Turkey hunting with the kids (Episode 21 Transcript)
This is the video transcript. To watch the video for this episode click here.
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WOODS: Hey, it’s March 11th, Sunday afternoon, late. And, obviously, we’ve got some stuff to tell you this week here at The Proving Grounds. But, it’s been a big week. My good friend, Michael Engelmeyer and his son, Sammy, put the smack down on a turkey yesterday morning; opening day of youth season in Missouri. Raleigh and Rae and I have had some great hunts. Raleigh put the smack down just about two hours ago on a big, mature Tom.
WOODS: It wasn’t that easy. As you can see, here, I have a chair that’s discombobulated and about two hours earlier, I was sitting in that chair filming two other turkeys coming to us. Raleigh’s ready; things are working good.
WOODS: Pop. Daddy’s rolling around, almost all the way on the ground. I’m down here somewhere. Of course, the turkeys are thinking, “It’s not supposed to thunder today.” And they’re gone. And, uh, that didn’t work out too good for a chair to malfunction, so we set there a while and see two adult gobblers about 150, 200 yards away?
RALEIGH: Yes.
WOODS: The same field where Raleigh and Rae killed a deer earlier this year if you’d been watching. Earlier, last year, I guess. And did some really mild calling and I said, “Raleigh, they’re coming.” We’re sitting there quiet, quiet and Raleigh, said:
RALEIGH: There’s one coming in the woods because I hear, heard leaves crackling.
WOODS: So, tell us what happened, Raleigh. And I want you to know up front, I made the decision as a dad that it was more important for Raleigh to get her first turkey than for me to get it on film. This is not production. This is a father and son hunting together.
RALEIGH: Son?
WOODS: Cut. Two. This is a father and daughter hunting together. Okay, Raleigh, what happened?
RALEIGH: Dad couldn’t see it, so I had to stand up to see it and I saw it. It walked around and then, part of the blind was there, so I couldn’t see it. And it kept on walking and then it came back into my vision and, um, it took a few more steps and I shot it.
[Shot]
RALEIGH: I got him.
WOODS: You got him, Raleigh! You got him! You got him! Raleigh got him. You got him! Give it to me, girl! You got a huge turkey! You got a huge turkey! And you smoked him! Yes, you want to show everybody. Show it, hold it up there to show them! A little .20 gauge, 7 ½ shot. Put the hammer down!
WOODS: But Raleigh shoots a little .20 gauge with a 7 ½ shot, uh, and it hammered that bird. And my good friend, Mark Drury has a daughter a little bit older than Raleigh and he said, “Grant, 20 yards or less, 7 ½ is an awesome pattern and just hammers turkeys.”
WOODS: So, how about the – I am so excited, Raleigh! You can’t imagine. Let me, the, the video’s horrible, but I wanted you to get the turkey, so I wasn’t gonna dare move the camera. It is good! Give it to me, girl! I am so excited for you. That thing is huge! Did you see how big he was?
RALEIGH: Kind of.
WOODS: Did you hear him go, “thoom, thoom”?
RALEIGH: Or was that your heart I was hearing?
WOODS: This is right where he fell. We’re just now getting here. My goodness, Raleigh Ellen! Look at the size of that thing and how beautiful those feathers are. Look how big that beard is.
RALEIGH: Look at that big tail!
WOODS: I can spread. I know from setting my traps for my holes, that’s nine inches. So you’re ten and a half, eleven inches. Beautiful tail. I want to tell you, there were very few feathers knocked out of that bird. You can see, just beautiful full fan, mature bird. Feathers all over. But that bird didn’t hardly flop much, because it just hammered it and Raleigh made a perfect shot! Was that fun, Raleigh?
RALEIGH: Yes.
WOODS: So, we’ve been hunting together since were five or six years old. Turkey hunting with a little .410, right? Remember your little ole single-shot we used to carry?
RALEIGH: Yes.
WOODS: And the first year out, we saw a turkey cross the field just by chance. Real windy. We huddled under a, a cedar tree. Remember that? Did a little calling. Turkey held out and all of a sudden about 90 yards out, just come on a run and kept running. Old beard going, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, and I just waited for it to stop, so Raleigh could pull up and shoot and it never stopped. Just kept running, kept running, kept running. So, I said, “Shoot, Raleigh.” And the bird flew over the mountain, didn’t it?
RALEIGH: Hmm. Hmm.
WOODS: But today, there was no flying. What are you seeing?
RALEIGH: 22 pounds.
WOODS: 22 pounds. All right, girl!
MIKE: I’m Mike Engelmeyer and this is Samuel Engelmeyer, age eight. He will be going on his second youth hunt. And last year was close. But, it was a swing and a miss. You may remember Sammy. Sammy was out at The Proving Grounds at the shed hunt. Found a couple sheds and got some turkey calls at the banquet. Do you want to put those to use?
SAMMY: Yes.
MIKE: Okay. We’re gonna try them in the morning. Brad used the Reconyx camera. He’s got some good ideas of strutting zones.
MIKE: He recommended one area that I’m familiar with. We’re gonna go down there and see what happens.
SAMMY: (Whispering) I want you to call.
SAMMY: (Whispering) Dad, there’s a tom there!
MIKE: (Whispering) Get on him. Get on him.
SAMMY: (Whispering) Not yet.
[Shot]
SAMMY: (Whispering) I got him! I got him!
MIKE: Sam, you got him!
SAMMY: I got him! Yes!
MIKE: Nice shooting! Nice shooting! You need to thank Dr. Grant.
SAMMY: Okay.
MIKE: All the work that he’s done in here. Okay?
SAMMY: Okay.
MIKE: Letting you come down here. We didn’t get it done. We haven’t got it done for how many years?
SAMMY: Two?
MIKE: Two? Two long years. Let’s go check out your bird, okay?
SAMMY: Well. (Whispering) Big bird.
MIKE: Big bird, Sammy!
SAMMY: I think it came out from right over there by a hen and, uh, then, um, he got angry at our decoys and came over, like a couple yards away from our blind. Then, um, I took my gun up and smoked him.
[Shot]
SAMMY: When I smoked him, I fell back on my chair and, um, now we’re heading back to Dr. Grant’s to show him this beautiful bird. And, um, then we’re gonna head home and show it to my mom, brother and sister. So, that’s all we’re doing.
FEMALE: I’ll have to take a picture.
MALE: Boy, that’s awful good.
(Several talking)
FEMALE: I was talking to Rhonda and she said, “Congratulations, Sam.”
WOODS: Just, as you can tell, a great big week here at The Proving Grounds. Raleigh had a great time, but daddy really had a great time. And, uh, I’m thankful for Creation and healthy children, healthy family and being able to enjoy all this and I hope you all learned some tips. I hope you all enjoyed the recreational aspect of it and you have a great week. Talk to you next week at Growing Deer.tv.
(Phone ringing)
SAMMY: I got one.
MOM: All right. That’s great.
SAMMY: It’s a big one and I just came out of the woods, uh, behind (fades out)
MIKE: Mama, you be proud.
MOM: That’s wonderful. Wow.
MIKE: Let’s pull this beast out.