Ohio Turkey Hunting Trip Day Two

The big morning is finally here. The alarm clock rang at 5:30am and we all scrambled to get out of bed and get our camouflage on, eat, load up and get to the woods. We made it to our parking spot and split into two groups as we headed to our spots. Jake was with me and Michael went with Jim. Being that this was Jake’s first time out hunting, I thought I should carry his shotgun for him till we got sat down. He carried in his seat and the backpack. After about a 10 – 15 minute walk we picked a spot where a ridge ran out into a low spot in a ravine and set out decoy up there. As I walked out to put the new Montana 2D decoys out, I noticed that I gave Michael three hens instead of two, so I now get to set out a lone gobbler decoy, oh well! The sun was starting to rise up and the air was starting to warm up quite a bit by now. The bugs were starting to get busy also, so I got out the ‘ol ThermaCell and fired it up. Within a couple of minutes, no more bugs, man I love that thing! I heard what I thought was a gobbler off in the distance, but I wasn’t going to go chasing it since I was in a new place to hunt, last thing I wanted to do is get lost. We heard what we thought were some hens a couple of different times also. I found out later that Michael and Jim heard another gobbler and some hens nearby, but didn’t see anything either. At least we were hearing birds!
After about 8:30am it started to get really warm out and we weren’t hearing any more birds, so I decided that we should eat a snack, and it was then that little Jake got sick. That was the worst feeling I think I could have had at that moment, here he was on the first big hunt of his life and he gets sick. I felt so bad for him. I thought he was just getting to hot, so we peeled off some of the camo and then got up and walked back out to the truck. He got to feeling somewhat better so we picked another spot near by to go and sit until 11:00 am, that is when we were all going to meet back up at the truck. He made it until about 10:15 and he got sick again. So we headed back to the truck and the guys were already there waiting for us. They got too hot also. It was almost 80 degrees by now! We headed back to camp to get something to eat, but Jake just kept getting worse. I thought to myself, here we go, we are going to have to pack it in and head home. I called home to ask my wife what to do, and she told me to get him some Coca-Cola to drink. I thought that sounds crazy, but ok we’ll try it.
Michael and Jim wanted to go fishing at a near by lake, so we hooked the boat to Jim’s truck and put Jake in and headed to the store and the lake. I got some Coke for Jake, then we went to Ruppert Lake and put the boat in. Michael and Jim headed out and Jake stayed with me on shore and fished from the shoreline. After he finished his can of soda, he told me that he felt great and wanted to get in the boat. I called Michael back in and they picked up Jake and headed back out to fish. As I write this entry, I’m sitting on the dock watching them fish and writing the blog entry with my feet dangling in the water! Now that is the way to end the day! I hear two geese coming in to land right now, we have seen a couple this afternoon while we were here. I makes me want to go get the shotgun and load up! If these guys catch enough fish, we will have them for supper, if not, its hamburgers again! They have only caught on bass so far!