Tree Rats & Birds - Pennsylvania
Tree rats and a bird!
A good day of hunting!
Hunter: Dustin Krause
Cameraman: Adam Spittler
Holly and I experienced something we will never forget. Our day started off very early, we were archery hunting until 10:00 a.m. At 11:00 a.m., I was to meet Dustin Krause to take him squirrel hunting. Well I told him we will go squirrel hunting in some areas where the turkeys tend to pass through. After a couple of setups for squirrels we had no luck. They just weren’t moving. We also saw lots of turkey signs, but no turkeys. I told him it doesn’t look good for a chance at a turkey.
We decided to go try my Dad’s farm which is loaded with walnuts. We were driving down the road and I was telling Dustin how the turkeys started nesting on this property the past couple of years, but come late summer, they vanish. I haven’t seen a turkey in months on the farm so I didn’t think we would run into them now. I no sooner got done saying this and that’s when I looked to my left and I could see turkeys running in the woods. So we pulled over and got our stuff together.
As we were working our way to get setup for the turkeys, we saw some squirrels. Dustin shot 2 of them with his 17 caliber. We made our way over where we had a little cover to setup on the turkeys. After thinking of our plan, we decided I should run home for the shotgun, blind, and some turkey calls. The nice thing was we were only 175 yards from our house. I went home, got the stuff, and asked Holly if she wanted to come with. Before I finished the question Holly was in here She Safari camo and ready to go. We got our Ameristep blind setup, and I hit a few calls. It wasn’t long and a hen responded. We thought for sure they were coming right in. After a couple of minutes we could see the birds feeding off to our right. But they were in some thick stuff and a shot for Dustin was not possible. We thought the turkeys went over to the neighboring property, and figured our hunt for the turkeys was over.
After about a half hour or so, Dustin whispered to us, “There’s a turkey outside the blind”. The flock of about a dozen birds circled behind us. At this point I knew it would be tough to get the video camera in position for a shot. I told Dustin if he wanted to shoot, to go ahead. I told him I could not get setup on the birds to tape his shot. He said “That’s ok.” At this point we could hear him breathing heavy. I could tell he was really excited. Holly and I were excited just watching the intensity in Dustin eyes. He put the Nikon scope right on the base of the turkey’s neck. But the turkey would not stay still! I told Dustin I will whistle so the hen would lift her head for a perfect shot. I whistled and it worked out as planned. She stood there like a statue. This time when Dustin put the Nikon cross hairs on her neck he had the shot he wanted. He squeezed the shot off and down she went. We were all so excited in the blind. There was a lot of high fives being passed around. After celebrating a little, I thought hey I might be able to get a shot. I snuck out of the blind and was able to cut one off. We had two birds down in a matter of minutes. These were also the first turkeys ever shot on our farm!
I will remember this day as long as I live, and I’m sure Dustin and Holly will too. So if you have a chance to take a young hunter out in the woods, do it. I guarantee it’s an experience you will cherish! Thanks Dustin and Holly for a great experience. So Dustin, when are we going hunting again?
Adam Spittler