Todays' the first day of the second season for Illinois's gun season, and since I couldn't head to my favorite haunts I had promised myoldest boy I'd go "hunting" with him out behind the house. We've got a strip of woods that separates us from the 16th green, and if you follow that past the golf course it runs out past the city limits.

I grabbed my little Ross Carnivore since it's so light it doesn't even feel like I'm hardly carrying anything, one arrow and a judo point for shooting any sparrows that were low enough to the ground. Just for grins, I grabbed a Muzzy MX-3 and stuck it into my jacket pocket as well.

We had slipped down the strip a good ways, and finally decided we'd better head for home. We'd made it back a little ways when I looked down into a slight ravine to my right and saw a hen turkey 35 yards away. She was as still as a statue, so I wasn't sure if she'd spotted us or not (we were walking out in a field on the outside edge of the woods). I whispered for Matthew to be quiet, and reached into my pocket and swapped out tips.

I eased the little Carnivore to full draw, and settled in JUST as the hen started walking forward. I hada group of huge oaks off to my left that would prohibit a shot if she made it more than five yards or so, so I hurriedly whispered to my son to "make his turkey calls!" He cut loose with a series of soft yelps that stopped her right in her tracks, allowing me to send my arrow on its way to her. The MX-3 tore through her upper thigh, sending her flopping straight up before she scurried off into some thick brush.

Matthew and I ran to the shot scene so I could recover my only arrow I'd brought, as I knew I was probably going to have to make a finishing shot. Once I had my arrow, we strode into the brush and quicly flushedher. She stumbled forward and then lifted off for a short 40-yard flight before landing face first with her chest stuck in the ground and wings spread; I knew things were looking good at that point. One more short flight as we approached again and she'd used about everything she had left, and I finished her shortly after that. Matthew was standing 10 yards away as I spotted her in the brush for the last shot, and when I told him we'd got her, he ran over to me and high-fived me a few times before wrapping me up in a huge bear hug. It was an awesome moment.