The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Passing it on to the next generation.....just great!!

buck460XVR · January 11, 2013, 08:15 PM

Several years ago, I had my youngest out for the youth turkey season. We had been working a Tom for about a hour on our first set up of the mornin' with him gobblin' at every call I made, but alas, the boy moved and the Tom saw him before he saw the Tom and it was game over. We were returning to the truck, walking along a gravel access road that dead ended at a small lake, when we heard a vehicle pull off the blacktop road onto the lane we were on. First thing the boy says is, "bet they're lookin' for that Tom that was gobblin' his head off!". As soon as the truck rounded a small corner and became visible, we saw a shotgun barrel being pulled back into the cab. When it passed we saw it was a dad driving the 4-door pick-up and his son was seated in the middle of the back seat with both windows open. It was pretty obvious to us both what was goin' on....and yes, it's illegal to shoot from a vehicle in Wisconsin. It's also illegal to have a loaded long gun in a vehicle unless you have a disabled hunter permit and have a sign posted to prove it. When the truck turned around at the lake and came by us again, it stopped and the dad asked if we had heard that Tom. I told him we had, but it was probably in the next county by now. I then looked in the back at the kid with the loaded gun across his lap. Back then it was also illegal to have a uncased gun in a vehicle. I asked him if had taken hunter safety and when he nodded yes, I said "then you know what you are doing is illegal?" The kid didn't answer, he just looked at his dad. Dad then got defensive and started making statements about it being a tuff hunt for a kid and that his boy really wanted to get a bird and the only birds they had seen all season were driving around. My reply was that no turkey was worth loosing my guns, my hunting privileges and a $35000 pickup....and the last thing I would want is a excited inexperienced hunter swingin' a loaded shotgun past the back of my head with his finger on the trigger. Funny part was, according to the dad as they left, I was the one being a butt-hole. Yep....he too was "passin' it on!"

January 11, 2013, 08:15 PM	#6
buck460XVR Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2006 Posts: 4,342	Several years ago, I had my youngest out for the youth turkey season. We had been working a Tom for about a hour on our first set up of the mornin' with him gobblin' at every call I made, but alas, the boy moved and the Tom saw him before he saw the Tom and it was game over. We were returning to the truck, walking along a gravel access road that dead ended at a small lake, when we heard a vehicle pull off the blacktop road onto the lane we were on. First thing the boy says is, "bet they're lookin' for that Tom that was gobblin' his head off!". As soon as the truck rounded a small corner and became visible, we saw a shotgun barrel being pulled back into the cab. When it passed we saw it was a dad driving the 4-door pick-up and his son was seated in the middle of the back seat with both windows open. It was pretty obvious to us both what was goin' on....and yes, it's illegal to shoot from a vehicle in Wisconsin. It's also illegal to have a loaded long gun in a vehicle unless you have a disabled hunter permit and have a sign posted to prove it. When the truck turned around at the lake and came by us again, it stopped and the dad asked if we had heard that Tom. I told him we had, but it was probably in the next county by now. I then looked in the back at the kid with the loaded gun across his lap. Back then it was also illegal to have a uncased gun in a vehicle. I asked him if had taken hunter safety and when he nodded yes, I said "then you know what you are doing is illegal?" The kid didn't answer, he just looked at his dad. Dad then got defensive and started making statements about it being a tuff hunt for a kid and that his boy really wanted to get a bird and the only birds they had seen all season were driving around. My reply was that no turkey was worth loosing my guns, my hunting privileges and a $35000 pickup....and the last thing I would want is a excited inexperienced hunter swingin' a loaded shotgun past the back of my head with his finger on the trigger. Funny part was, according to the dad as they left, I was the one being a butt-hole. Yep....he too was "passin' it on!"