BIG DONNIE BRASCO

My daughter just turned 10 and really wanted to bag a turkey! I borrowed a 20 gauge, bought a box of shells and she practiced. she is deadly to 30 yards!
This morning she poppped out of bed at 5:00am just bursting at the seams! We stopped off for gas and hot chocolate and away we went. She helped me lug the blind, the seats, her gun, decoys etc about 1/2 mile in and we got set-up. Just after day-break we heard some far off gobbles and I was bummed that maybe we weren't close enough to where the birds were gonna be.... about 30 minutes later 35+ birds (6 big Toms) were headed our way. I was able to coax one young Tom away from the group and SLOWLY bring him in. Once he was about 60 yards out, she got her gun up on her bipod....... 55 yards, getting set, ... 50 yards, whispering to her about the safety, then all the birds in the field bolted upright and froze, then rushed to the treeline to our left, and disappeared! I thought out loud "what the hell just happened?"
To which my daughter said, I think those guys over there scared them all away.
There was a man and a child 300 yards across the field tearing down their blind in the 25 mph wind! Needless to say it was quite a commotion!
I am the ONLY person with written permission to hunt this land and these two people were WELL inside the property line!!!
I didn't approach to say anything because I was HOPING the birds might return... nope!
My daughter was SO giddy that the bird was almost in range then devastated to tears because of some jack wagon teaching his kid that trespassing is OK !!

Sorry, just had to vent.

Spent the afternoon posting signs letting them know NOT to return, and that they were trespassing!

w123t

That's a major bummer. Hope it
goes much better for your daughter
the next time around.

JW

Hang in there BDB.......am willing to bet they had that blind up before you and never saw you. Then when you started calling and the birds in your direction and not theirs - well......I am not defending them at all but if they left in a huff - I bet that is what the Huff was about!

And you did the right thing. A conflict with poeple like that is best left to the DNR.....But if you are going tomorrow - leave a bit early and check to how they got in there.....Find their truck and turn them in.....simple drive by getting a vehicle description and a license plate is all that is needed. Then carry a cell phone and a decent camera.......

Dave...JW

swampbuster

Sorry about the bad luck. You and your daughter hang in there

snapper1982

man that sucks. with that many birds it will happen for you. you are more of a man than i am. i always confront tresspassers. bt now you know where the birds are half the battle is won.

Treebeard

Happened to my daughter and I last year very frustrating we had a Tom in strut and a hiker with a dog came into the field. We heard him talking on the phone as he walked by about the hunters in the field his tone said he had know clue what he did so I just sat tight not wanting to upset my little girl anymore than she already was. Man I felt like educating the dude!!!

jalvja

Sad to say but this happens way too often.You handled it the right way.Good luck to her.I'm sure she'll bag one before the season is over

navymancdf

Sorry to hear that are you guys going to get a chance to take her out again?

BIG DONNIE BRASCO

Thanks guys.... we'll be back after them ASAP!

DaveH

On a piece of public land I USED to hunt, there was a guy who used to come there every morning to hunt for morel mushrooms. I finally confronted him after he walked BETWEEN me and my decoy one morning. He told me that he had as much right to be there as the turkey hunters and that he knew turkey season was open and was coming there intentionally. Nothing I could do about it, but eventually I gained access to private land.