At long last, the migratory birds are beginning to arrive and some of the perching birds are already in mating mode. It may be hard to believe that within a month, Michigan’s early spring turkey hunting season will be upon us. So, if you have a youngster that has expressed an interest in joining the hunting ranks, it’s time to prepare.
If you are short on time to scout, you may want to consider the Day6 PlotWatcher Pro surveillance camera system to do some of the leg work for you. It can be set up to take photos at selected intervals (mine is set to snap the shutter every five seconds) and will hold up to one million images on a single 32 gb SD card. The beauty of the system is that it takes pictures during daylight hours from dawn to dusk, and will catch any action no matter how far away, because unlike other game cameras, it’s not triggered by movement; it operates even if game is not present. Just put the card in your computer and watch the action, which takes only a few minutes to watch an entire day’s worth of activity.
So, instead of burning up gasoline and chasing all over to scout, it’s done automatically. This camera helped me to pattern birds, and ultimately, to take a fine gobbler in the late spring season last year.
If you are breaking in a youngster, there’s no better method than to set up a large portable blind at an ambush site, once you know the birds’ habits. Funny thing about turkeys: They pay no attention to blinds – even those that have been set up the same day as a hunt. Squirming kids can fidget about behind the walls, as long as they are not overtly creating a visible disturbance at a window; talking is no problem, as long as it is relatively quiet.
If the youngsters have yet to pass a hunter safety course, Michigan’s new mentored hunting regulations permits them to hunt for up to two years, as a way of trying the sport out first. After that, hunter safety is a requirement.
While the bigger of us boys may choose heavy 12-gauge loads, they are typically too much for a youngster and may cause them to develop bad shooting habits, or worse yet, to quit before they ever hit the field. Even though some stout 20-gauge loads can get the job done, they too may be too punishing to petite youngsters. Because of that, you may want to consider a crossbow, which allows much smaller children to get in the game; if they can hold it steady and are able to pull the trigger, they will not be taking a back seat to anyone.
But, even if they just merely want to tag along with mom, dad, or another licensed adult, they may catch gobbler fever. Once that happens, you won’t be able to hold them back and soon they’ll be putting meat on the table for the entire family. Quality time, bonding, whatever the term, it’s the perfect opportunity to make it happen.
