Pennsylvania Game News - April 2010 - 6

veteran. The jake pecked and fed around our blind and right into the shooting lane. It was then, near the apex of my projected elation that she turned to me and said “Can we get a donut after this?” What? I thought. Here we have a gobbler divinely placed at 15 yards in the wide open with beard protruding, neck and head extended, looking directly away, and all she can think about is a chocolatecovered cream-filled donut? I could only laugh. “You shoot that turkey and we will go get a donut.” I clicked off the safety when she turned back and lowered her head to the stock. Once she eased her fingers to the trigger guard and brought the shotgun into line with her target, I tapped her leg. Nothing. I tapped again. Still nothing. Our chance to get this bird was fading quickly as the jake cautiously began moving away. Like a possessed woodpecker, I feverishly pecked on her thigh. Again she did not shoot. Finally I leaned forward and ever so slightly lifted her right ear muff and said, “shoot.” With that, the silence was broken. A yellowish white flame blazed through the morning mist and Tekoa’s first spring turkey lay fluttering 20 yards away. Utterly amazed and awestruck by the unfolding of it all, I erupted into an almost uncontrollable jubilation. “You got it! You got your first turkey!” We cheered and giggled as the big gobblers fled from the field. She peeked out of the window then turned to me with a smile from ear to ear and said, “Can we go get a donut now?” “Go get your turkey first and then we’ll get that donut.” A congratulatory whoop of approval resonated from the farm that overlooked our location as we emerged out of the blind. It was MacDonald’s son-in-law, who knew we would be hunting that day. He had watched the morning’s events unfold from a barnside seat. We stopped to thank our friends before heading home to share the news and to get the camera I had left behind. Once home, Mom could not believe her little baby got a turkey. We picked up her sister and back to the scene we went for photographs. As the camera’s shutter went into overdrive, I asked her why she didn’t shoot. Her reply, “Daaad, you told me that you were going to squeeze my leg, not poke it.” The time spent afield over the last two years with my daughter and the success of that day eclipses everything else I have encountered in my 25 years of hunting. My first turkey and first bowkilled deer after 11 years of taking my bow for a walk are now a close second. The accomplishments of taking a Pope and Young Club black bear and whitetails over that time have now become only highlights. With this I am convinced, there is no other endeavor on the planet that can create such a lasting bond or bring more joy than to go hunting with your child. I would like to thank the Game Commission for making it all possible. BY COVER PAINTING STEPHEN LEED KNOWN FOR HIS BEAUTY and good voice, and the professional baseball team named after it, the male Baltimore oriole with his black and orange plumage that flashes like a neon sign in the treetops as he sings his rich flute-like courtship song in the spring impresses all who see or hear it. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to see or hear one while turkey hunting this spring. GAME NEWS

Pennsylvania Game News - April 2010

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