Beeler, KS Youth Turkey Hunt With A History Lesson

April 2nd, 2022

As the sun came up, we watched the birds come off their roost and head away from us. I looked at Ira and asked him if he wanted to set and wait or chase the birds. With a quivering voice Ira said, “let’s chase some birds”. While we were headed towards the last place we saw the birds, I told Ira and his father the history of the property we were hunting, explaining that George Washington Carver homesteaded this land. From 1886 to 1889, George Washington Carver homesteaded a quarter section of land near present day Beeler, Kansas. One of America's greatest scientists, Carver revolutionized agriculture in the United States with his discoveries. We decided to take a detour and take a picture of them in front of his old cabin. After the picture I blew some calls on my crow call, we immediately got a shock gobble and very quickly spotted the birds on a wheat field about 300 yards onto the neighboring property. We found a good spot on the edge of a berm and started calling!

Within minutes we had a screaming match with the boss Hen. Two Hen’s and two Tom’s came straight to us! The hens were so close to us we could have hit them with the barrel of Ira’s gun! The Tom’s held up 10 yards from us, just a few inches on the neighboring property. I looked at Ira and said, “the moment he jumps that fence I want you to shoot him!” Ira looked at me  shaking from head to toe unable to speak and nodded. It looked like he would vibrate out of his boots at any second!

Unfortunately, the Tom’s never crossed that fence, but Ira learned a valuable lesson on ethics. I asked Ira what he wanted to do until our evening hunt, he said “let’s find some sheds” and that’s exactly what we did! Unfortunately, the evening hunt didn’t turn out much better.

On the ride home Ira told me that he had an amazing time and that he felt lucky to even get that close to a turkey! That one comment made the entire day worth it!!