This morning in South Ga...was oustanding!!

Two of these gobblers broke the 20 lb mark...which is rare for gobblers around here.

And check out the double bearded paint brush gobbler. Scores 83. Top 2 gobblers won the young hunters a new shotgun...




That's me on the right..

A lot of great memories made!!

Never missed a spring in Alabama hunting with my grandfather for 25 years

Sure miss him!!


Our season up here is still aways out. Can’t wait!!

Getting involved with helping get young kids/first time hunters is one of the most rewarding things you can ever do .. Passing on the joy and fun of being outdoors; plus the rite of passage from being a kid to an adult can and will have a life changing effect of kids . And that responsibility should be taken very seriously by all of us older hunters that had the same kind of teachers helping us to be hunters . Congrats to you and all others that where a part of the event

We've been doing this hunt since Ga created the youth weekend hunt....about 10 or so years now. One of the highlights of every season.

I was a volunteer with a local Pheasants Forever chapter for 25 years. About year 10 we started holding a youth hunt for 10 kids every fall . IT WAS A HUGE SUCCES After a couple of years with the youth hunt we started a similar program geared towards veterans of the military .It was done on a smaller scale Mostly we where limited by a lack of people that where able to help put on the hunts .Plus we where always needing to make due with our fund raising efforts . At one of our vet hunts a Vietnam vet said to all that where there that the event was the first time anyone had done anything for him because of his service in the Vietnam war How do you put a price tag on doing something so meaningful someone that is so grateful for the chance to be part of an experience of a lifetime . Sadly the lack of help was in the end the undoing of our chapter A lack of help and changing situations left us unable to maintain a chapter But we made a difference in many people's lives and that is how we should be . Doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do is in us all And we should all do wht we can when we can .

Outstanding work!! Who says our numbers are down, lol? Just kidding on that part, I’m sure you had some gracious landowners allowing this to take place. Kudos to them as well.

Amen brother!

I really enjoy assisting with these kid's hunts.

Love to see this, I enjoy calling for others more then calling for myself the looks on peoples faces are priceless.

Any first for the young hunters?

Yes....6 of the 7 were 1st gobblers.

Absolutely!! Me too!

Heck yeah, that’s awesome!!

Couple of the kids missed 1st shots and collected bird with 2nd shot. Whew! Lucky. One was killed by the second shot after the gobbler got airborne. Kid shot him down like a surface to air missile does to a jet plane.

5 of the 7 killed with TSS. Furthest was about 30 yds. One was at 13 yds.

Being a volunteer for any group comes down to work We are all busy with our own lives And we do not need one more thing to do But the satisfaction that I felt by being a part of our youth and veteran hunts made it feel like I was the one getting something And I see that same sense of being a good example to others when it comes to helping others that want to be a part of what we do and what we are .Often times trappers and hunters are made out to be a relic from the past And the ones that portray us as that want us to left in the past .In reality most on this site are at the fore front of those that are actuality doing something that is making a difference .

Very nice! If our local turkey numbers don’t start rebounding we are going to have a whole generation of hunters that have never hunted turkey. It’s hard to get new hunters started when you can’t hear a gobble. Glad it’s not that way everywhere.

I did one back in the late 90's for Make a Wish. We had problems with them not wanting Make a Wish involved with Killing Animals. they caved to PETA I guess. I got totally out of it. Do not know what everbecame of it but I took a 16 year old and he bagged one with an 11 inch beard and 1 1/4 inch spurs. He was proud and Happy and that should have been all it was about!! A local Gun Shop got me involved with it and Simonton Windows in Ellenboro WV donated the hunt.

Imagine a Pheasant Forever chapter trying to recruit people to join the chapter when there are next to no natural wild birds left in the entire state. Pheasant hunting in PA is 99% or more a put and take situation that depends on the PA Game Commision and private clubs or people stocking pen raised birds . However I started my days hunting wild pheasants in the 1960's And I felt I needed to be a part of passing on that love of bird hunting to today's young hunters .And from your replies I can see many of you feel the same way It is not about the killing of the bird It is something that I am not really able to explain But I feel it in my mind never the less .

Yessir. Those kids, parents, and guides were scattered across 2 counties.

The numbers are down some now. Great job Swamp Wolf!!

The downturn in the population here is already having an effect on just what you stated ^^^^^ .

There is definitely less opportunity to hunt a gobblers than there was 10 years ago. Some properties around here that had birds do not have them today.

I'm concerned when/if this trend will turn around.....