HATCHER TURKEY GRAND SLAM

My wife and I are blessed to have 4 sons and all have been aspiring hunters since birth. With Wyoming's minimum big game hunting age at 12yrs old the boys have to wait a long time to hunt anything more challenging than rabbits. When Mike Schmid invited me to bring the boys to Solitude Ranch for spring turkey hunting we were were thrilled at the opportunity. My wife and I decided I would take one boy each year, beggining with Jed, our oldest, then working down though Nate, Luke and finally Sam. Being a novice turkey hunter myself, I knew our learning curve was going to be steep but man what memories we'ld make!

JED's BIRD
The first morning of our hunt Mike sent us to a steep canyon where he had recently encountered some birds. Jed and I set up at daylight and began making what hopefully were turkey sounds on a slate call. As the sun warmed the canyon walls we heard the sound of a far off gobble and unbelievably he was answering us! Within minutes a booming gooble preceeded a blue head peaking over a rock ledge below. As I said, I had never turkey hunted before, just never thought it would be much fun. But that bird, with his goobles reverberating through the canyon instantly made a new fan of the sport.
The bird paraded around, strutting and gobbling long enough for Jed to work into position and make the shot. The beautiful old canyon warrior sported an 8.5" bird and weighed over 20 lbs. What a morning, what a hunt, what a memory for a father and son made on Solitude Ranch....

NATE'S BIRD

After Jed's success the other boys couldn't wait for their turn. As you know a year is a many lifetimes to a young boy but finally it was time for Nate's hunt. Upon arrival at the ranch Mike told us there were plenty of birds around. The first morning we returned to the canyon were Jed had scored and promptly had a gobbler talking. We got him in close but not to where I was confident of Nate's 20 gauge doing the job. The boy was pumped at the sight of strutting bird and was totally heart broke when he finally spotted us and spooked. We met up with Mike and he had a plan for our mid-day session. A pop-up blind was situated in a clearing where turkeys were often spotted and Mike suggested we go there, put out a decoy and do a little calling.
After setting
up our Jake decoy and settling in the bliind, Nate and I sat down and began playing cards. He was anxious for Dad to start calling but I convinced him to wait for 20 minutes for the woods to settle down. Shortly Nate stood to peak out the shooting window and excitedly said " there's a turkey out there!". I was still lying down deciding whether to call his pre flop all-in bet and replied " yes Son, it's our decoy". "No Dad" he said "a real turkey is with our decoy!". Cards flew as I scrambled up for a look. Sure enough a gobbler was strutting around the decoy. I quickly got Nate postioned on his shooting sticks and he laid the bird down with a load of high brass #6's. Nate was thrilled with his gobbler yet a little dsappointed that the beard didn't quite match the size of Jeds. ( it's a brother thing ;)). He really perked up back at the ranch though when Mike pointed out that his bird had "extremely short legs, obviously causing his beard to get rubbed short".
It was another unforgettable Solitude Ranch memory made in the shadow of the Devil's Tower.

2 Down / 2 To Go.... LUKE

The next year 6 year old Luke was up. Jed and Nate had each been 9 on their hunts and I knew it would be a challenge for a boy so young to get it done.
I under estimated Luke. We arrived at Solitude to beautiful weather and again lots of turkeys. As the hunt unfolded we were seeing tons of them but something always seemd to go wrong right before Luke could get a shot. We hunted hard and I really thought we might have to head home with no turkey.
But on our last morning it all came together. We were positioned in pop up blind below a heavily used roosting area. Before daylight there seemed to be 20 gobblers sounding off. Even in the dark confines of the blind I could see Luke's eyes were open wide with anticipation. The first group flew down then passed out of range to our right. A few minutes later another group did the same thing. No gobbblers would respond to my calling or give the decoy a second look. We could hear more gobblers still up on the ridge so we quickly gathered our gear; decoy,chairs , gun , video camera, shooting stick, blanket ( the mornings were cool), back pack full of snacks and the blind, In 2 trips we had it all repositioned 60 yards away on the deer trail that the birds were favoring that morning. It wasn't long before 3 hens came up the trail followed by a couple of gobblers. In the cover of the blind Luke was able to move around and get steady on his sticks for a solid hold. The biggest gobbler folded at the shot. As feathers floated off on the Black Hill's breeze I looked down at my young son to see his whole body shaking in excitement. I bent to hug him, and noticed I was shaking worse.
It was a special moment that will forever be cherished, delivered by Mike Schmid and his Solitude Ranch in grand style.

Finally, Sam's Turn....

The next year Sam and I headed back to Solitude Ranch in hopes of completing the" Hatcher Boy Turkey Grand Slam". To say the pressure was on would be a huge understatement. Sam had practiced quite a bit with his 4-10 single shot and was shooting good if he had plenty of time to aim.
Thankfully, Sam wasn't caught up in the " kill a bigger bird than brothers"
quest. He wished to bag a " a little gobbler, just like me". Once at the ranch, there appeared to be more turkeys than ever. Obviously the crops that were being planted and the management of the game were paying huge dividends. The first morning we worked several birds but I couldn't coax them into range. We returned to the ranch, had a quick snack then went to another blind where 2 big gobblers strutted and aggravated each other for several minutes, again just out of range. All morning long Sam kept whispering " I can't wait untill I get my Turkey".
We headed in for lunch and what I thought would be a long afternoon break.
As soon as Sam was done eating however he was raring to go out again. We soon had the pop-up blind postioned in a new spot, a jake and a hen decoy placed out 15 yards to the front in an old roadway. Within minutes Sam was taking a nap as Dad maintained a lookout and cast a few calls. After a while a single "hen" came down the trail and was checking out the decoys. I roused Sam so he could see her. As he rubbed his eyes open and focused, he whisperd excitedly " it has a beard!". The bird turned just right and sure enough I could see the monster 1.25" beard jutting from the gobblers chest.
The " Thunder Chicken"slowly walked circles in front us while I got Sam's gun up then reminded him to close the correct eye. He made a good trigger squezze only to hear the hammer fall on an empty chamber. Dad fumbled for the shell he had forgot to load, finally stuffing it into the 4/10 while Sam and the bird both patiently waited. Sam repeated his smooth squeeze but this time the "little gobbler" dropped.
I never thought such a young boys face could convey as much pride and confidence as Sam's did as he stroked the shiney feathers of his gobbler.

Sam returned home to a " hero's welcome" from his big brothers who all were excited to see his trophy. He held up the sandwich bag containing the 1.25" beard of the his lil' gobbler(" just like he wanted") and I smiled as he exclaimed how "his bird hardly had any legs at all. Mostly just had feets. He would have had a 20" beard if "........

My family's Thanks to Mike , Pam and their Solitude Ranch for allowing 4 boys and a Dad to share all those morning sun rises, the sounds of Gobblers on the roost and the smells of shot guns--- freshly shot, Those Memories will always be my greatest trophy.


Warren Hatcher
M&R Ops Foreman
EXXONMOBIL
Black Canyon/TTHB
LaBarge, Wy
Ph: (307) 276-6320
Fax (307) 276-6635

Warren Hatcher, Proud Dad