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WMA Quota Hunt Deadline Feb. 15
To encourage parents to sign their kids up for a WMA turkey quota hunt, we celebrate a success story from last season.
Reader Contributed | February 1, 2021
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.
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.
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