# Nephews 1st hunting experience



## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

I finally got my nephews out for a hunt (14&15 yrs old). For years I've been wanted to take them turkey hunting but our schedules never aligned. With the availability of the apprentice licenses we were able to get them tags without them having to go through hunters safety courses first. The day before I dropped off a bunch of camo for them and their dad and we made plans for me to pick them up at 5am.

The four of us crammed into a 4x6 box blind I built for my dad, it was tight but it was the only way I could conceal all of us. At daybreak, the woods began to come alive with the sounds of geese, ducks, sandhills, distant gobblers, crows and owls. I'm sure this was a first for all of them to experience. A group of hens pitched down into the field in front of us about 80 yards away with 4 jakes and eventually 1 big tom strutted into the field. The tom faced us for a few seconds but then turned his attention to the group of hens feeding towards the nearest treeline, still 80 yards away. We watched the birds work for about an hour and had a deer come in and investigate my decoys, which was the first time they had every seen a deer this close. Eventually the tom worked it's way out of the picture and they boys were hoping the jakes would come close enough for a shot. Once I knew they were okay with shooting jakes, I started to calling to them and they were receptive. They began working their way towards my decoys then they committed and I coached my nephew to get into position for a shot. The boys did rock/paper/scissors on the ride to the property to see who gets first shot and we talked through what we would do if we got an opportunity at a 2nd bird...well its a good thing we talked through it because that's exactly how things played out. My younger nephew made a perfect head shot on the closest jake, then put the safety on and handed the 20 ga to my other nephew who also made a great shot on a confused jake. The boys and their dad were so pumped! My sister sent me a text later that evening saying how the boys and their dad talked about their hunt all day. Their dad called it a rite of passage for them. This was their first experience hunting anything and I know I opened their eyes to a whole new world for them. When they were really young I introduced them to fishing and they can't get enough. I'm hoping this hunting experience will also lead to them spending more time in the outdoors and open more doors for opportunities to create memories and share similar experiences with family and friends. I bragged to them how my first two turkeys were jakes and they accomplished something I did in my 20's and they are so much younger. Selfishly I loved this experience more then they did and I know they look at me as if I were 11 ft tall. I am very thankful for the apprentice license system, without it, we would not have hunted this year. There is NOTHING like being apart of a hunt where a newbie is successful. For me, this is what hunting is all about!


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## retired dundo (Jul 21, 2015)

Congrats to the boys I bet I know who there favorite uncle is.Mount the fans for them .I think jake fans look nicer than toms.I bet in the fall they will want to deer hunt.it is great of you getting them into out doors.


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## Flight of the arrow (Feb 11, 2008)

It’s all about family, I’m sure uncle thill is the greatest uncle ever right about now. Some of my favorite memories are when someone else pulled the trigger! Congratulations to you and the boys on a successful hunt !
Flight


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## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

Flight of the arrow said:


> It’s all about family, I’m sure uncle thill is the greatest uncle ever right about now. Some of my favorite memories are when someone else pulled the trigger! Congratulations to you and the boys on a successful hunt !
> Flight


Your turkey tote came in very handy! I might need to buy two more for the new hunters in our family. Thanks again!


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## kirkt (Oct 8, 2014)

Wow what a great story and the incredible pictures of some very big smiles on them speaks volumes. Thanks for setting the uncle bar so high well done by all congrats to you all for some amazing memories you got now 

Sent from my SM-G996U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## old graybeard (Jan 19, 2006)

Awesome hunt. One that you will all relive over and over. Congrats!


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## Plumbgranny (Dec 26, 2010)

Great Job, Thill!

You gave those boys a great head-start. I'm sure they could learn on their own and there is something to be said for that, but a "kick start" early on sets them up for a great outdoor life (IMHO).

Home run!


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## Supa Roosta (Jul 1, 2003)

How Cool!
The smiles on their faces say's it all!
I'd bet you weren't hiding back your pearly whites either!!😁


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