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

[grampy]

Congratulations Sarah! That's a very nice turkey! You did very well and I liked the story too! You're so lucky to have a teacher/mentor like Mr. Jordan, and friends that you can enjoy hunting with. It's so awesome to have young hunters in the woods! Best of luck to you in all of your future hunting adventures!

[dmandoes]

girls rule! congrats young ladies!

[G-Man]

Congrats to the lucky hunters!! 

[mowin]

This Kayden's story.  

Me, my little brother and my Uncle Hoppy started scouting about a week before opening day. Uncle Hoppy showed us the tree him and my Dad sat under when he called in my Dad's first turkey. I wish my Dad was able to take me out for my first hunt, but he died a couple years ago. I though it would be cool to sit under the same tree  as my Dad did for my first turkey. Uncle Hoppy said if we can roost birds near that tree on Friday evening, we will sit there Saturday morning. 

We saw two toms and a couple hens Thursday afternoon not very far from that tree. That night they roosted about 100 yards from that tree. We were hoping they would roost in the same spot Friday night. But we didn't see or hear them when we scouted for them Friday. So we decided to go somewhere else Saturday morning. 

Saturday morning me and my brother were so excited. We got to the spot we were going to hunt about 4:45am I couldn't believe I was up so early. It didn't take long before the turkeys started gobbling on roost. There were a bunch off to our left and one way off to our right. We could see some toms to our left fly down. Uncle Hoppy was calling and they were gobbling back but the hens went into another field and the toms followed the hens. The tom off to our right was getting closer. Uncle Hoppy had me move so I was facing the right way. I couldn't believe how loud the gobbles were as he got closer. He was just over the hill when we could hear a hen calling from the same area. His gobbles got farther and farther away as he followed the hen.

We checked a few other places but didn't hear anything. I was frustrated but Uncle Hoppy explained we have to be patient and hunt hard and keep focused, and we will try again tomorrow morning.

On our way out we drove by the area where my dad's tree is. We were excited to see two toms in strut and a couple hens not far from my Dad's  tree. It was almost  11:30am so we were almost out of time for the day. So we were hoping the birds would be roosting nearby that night, and they did. YES!

We got under my Dad's tree very early Sunday morning as the toms were roosted about 80 yards away. We saw them on roost strutting and gobbling. Uncle Hoppy used tree yelps to get them excited. They were gobbling their heads off.  When  they flew down we couldn't  see them because they were on the other side of the knoll. I was breathing hard so Uncle Hoppy helped me calm down. I really started shaking when I finally saw him. He was strutting and drumming and gobbling. Uncle Hoppy kept telling me to wait because the tom was still too far out. He finally came in to about 30 yards and Uncle Hoppy told me to shoot....so I did. At the shot, he dropped, but quickly got up and flew down the field. We could see him fall out of the air into the lower  field. We walked down and the tom needed a finishing shot. I had gotten my first bird sitting under the same tree as my Dad did many years ago and I used the same shotgun as my Dad used for his first bird. 

[grampy]

What a beautiful first bird you got Kayden! Congratulations! You did an awesome job with Uncle Hoppy! And I'm sure, your Dad is so proud of you. And I'm also sure, he was sitting under that tree, right along side of you. God bless you and keep you safe, through all of your hunting adventures to come.

[mowin]

12 minutes ago, grampy said:

What a beautiful first bird you got Kayden! Congratulations! You did an awesome job with Uncle Hoppy! And I'm sure, your Dad is so proud of you. And I'm also sure, he was sitting under that tree, right along side of you. God bless you and keep you safe, through all of your hunting adventures to come.

Thanks Grampy for the kind words.

It was very emotional for me sitting by that tree Sunday. It was just like having Adam sitting by me almost 20 yrs ago. 

Kayden's " little” brother can't wait until this fall when he can hunt. Maybe I can get him his first bird while sitting under that same tree.  

[wooly]

Man, I hope some of these kids stick around the site after this!

They write better stories than some of our senior members,lol

Congrats on all your birds so far!

[G-Man]

11 minutes ago, wooly said:

 

12 minutes ago, wooly said:

Man, I hope some of these kids stick around the site after this!

They write better stories than some of our senior members,lol

Congrats on all your birds so far!

Glad they are writing the stories.. Always better from the hunters point of view!

[letinmfly]

I can tell you that myself and the other two judges are going to have a hard time deciding on the winner so far.  Great stories and pics thus far!! 

The deadline is tomorrow night at midnight so if there are any other entries please make sure you get them in before the deadline.  Congrats to the successful hunters and their mentors!!  Great job everyone!!

[mowin]

When I was 13-14, my story would have been... Bird came in. I shot.  Got him... Lol.

I know Kayden is still on cloud nine.

