YOUTH HUNT
This spring, West Virginians will have the opportunity to take a youngster at least 8 years of age and no more than 14 on a youth hunt, scheduled for Saturday, April 22. These youngsters must be accompanied by a licensed adult of at least 21 years of age. The adult may not carry a firearm or bow of any kind. As is true for the regular season, the hours will be one-half hour before sunrise until 1 p.m.

Princeton's Kevin Graham raves about the joys he experienced during a 2005 youth hunt when he took his 9-year-old daughter, Taylor Jo, afield on a farm near their home.

"I have never had a day like we had," Graham exulted. "We got too close to one on the roost and Taylor Jo had a cough. Guess how that one ended. We then set up a decoy about 25 yards into a field. About 20 minutes after daylight, a bird gobbled 300 yards away in a deep hollow across the field. I made a hard cutt and he answered. The next time, two birds answered and were closer. I waited and yelped a few times and could tell they were about 150 yards out on the other side of the field.

"I cackled and both turkeys gobbled again. Taylor had her gun across her knees pointed at the decoy and she started to shake. The birds gobbled at 75 yards and I told her she had better get ready. They came across a rise in the field running at us until they saw the decoy. They broke into a strut as they veered toward it.

"Taylor's breathing was labored to say the least. I told her to shoot when she was ready. She said, 'Daddy, I'm not ready.' I said she'd better get ready. 'Take your time and shoot that turkey.' "

Alas, little Taylor Jo was too mesmerized to shoot. Then another turkey gobbled behind the father-daughter duo, and the first two birds left. Kevin then called in three more toms, but once again, his daughter couldn't bring herself to shoot one, as she seemed to be just fascinated with the goings-on.

"We kept them around us for over half an hour," Graham continued. "They would leave over the rise and I would call them back. I gave her the box call and she would call to them. We had a ball. I got them about 15 yards out and shocked them with my crow call and all three gobbled at once. While we were playing with them, three jakes came into the decoy and two big gobblers and about seven hens came out about 125 yards away in the field.

"The youth hunt is a grand idea," Graham said. "Although my daughter did not harvest a turkey, she and her daddy harvested some memories that can never be taken away. It brought back the days when my dad was bending down and pointing out to me scratchings or turkey droppings in the leaves."

The regular spring gobbler season begins on Monday, April 24, and continues through Saturday, May 20. The limit is one bearded bird per day, two for the season. For more information on Youth Day and the regular season, consult the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) Web site at www.wvdnr.gov.

SPRING GOBBLER SURVEY
The DNR needs more sportsmen to participate in its annual Spring Gobbler Survey. I have participated for many years and enjoy recording info from outings, such as my pre-season scouting efforts, counties and hours where hunted, gobblers and hens seen and called in, and ruffed grouse flushed or heard drumming. The DNR uses data gathered to form an overall picture of what hunters are experiencing.