# Caleb's Turkey Hunt



## Smacko (Jan 20, 2007)

"A Hunt Above" had a 15-year-old boy from Georgia who wanted to go on a turkey hunt. We set this hunt up to be in Mississippi on the youth weekend of turkey season in early March 2010. His name is Caleb.

Ya'll meet Caleb.










Caleb is a fifteen-year-old paraplegic with lower pulmonary dyspepsia. He was injured in auto accident Thanksgiving of 1998. Since his injury, Caleb has steadily developed a love and passion for hunting. He is constantly watching hunting shows, reading magazines or studying the whitetail encyclopedia. Caleb is a t7-t8 complete parapepelgic. Caleb likes to mainly bow hunts and wanted to bow hunt on this particular turkey hunt. He shoots a Hoyt Powerhawk at 27 inches draw length and 72 pounds draw weight. He is grouping 6 arrows in a 2-inch circle at 50 yards. He is also a crack shot with a gun. He shot a black buck at 478 yards this year. Caleb had to undergo two major surgeries at the same time at the end of June 2010 called the Mace procedure and the Matrophonoff procedure. These surgeries went well and he is getting stronger every day.

After talking with Caleb and finding out that he had never harvested a turkey, we changed his mind about the bow and had him pick up a shotgun. If he harvested his first turkey on this trip, then the second day we would go after the turkeys with a bow. 
The morning of the hunt, it was a cold March morning. It was 29 degrees. Joining us on this hunt was David Ross. David is the owner of Ross Game calls in Carrollton, MS. He holds several titles in competition for turkey calling as well. No turkeys were seen that morning, but some were heard in a distance. That afternoon warmed up some, but no turkeys were seen or heard. We feel this cold snap had silent the turkeys. 









The next morning we tried a different place. It was a little warmer than the previous morning. We got set up and started calling with the owl hoot. There were at least 5 different gobblers that responded. Come daybreak and we started the calling sequence. Where we had set up, was right at the roosting spot. There were turkeys all around us. The turkeys started to come down off their roost. There were around 30 hens in front of us, behind us and some still in the trees. We heard a gobbler at about 60 yards, but he would never show himself. With that many hens, that ole gobbler didn't know the difference between us calling or the natural hens calling. Caleb was excited in seeing and hearing all of the activity. 
That evening we set up on a green field and started our calling. We heard several birds, but none would commit. Even without a harvest on this trip, Caleb had a time of his life.









We would like to thank David Ross for the help in calling and donating some calls to Caleb. 
We would like to thank Allen Smith from Woods Tire and ATV for the use of the Stealth 4X4 all electric cart. 
Also thanks to Don Wynne for allowing us the use of his property to go after these hard to hunt birds.










And finally thanks to all the supporters who donated to help with expenses for the travel and lodging for Caleb. Please continue to pray for Caleb's recovery.


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