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A brief stop at Mark's Outdoors Turkey Hunting Expo turned into a spring break trip of a lifetime for my family. While there, I was invited to visit Leavellwood Lodge. I then explained to Chip Hughes, of Leavellwood, my desire to include my entire family on a trip. When Chip contacted me the following week, he offered the perfect option for my family - a turkey hunting & fishing combination trip.

My wife, Sissy, and boys, Jake, 11, and Jared, 8, were very excited. They were even more excited when I explained that Leavellwood was where "Rick & Bubba" had deer hunted this season. We selected Jake to make the first hunt. I wanted this to be a successful hunt for him since his last turkey hunt ended when a big tom spotted him at about 50 yards and flew away. After arriving at Leavellwood, we shot targets to determine the best ammunition and choke combination. It was already obvious that Trey and Chip were dedicated to making this a successful trip for the boys. They showed both exactly how to position themselves, how to aim, and when to fire.

I believe they were surprised at how accurate a shot Jared is with his new 410. It's odd how total strangers can tell a child how to do something that you've been telling them to do for a couple of years, and they do exactly what the stranger tells them the first time.

Thursday morning Jake and I headed to the woods before daylight. It only took about three locator calls to produce a response. Thinking this was too good to be true. We hurried in the direction of the gobbler and set up in a small patch of woods at the end of a green field.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be the only turkey we heard all day. We did have some excitement when a nearby deer decided it was time to bolt. Now all doubt was erased as to whether we were fully awake or not. We spent our first afternoon fishing.
The fishing started slow, but ended with everyone catching plenty of nice-sized bass. The highlight of the afternoon was when Jake hooked a nice one and before I could stop and help him, Jared and I both hooked respectable bass - a scene I will never forget.

Friday morning began even earlier. We headed into the dark woods to get as close as possible to some birds that Chip had roosted Thursday evening. The turkeys flew down close to us, but never responded to our calls. We tried two more locations and neither one produced a turkey. The possibility of going home empty-handed was settling into Jake's mind and mine.
While headed to our last hunting location, Chip gave a man walking along the road a ride home, suggesting the good deed might change our luck. Once we arrived at our hunting area, we began easing along a dirt road next to a green field. Chip informed us that we had just flew a turkey up a short distance from us.
I figured this was the final nail in our hunting coffin. Fortunately, our luck was about to change. Chip made two more calls, the second one producing a resounding gobble about 100 yards in the woods directly in front of us.

We moved to the opposite side of the field. I positioned myself 10 yards behind Jake so I could watch the entire hunt. I had confidence Jake would do well. After a couple more calls, it became obvious there was more than one gobbler. When the gobbling slowed down, Chip pulled out a second call and used both of them simultaneously. Their response to these calls ended any doubt whether the gobblers were coming on in or not.

The first gobbler stepped out of the woods and into the road, quickly followed by a second gobbler. They put on quite a performance as they strutted up the road. Two hens followed the gobblers, yelping on two different occasions. I was heart broken when the gobblers passed by. But Chip knew what the turkeys were doing.
They went a short distance up the road to clear some water in a ditch, then entered the field and moved back toward us. Chip told Jake to get ready but to wait until he called out to the turkeys and stopped them. When the gobblers were almost directly in front of Jake, I glanced over to see his gun barrel doing a large zig zag.
My earlier confidence was now declining. I hated to think of him missing his hard-earned shot. But, when Chip stopped the turkeys roughly 30 yards in front of Jake, his single shot downed the gobbler.

My first instinct was to grab Jake and hug him. But first, I had to catch up with him and Chip. They both were running into the green field to check out Jake's first turkey. The gobbler sported an 11 inch "mop" beard and had 1 1/4 inch spurs. I caught up with Jake and gave him a big hug and told him how proud of him I was. While walking back to the truck Jake reminded me of a song that has the line, "this could be the best day of my life," when he said, "Dad, I believe this is the best day of my life." OK, don't tell me grown men don't cry.

This was a memorable trip thanks to the hospitality of the folks at Leavellwood. We brought home memories such as Jake bagging his first turkey; Jared catching his largest fish ever; and Sissy learning to rig her own fishing gear.
The boys brought home memories of a family doing things together and learning to enjoy the great outdoors that God has provided for us.
A special thanks to Mark Whitlock for printing this article and to Matt Holland for helping the boys with their new gun selections. Dad's, make time to take your families to Church, then take time to introduce them to the great outdoors. I want to close with my favorite Mark Whitlock comment: "Take your kids hunting, and you won't be hunting your kids."