there every night for about a week or so just to make sure he knew where the biggest and most willing birds were. He's very committed. We all trekked up the huge hill and waited again for sunrise. I had been sleeping when all of a sudden, Mark made a call, and imediately after, a turkey responded. I remember thinking, "That is my bird." I have no clue if the turkey that responded was the bird I shot because there were about 5 others answering him. I was rushed to a large tree where I waited. Dan was using two calls at once. I was a lot more confident this year. I kept thinking, "If I can drop a deer, I can kill a turkey. I mean, third times the charm right?" The turkey was continuously getting closer, but when I saw a little blue head pop out from behind a tree, and disappear again, I realized, "Oh man, this bird is here!" I shifted to a better position when it went behind the tree. My teacher kept asking if I could see it, of course I couldn't. That's how it always seems to work, everyone can see it except the shooter, but then, the blue head popped out. I waited for it to stop moving and I shot. "You got him!" my teacher said. I didn't hesitate, I placed the gun on the ground and started sprinting after it. On the way, I threw the backpack I was wearing on the ground because it was slowing me down. I finally got to the bird and stomped on its neck because that's what my friend Chloe said she did. When Mr. Jordan got there, he asked me what I was doing as I stomped its neck a few more times. He stopped me and grabbed the bird by the neck and eventually put it out of its misery. Ryan and Mark ran over and they all congratulated me. I was so excited, and Mr. Jordan recorded the whole thing for his show CRCS Outdoors. He interviewed me until Mark said that there was another bird responding to his calls. They had to set up Ryan and try to get one for him. Unfortunately, nothing came, even after we travelled around. We set off to get my bird weighed and signed up for a contest. I had a 20lb bird. It had a missing spur, and that was going to hurt my score for the contest, but I didn't care. The turkey was my unique trophy, and it was good enough for me. We all went back to my house where my mom and grandparents were waiting to see. Sadly, my turkey was gone pretty quickly because Mr. Jordan butchered him up for me, but now I have turkey feet on my kitchen counter, wings in my garage, and a tail in my basement.

 

By Sarah Cole age 14