WMA Quota Hunt Deadline Feb. 15

By David Waters

I wanted to send some pictures of my daughter’s first turkey taken on the Hugh Gillis PFA turkey quota hunt in Laurens County on March 28, 2020.

I don’t know for sure, but it might be the first turkey taken on the quota hunt since it’s had a 0% success rating for a number of years.

My daughter Brittany started on a journey that Saturday morning knowing that it would be an uphill battle. After walking around 1 1/2 miles, we heard our first gobble of the two-day hunt, which led us across a sizeable replanted clearcut, only to find a gobbler that had gone cold.

Youth Gets Two Gobblers At Rum Creek WMA

The time was around 8:45 in the morning, so instead of packing it in, we opted for a different option. We decided to keep going.

After a period of time, we ended up nearing the property line and had finally got him to answer to a call. We moved down at a southeast angle in some mature pines and mixed hardwoods, about 150 yards from the last contact. We settled in and began to work our magic. We immediately got a response that was closer than at any other time. Brittany began to prepare herself for a ride she had never been on before.

As he kept working our way, he continued to sound off until he got close, and then he went quiet. I told Brittany to be ready, they only go quiet when they’re getting close. Ten seconds later he came running down the adjacent hill in full strut. He hit a firebreak and made his way up to our location.

As he came within 30 yards of us, he could see the turkey fan I was rotating in my hand and locked in for a fight. While leaving the firebreak fully intent on taking care of this new challenge, he was met with a blast from a 20 gauge that calmed his temper.

The ultimate excitement led to all sorts of emotions being on display for only each other to see and was the hot topic of a 2-mile walk back to the truck. I think the best turkey I’ve ever taken was one where I didn’t have a gun and was able to see a 12-year-old move up and claim her spot in the outdoors.

Brittany Waters, of Kite, worked very hard to kill this gobbler at Hugh Gillis PFA last season. She was one of only two youth drawn for the March 27-28 quota hunt.

WMA Youth Turkey Quota Hunts

Kids don’t stay young forever. Take them on a 2021 WMA youth turkey quota hunt. Go to  https://gon.com/hunting/wma-turkey-special-2021 ‎to see the options you’ve got. Some of these areas offer high-quality hunts with a good population of turkeys.