I've been hunting the last few Youth Seasons here in the North Zone with my Daughter. This season both of my Sons will also be hunting, they're 9 & 10, and I'm really excited about getting them out for a chance at their first birds.

I've found that the birds will generally still be traveling in pretty good sized flocks and the old Toms can be henned up tight this early. I've found that we've had to hunt the birds more like DEER than anything else. Meaning that good scouting and then setting up a blind in well selected travel routes and then its just a matter of waiting. With a decent decoy set-up, a comfortable blind and some decent callin', you can get some pretty respectable birds to come in and check ya out... especially later in the morning. We've been fortunate to tag some respectable sized birds in the 22 to 24# range the last few seasons and I hope the trend continues.

The biggest advantage for us, in our area, is that we get to beat the hunting pressure. The only thing I've found that we've had to really make adjustments for is the COLD weather that we've had to hunt in during these early hunts! One season we had was 40 degree highs but it poured rain both days of the hunt! A couple of those seasons we had to deal with temps in the 20's..... ended up packing along a small portable buddy heater to keep the kids comfortable. Last year we were flooded out the first day but got a break with a clear cold day the second and were able to fill the tag we had. I would say that the weather will be your biggest challenge.

Best of luck to ya and THANKS for doing you part and taking a kid hunting and passing along the tradition!