Success comes early for these Ohio turkey hunters, aged 6 and 7

The (Wooster) Daily Record is reporting that two proud fathers recently joined with their children on successful turkey hunts.

Wes Martin's son, Dylan, 7, and Scott Ries' daughter, Abby, 6, each harvested a jake early in the 2009 season.

From the story:

"I'm a turkey-hunting nut. I've been hunting for years," said Ries. "Abby showed interest, so I took her out."

But, not before putting his daughter through the paces, which considering Ries is a Wayne County sheriff, and former Ohio Division of Wildlife employee, is probably harder than most young hunters go through.

"We practiced out in the backyard," said Ries. "I worked with her for two weeks. When her mother and I felt she was capable, we went and got her an apprentice license and a turkey tag."

The newspaper goes on to report that Ries started Abby out with a .410 shotgun, and made the shooting process even easier by attaching a scope to the gun. He then added shooting sticks, knowing that he and his daughter would be shooting out of a hunting blind.

"I put cans out at 20 yards, and I said, 'if you can hit five in a row, I'll take you hunting,'" said Ries.

Needless to say, Abby was up to the task, and it wasn't long before father and daughter were in the woods.

Ries set up a Pretty Boy full strut decoy 20 yards from the blind -- just like Abby practiced in the backyard. He topped off the decoy with the fan of a jake turkey, and waited for the action to heat up. First a hen came in, then two jakes.

"Abby was sitting on my lap, so I had a pretty good idea she was on the bird," said Ries. "I said, 'where are the cross-hairs?' and she said, 'on the turkey's head.' So I said, 'take the shot."

The young hunter was just as good in the woods as she was in the backyard, dropping the bird where it stood.

"She made a really good shot," said Ries. "I knew she could do it, but in the back of my mind, I didn't know if she could when it came to the real deal."

Once Abby took the shot, she dove out the blind's window to see her bird, but got caught up in some strings, and was hanging upside-down.

"I pushed her out and then she ran to get the bird," said Ries. "But she didn't realize how heavy it was, and had a hard time carrying it back to the blind.

"I just laughed, then picked her up and hugged her."

The story goes on to say that Martin was a proud papa as well.

His son Dylan bagged a bird on the Sunday of the youth season, finding success on his second day of hunting.

Dylan only weighs 45 pounds, so he too had a tough time lugging his turkey home. Dylan used a Mossberg 505 youth 20 gauge to harvest his gobbler./blockquote>