Young Blood

article by Dan Chason

If there is one guy on this planet that I’ve grown to know as a true turkey predator, it would be my son Andy Chason.  If you follow my career in the outdoors, you will know that my one and only son started filming our show “Dan Chason Outdoors” at the young age of 8.  He graduated to producing the show at the age of 12 and now at the age of 40 and having graduated from ULM in his chosen field, owns “Plugged In Creative” a popular video production studio.

Recently, Andy and I were invited to join TP Outdoors owner, Bill Petrus the host of TP Outdoor Adventures, on a turkey hunt to his place in west Texas.  Having less than favorable trips on our annual trip over the last 3 years, we looked forward to the trip with Bill.  Bill is a gifted hunter and I will say with no reservation, the best host of any trip I have ever attended.  There was no pressure, no expectations.  As usual, we started our trip in a driving rain and 40 degree temperature, and I was not surprised.   It’s just how the Chason luck goes.

Bill had selected a number of spots and drove us around upon arrival to let us decide what looked the most promising. Our Andy is a “run and gun” type of turkey hunter.  I am not.  My idea of a fun hunt is to set up in a ground blind, in a comfortable chair and wait them out.  Saves me much stress on bad knees and a bad back.  The next morning, Andy agreed and we all three set up in a ground blind.  I had brought my mechanical decoy we named Murray (inventor of the Mojo decoy) and waited.  Intermittent rain and wind was an issue and few gobblers where heard but we did have hens visit our area which was encouraging.  About noon, Bill decided we could catch a bite and maybe ride around the other properties and see what we could see.  I opted to take a nap at the camp and Bill and Andy went on the scouting trip.  When they returned around 1:45 my son was fit to be tied.  They drove up on not one but two doubles.  Two pairs of strutting gobblers and Andy was bouncing off the walls.  The decision was then made for the next day to pursue the alternative areas but we would go ahead and finish the day where we started as our decoys were still out and we could slip in and hunt.  That is where the fun started.

We dismounted the truck and after walking about 100 yards, I realized I had left essential gear and returned to the truck while Bill and Andy went on to our blind.  As I approached well to the rear, I could see Bill and Andy both about 70 yards from our blind and they were on the ground.  I ducked under a mesquite tree and watched.  Apparently, a gobbler had located Murray, our decoy and was literally tearing my decoy to pieces.  They watched him for about 10 minutes and I saw my son start to belly crawl.  Bill was filming and I was thinking “now that’s a dead turkey.”  Sure enough, Andy was able to conceal himself in the grass and behind the turkey’s view with our ground blind and put the number 9 TCC through his head.  Dead turkey.  I won’t go into how hard both of them ribbed me for missing it but I was proud.  I wanted Andy to take the first one and take it he did in dramatic fashion.  We ended the day seeing more hens and we had turkey’s gobbling within hearing distance.  We saw two more gobblers who were pulled off of us by hens.  We ended the day with a fabulous meal and awoke to a clear day and high expectations.

  The second morning hunt was good but no takers.  That afternoon, Bill offered to let us split up and see if we could cover 3 different areas.  I told Bill that if he dropped Andy at the mall, he would probably still find a turkey.  I know my son well.  He was dropped at the gate on an area of roughly 300 acres dotted with mesquite and tall grass.  Now remember this is where the West Texas Rattlesnake Roundup is held.  Wading through grass knee high with a high population of rattlesnakes isn’t my idea of fun.  So I opted to go back to the security of the ground blind and prayed my son would not run into old “no shoulders.”

Andy heard the gobbler, who was on the move from about a quarter mile away.  Andy worked his way to within 80 yards but the gobbler was hung up.  He  refused to cross a small ditch so Andy closed the distance to within 60 yards and spotted him.  The strut was on as the gobbler was hot but would not come any closer.   With the grass high and scattered mesquite trees, Andy placed his hen decoy on his head and put his mouth call to work.  The turkey made it to 42 yards and that was his last move.  This gobbler was estimated to be at least 4 1/2 inches and sported 1 3/8 inch spurs.  There was no feathers or hair left on his chest from dragging his body through the rough terrain.  A great hunt, a great memory and a tribute to man who possesses no quit.

I will say that this was a trip to remember.  I didn’t have an opportunity and neither did Bill but you can tune in to future episodes of TP Outdoor Adventures to experience what I will always remember as another time “Andy puts it on us.”  Congratulations to Andy and thank you Bill for the memories.