The Passage

Depending on how you look at it…your kids growing up is and can be both a great thing and sort of a bummer. On one hand I’ve completely enjoyed watching my two sons grow, mature and morph into real people that can take care of daily chores without much help or guidance. Through the years some of the very best times I have had as a parent have come in the outdoors; hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and golfing! I have been there as they shot their first pheasant, caught their first trout, etc…and those are moments that I wouldn’t have missed for anything!

Saturday, April 20^th was the first day of youth turkey hunting here in Indiana and Jonas and I were up early and off to an Owen County farm in hot pursuit of a gobbler; we also had my boat and a float tube in the Suburban for a little afternoon fishing.

We eased down the corn row and slid into a nice spot to listen and take in all that the morning offered. I waited a bit and then reached into my pack and pulled out my owl hooter…gave a few sharp notes as an owl and before I could even listen our first bird gobbled. I quickly found a spot for Jonas to sit and I moved a few feet deeper into the woods and waited. A few seconds later another loud gobble resounded through the woods and I knew the game was on. I love a slate call and eased it out, made a few soft yelps and Mr. Tom went nuts, double gobbling and really raising a ruckus. In just a few minutes we both heard him fly down and I whispered for Jonas to get his gun up and look to his right…now this is where I should continue on with some great story…but the old bird didn’t like something, walked to the edge of the field and walked slowly the other direction! Sacre bleu!

No sweat as it was early, so we picked up and moved quietly along the woods to another hay meadow and eased our way to a point where we could see the entire field…there before us was a big group of turkeys with what appeared to be at least two Toms. Once again having knowledge of the field paid off and we backed down into the woods and leap-frogged about a ¼ mile of edge cover. As we neared the hay meadow we could hear two big boys gobbling hard and so we quietly slipped to within about 15 yards and I had Jonas sit just in front of me; to our right, through the foliage we could see several birds walking around and there, in the middle were the two Toms in full strut. They were about 100 yards out and the noise that they were creating was pretty impressive.

I knew things were going to get interesting and had Jonas settle in and get his shotgun up…I reached down and gave a soft yelp on my slate call; immediately both birds gobbled, several times. As I peered through the leaves and briars I could see a bird moving our way, seconds later there were two Jakes in front of Jonas and curiously dawdling around, looking into the woods for the future love of their life! Over the next 45 minutes I tried everything I knew to do…but the big boys didn’t budge, they just kept gobbling, spinning, spitting and every time I even touched my call they gobbled in unison. It was one of the most impressive shows I have seen in my many hunts…but this is where the story ends. But for the lack of pulling the trigger we had a truly great experience, however we couldn’t get the birds to close to a comfortable shooting distance and eventually the Jakes returned to the Toms and they all slowly meandered away down the middle of the meadow. I was pleased with all we had experienced and proud of Jonas for waiting and not taking a Jake…and the good news, well, within an hour we were just west of Linton and on one of my favorite lakes.

I dropped Jonas off with my float tube, his fly rod and a few flies I had tied for him and left him…took my boat and went around the shore and put my boat in at the launch area. We fished for about three hours and once again Jonas did very well, landing about 10 bass, the largest was 17 inches. I had left him in a cove that was out of the wind; when I motored around the corner I saw this big kid in a float tube, casting a beautiful line…I watched and he stripped a few times and then hooked and landed a decent bass. It struck me that here before me was not just a physically big kid, who is already 6’5”…but a kid who really knows what he is doing. Landing a bass might have been a small accomplishment but the way it was done gave me that moment of warmth, where I was proud of his ability to handle a fly-rod…and handle himself. I had watched a few years back as Harrison made his passage from boy to man; here before me was the same thing…Jonas had moved from this little kid to a man that I know is going to go places and do great things. It is easy for me to say, but I know that our time in the outdoors, experiencing nature, was, is and will be a big part of his growth, a big part of the person that he is becoming and a big part of the person that he will eventually be.

If you have a special someone in your life, a young person who would benefit from time in nature…then don’t hesitate as you will reap a harvest of blessings! I hope to see you and the next generation as we all Enjoy the Great Outdoors.