Husker State Turkey Hunt

When the snow melts here in Iowa my thoughts immediately turn to one thing; turkey hunting. For me, that means chasing Gobblers in North Central Nebraska. We are fortunate enough to have made this trip for several years in a row, and it has easily turned into my favorite hunting trip of the year.

For some of you, when you think of Nebraska, all you think of is praying to the God of heaven to "make it stop" as you go 95 MPH down I-80 to get to Colorado. But up North off the beaten path lies some beautiful country, and that is where we hunt. The Niobrara River valley is home to coyotes, Bob Cats, Mule Deer, and some beautiful gobblers.

We arrived to our cabin late Monday afternoon (April 20th) and were able to do some glassing. While we saw plenty of birds, and knew where they were roosting, I only had one lonely hen come in on Tuesday morning. However, we moved spots in the afternoon, and was able to take my 8 and 6 year old sons with me to a different blind. After getting the decoys set up, a hen came in. I hit the call and before long a nice Tom stuck his head out to the left of our blind. It was awesome! You know the feeling all to well. You plan the hunt, travel to the perfect place, and a year of anticipation boils down to this one heart pounding moment....

Boom! While Mr. Tom was at 58 yards, I had a clear shot at his head and he went down. While I would have rather shot it with my bow, that just wasn't an option with my two boys on the hunt. I would have much rather had my kids with me to share in the moment, and they went running out of the blind to go grab him "before he flew away." About 2 hours later, my dad tagged out as well.

To me, there is nothing more enjoyable than spending time out in creation hunting with family. And when you happen to be fortunate enough to fill your tag..well...it doesn't get any better! So until next time, just GET OUT THERE!

Your thought for the day comes from Psalm 78 and a gentle reminder to make sure we are not just passing on our love for the outdoors to the next generation, but a passion for God. I would encourage you to read through that Psalm today and ask God for the commitment to do just that.

It's Turkey Time!!

Several years ago my dad was trying to talk me into going to Nebraska to visit family we don't see near enough and to do some Turkey hunting. I'm not sure why but he had to talk me into it. I had never once gone Turkey hunting and had NO CLUE what I was doing. But as luck would have it, we all tagged out and had a great time doing it. Fast forward many years and now I can't wait to pack up my Matthews and head West to Northern Nebraska. 

Last year the hunting was a little slow, but I was able to shoot the coyote that blew my last chance at a nice tom :) 

This year, I'm looking forward to trying out new decoys, (Avian-X, so realistic looking I'm afraid my Dad might shoot them) new broad heads (autolock, brand new, met the owners in New Hampshire 2 weeks ago) and if I need to break out my Remington, a new Turkey load, (Federal premium Mag-Shok Heavyweights) so if nothing else, I will be breaking in some new accessories!

I'd love to hear from you! What decoys do you use and why? What Turkey loads? Blinds? Broad-heads? Feel free to leave a comment or email me at markdavis@outdoorsmanswap.com, I'd love to hear from you! If you convince me to switch I will send you one of our new outdoorsmanswap t-shirts!

Here's your encouragement for the day from God's Word. I was recently out speaking at a banquet and was able to share about the hope of heaven from John 14. The reason we can look forward to spending an eternity in heaven is because of the cross and what Christ did for us. In John 14:6 Jesus says that "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me." The Mark Davis paraphrase: "Jesus is the only provision given by God that makes it possible for anyone to ever get to heaven." If we are willing to admit we are sinners, and in Faith turn from those sins and put our trust in what Christ has done for us for the forgiveness of our sins, we can be saved. What an awesome thought! 

Until next time, GET OUT THERE! And don't forget to let me know how your Turkey season goes.