Thought I was done for the year until today.

[WhitewaterDuck]

Leaving work today, I noticed on my phone that Wyoming extended its turkey season through the end of May...another reason to love this place.
I drove by a close-to-town spot, spotted a Tom in the cottonwood river bottom, hauled it to the house, and grabbed my oldest boy for his first turkey hunt and possibly his first time ever pulling the trigger on a shotgun. He is mean medicine on the grasshoppers from distance with his Red Ryder, so I put a two dot rear sight on his vent-rib and told him to line it up just like with his BB gun and squeeze. We got set up just in time to get pelted by a thunderstorm that blew up right over us...bunch of rain and pea sized hail. Holleman was wet and miserable and wanted to leave. Sun broke, winds remained at 30+ with higher gusts. I ask him if he wants to make a move or go home, and he says "lets go try to get them." We made a move on the birds down the creek bottom, as they wouldn't have heard an air horn from 200 in that wind. We ease up to a downed tree, and I tell Holleman, "stand up and be ready to shoot if they haven't seen us and are still there." He eases up and straight back down..."he's right there!" I say, "OK, stand up and shoot him at the base of his neck." He eases up, with gun up and I see the top of birds head as he catches movement..."boom!" Bird cuts a flip, and that little Ithaca 28 sat my boy, who was not expecting the back-end of TSS and did not have a steady wide base, down in a hurry. Studly bird going on the wall. Proud my boy stuck with it in pretty miserable and cold conditions; he just asked me if we could buy another license...told him we were going to have to go after the collard doves, because we were done with Turkeys this year. He has been hesitant to go hunting with a real gun...he is now flat out hooked. Glad he shoots better than dad.

My 6yo wants to go tomorrow, and my wife wants to go this weekend, so maybe two more bonus Gobblers before the fat lady sings.

;;;