His grandfather called me earlier, saying he couldn't get a word in without Kayden cutting him off.   

I know these kids are hooked.  You can tell how happy and proud they are of their accomplishments.  

 

[letinmfly]

I would like to congratulate the youth hunters and their mentors on a job well done.  Thanks to the mentors for taking the time for bringing a kid out hunting and passing on the spirit if this great sport.  Also for taking them away from their smart phones for a few hours.  Lol

I know I speak for all three of the judges that this year was the hardest for us to decide on a winner being that the three stories submitted were superb.  I would like to thank Hunting NY for allowing me to hold this contest once again this year and thank you to the members who donated prizes. 

I will need the addresses of the three contestants so that I can mail out your prizes which will be mailed out the end of next week.

Here are the final results of this year's contest....

Winner- Kayden

2nd place- Haley

3rd place- Sarah

[wooly]

Congrats to all the successful hunter and their mentors.

Great job getting out there together to the teams who didn't connect as well.

The stories and pics were super again this year!

Bravo to you too Lou for putting it all together once again!

[mowin]

Letinmfly, 

Thanks so much for taking your time to put this contest on. Thanks to everyone who helped with judging and prizes.

Your dedication to our youth hunters is evident. Congrats to all the youth hunters this yr that we're successful. 

I'll let Kayden know the good news after school.  I don't want to text him while he at school. He did call me before he got on the bus to see if he won.. lol.  He's going to be very excited.  

Thanks to all the mentors who took the time to take a youth hunting. They are the future of our sport.  

 

Edited April 28, 2017 by mowin

[grampy]

I really enjoyed following this thread! Congratulations to the prize winners!!! All the stories were so great! Glad I didn't have to pick the winners! Also, I think the winners were everyone who participated! Young hunters, mentors, judges, contributors, letinmfly, the site mods. All did their part to make this an outstanding event!

[Christine]

2 hours ago, letinmfly said:

I would like to congratulate the youth hunters and their mentors on a job well done.  Thanks to the mentors for taking the time for bringing a kid out hunting and passing on the spirit if this great sport.  Also for taking them away from their smart phones for a few hours.  Lol

I know I speak for all three of the judges that this year was the hardest for us to decide on a winner being that the three stories submitted were superb.  I would like to thank Hunting NY for allowing me to hold this contest once again this year and thank you to the members who donated prizes. 

I will need the addresses of the three contestants so that I can mail out your prizes which will be mailed out the end of next week.

Here are the final results of this year's contest....

Winner- Kayden

2nd place- Haley

3rd place- Sarah

How do you want us to give you the address?

 

[wooly]

20 minutes ago, Christine said:

How do you want us to give you the address?

 

I'm sure Lou (letinmfly) will be sending you a message here soon to get your contact info.

Keep an eye on your personal message notifications.

[moog5050]

Good reads.  Congrats to all the youth hunters and mentors! You win just by getting out there.  The prize is just an extra bonus!

[G-Man]

Just wondering what prizes when where....

[letinmfly]

48 minutes ago, G-Man said:

Just wondering what prizes when where....

Most of the prizes were pictured already and in another post I mentioned that they will be mailed at the end of this week.  I'm up hunting and I won't be home till Thursday night.  

[WNYBuckHunter]

On 4/28/2017 at 8:46 AM, letinmfly said:

I would like to congratulate the youth hunters and their mentors on a job well done.  Thanks to the mentors for taking the time for bringing a kid out hunting and passing on the spirit if this great sport.  Also for taking them away from their smart phones for a few hours.  Lol

I know I speak for all three of the judges that this year was the hardest for us to decide on a winner being that the three stories submitted were superb.  I would like to thank Hunting NY for allowing me to hold this contest once again this year and thank you to the members who donated prizes. 

I will need the addresses of the three contestants so that I can mail out your prizes which will be mailed out the end of next week.

Here are the final results of this year's contest....

Winner- Kayden

2nd place- Haley

3rd place- Sarah

Congrats to the winners! I will text Haley to let her know, as Im in Florida for work this week! Thanks to letnmfly and the other judges for putting on a great contest, and thanks to those that donated prizes!

[letinmfly]

Prizes have been mailed out.  Make sure you post up a pic of the youths with their prizes.  

[mowin]

On 5/5/2017 at 0:32 PM, letinmfly said:

Prizes have been mailed out.  Make sure you post up a pic of the youths with their prizes.  

Package received.  Kayden will be excited. Not sure if him mom is going to be so excited as he learns how to play those calls. Lol

[WNYBuckHunter]

Haleys package came a couple of days ago. Just waiting for her to be home with me this weekend so she can open it up. Shes very excited!

[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

Thank you so much for the prizes! I love them all! Sarah