A Long Time Coming....

**David Rearick** · #1 05-21-2008, 07:41 AM

Date: May 17th, 2008

Location: Pennsylvania

Sunrise: 6:04 am

Weather: Partly Cloudy with occasional light showers

Temperature: 40-50 degrees

Wind: Light and variable

Equipment Used: Avery® Field caps, Avery® Mud Case, Avery® Sportsmans Camera Bag, Avery® Finisher Blind Bag, and Avery® Fleece Calling Gloves.

Hunters: David L. Rearick (My Dad), Zink Pro-Staffer Erik Nilsson, and Avery® Pro-Staffer David Rearick

Journal Notes:
Hunting with my father is something I grew accustomed to during my teenage years, and it was always something I looked forward to whether it be deer hunting, duck hunting, or even fishing. As years have gone by the time afield has lessened due to different work schedules, continued education on both parts, etc; so making the most of the time we do get outside of the house is important. Over the years, we have tried our best to get him his first turkey and with multiple opportunities and no shots due to various reasons, this year I made it a big priority to get him on a bird. After a long first late day hunt with no success and a work schedule on his end that didn’t allow him to get out, we set Saturday morning aside for some turkey hunting. After a weeks worth of scouting, I had located two spots holding birds consistently and after a very eventful Friday morning, I set Saturday’s plan in stone.

I invited Erik, my long time hunting partner, to go along for the morning and the three of us set out on the half mile walk in the dark to where I wanted to set-up for a good portion of the morning. After setting up the blind to help conceal us close to the field edge along with a tom and a hen decoy, we were ready to go. I put a jake tail on my full bodied tom today, as it was going to be a first come first served type of morning, seeing that my dad had never taken a turkey and was up for anything. I hoped utilizing the jake tail would make even the youngest of birds want to work in next to my hen decoy. We were plenty early and after getting comfortable, all we had to do was wait for the fog to lift and hope for the best.

As light hit the field, it was evident the birds would be talking very soon. Minutes later, the first of a few roost gobbles was heard and I felt good knowing they roosted in a similar spot to the day previous. As the sun mounted in front of us, I waited till the birds had talked long enough and let them know we were here as well. I called just enough to get their interest and then I let them go to see how they reacted. As the birds flew down, they hit the field just behind us gobbling at crows and our occasional calls. As birds began to work their way around the woods and field, the first visitor was a hen that wanted to take a good look. She worked back behind us and an approaching gobbler made his presence known and we got ready, but the hen abruptly cut him off, so the wait continued. With an occasional round of calling the birds seemed to spread out and started to become more responsive. As the birds worked closer, it was evident we had more than one bird coming to the call. With the birds coming on his side, Erik got them fired up and four birds hammered just 100 yards away. I instructed my old man to get ready and pointed his gun in the direction of the approaching birds. As the birds continued to gobble, we were still in the blind as we watched for the more signs of life in the field. Not long after, Erik said there were two birds in the field and they were on top of us. They had worked the edge down and were going straight for the decoys. As I peered out of the blind, they were in range and I wanted to make sure my dad sealed the deal. As they passed by, I told him to fire at will. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Erik informed me of three more gobblers coming down the field. I told him to shoot the lead bird even though it had a short beard, until I saw a gangster long beard running straight for us. I told him to hold off just as they passed his shooting window. As luck would have it, the birds got spooked and abruptly putted the big boy to a halt. As he turned to leave, I told my dad to swing and take the closest bird, he was unable to see them, so I manually moved his body and gun into position just as the birds were about to go. Before they could leave, he pounded the biggest of the two and finally got rid of the heavy breathing and shakes that had been bothering him for the past few minutes. After a run out to claim his bird and some handshakes, his first turkey at the age of 53 was under his belt, and I couldn’t be prouder. Here’s to the next one.

Hopefully, the first of many..

The Crew...

3 Generations of turkey hunters...

**Terry Shields** · #2 05-21-2008, 08:14 AM

Nice looking hunt Dave, cool write up

**Mike Bard** · #3 05-21-2008, 08:36 AM

Nicely done Dave! I'm sure your pops will always remember that hunt.

Erik... love the spectacles man!

**Jason Mears** · #4 05-21-2008, 08:46 AM

Very nice Dave. As we get older we dont always get to spend as much time hunting with our dads as we would like. A hunt like that makes for some great memories and brings backs alot of others.