Giving Back
Hunting is a sport where you must take care of it if you want to keep it around for generations to come. Personally, I didn’t have someone to teach me how to hunt so I had to figure everything out on my own. Once I really got the hang of things and started to really see what hunting was all about, I realized how important it is to give back to the spot.
When my younger brother Brent reached out to me asking to take him out hunting it was a no brainer. He got on the computer took hunters ed, got his license and off we went. Brent was a hard guy to get a hold of during hunting season because when I was headed to the woods, he was headed to the beach to surf. The best waves show up the same time as hunting season, so I had to make our few chances count. I also really wanted him to have success and see what it is all about so he could enjoy it.
He really wanted to hunt ducks and we did we had some success getting him his first duck and goose after a few tough hunts, but we got it done and he was loving it. Few years had passed, and he started showing interest in turkeys, which was perfect because it fit his surfing schedule much better. My dad and I were supposed to go to Texas to hunt turkeys together, but he had to backout because of a back surgery he had. So, Brent filled his spot and we were on a mission to get him his first turkey.
Brent and I got on a plane and headed down south to hunt some Rios. We arrived down in Texas and hit the ground running bright and early the next morning. We went with a semi guided outfitter so they just told us where the birds are and we do the rest. We walk down the gravel road and set up in a blind with roosts on each side. When the sun started rising, we put out a few locater calls found where the birds are and before they left the roost, we put out a few yelps and waited. The birds were pretty henned up so once they hit the ground, they got pretty quiet. Right when we thought it was about to be a long day of no gobbles from about 60 yards behind us we heard 2 gobbles. Witch seemed to be something that was pretty consistent throughout the rest of the trip. I saw the birds start walking away when they couldn’t figure out where the hen was, so I put out another yelp and they come hauling ass into ten yards right behind us. They kept on running right past us looking for the hen and stopped at around 46 yards. Brent and I got turned around without spooking them. Gave the birds another yelp so they would put on a bit of a show for us gobbling and strutting. Once Brent lined his gun on the bigger of the 2 birds and right then he gave him a good chance BOOM. Brent dropped his first turkey. The second gobbler ran off another 30 yards and stopped I yelped again, and he came running back to the bird Brent just shot. He was coming back to beat up on the once boss gobbler. I quickly grabbed my gun and BOOM the Texas double all before 8am.
Now that we got those birds out of the way I wanted to show Brent what it’s like to run and gun. Both of us are impatient and we can only sit in that blind for so long it was time to chase some birds. We got some water and ate a big lunch and wandered into that Texas heat. I wanted Brent to experience what Texas was really like as well as have a little more of an aggressive action-packed hunt. When we were run and gunning we got to see all of the wild plants, birds, we even ran up on an old cowboy site where Brent was able to see some interesting old things. Since Brent isn’t as big into hunting but more into nature, he was picking up ever leaf or berry smelling them I was worried he was going to start eating random plants. He definitely enjoyed run and gunning and the action-packed hunting that came along with it.
It didn’t take long after hiking the hill and randomly yelping until we struck up 3 more gobblers. They sounded like they were about 100 yards away but we couldn’t see them through the brush, so we moved in closer to around 60 yards. Brent and I tucked in yelped back and these birds started going crazy gobbling their heads off. Unfortunately, as they were closing in someone in a work truck fixing the windmill got in between us and the birds and spooked them off to around 150 yards. I got a bit too aggressive got within 60 yards again and that pushed the birds off and they got silent, so we went around looking for other birds.
The next day we did it all over again but on a new ranch. This time we started with the run and gun tactics. We walked down the gravel trail on this new ranch and waited in an opening for the first gobbles of the day. We closed in on the closest roost which sounded like a single gobbler while there was also another roost with 3 gobblers off in the distance. I put out a few yelps and got gobbles off both roost these birds were fired up, so we moved in closer.
I was unaware that the single bird we were after was henned up and she wasn’t too happy I was in the area and moving in on them so once they got off the limb she slowly took him off the property. This really was a good way of showing Brent the highs and lows of hunting, but he was loving the excitement of chasing birds. Things started slowing down with most birds being henned up and the Texas heat kicking in slowed us down big time. We decided to head back into another blind and try and stay out of the heat a bit. Much like the first hunt we yelped here and there, and a Gobbler came in silent until he was about 60 yards, I called him in and shot him. We hung out the rest of the day waiting to get picked up on what turned out to be a very successful and fun trip hunting with my brother and helping him shoot his first bird.
One of the things this outfitter did after you shot your birds, they would fully process it for you. This was one process Brent wasn’t willing to let happened he knew what was right and what he had to do. He knew if he killed it, he had to process it and eat it, and he was more than happy to do so. We set up on a table and I helped take him through the butchering process. I’m not worried about the cooking aspect because one thing for sure that boy knows how to cook. We both learned a lot that hunt. I learned a lot about better tactics when communicating with birds and how they work, and he learned a lot about hunting in general and just taking it all in. We both had a great time hunting together for a few days and I look forward to hopefully a few more trips together,
There are more ways to give back to hunting rather than getting others involved like joining and participating in organizations to protect game, gun laws, and the land. This is just as important as teaching up and coming hunters and showing them a good time. Without giving back and taking care of the land, our rights, the animals, and the community we could end up losing it one day. the better you take care of all those things the better it will take care of you. getting involved you can give your money to organizations to help pass laws, improve the land and habitat for the animals, increase research to help improve things. If you don’t have the money, you can give your time and labor, doing projects with organizations for example banding initiatives with ducks, or putting out wood duck boxes. There are opportunities for everyone to help no matter what your situation is.
