It’s a Thrill for Dad, As
Son Takes First Turkey

Ten-year-old Garrett Laperle of Randolph with the wild turkey he shot Sunday on his very first weekend of hunting.

One Randolph hunter and his father both had an experience they will never forget Saturday, as 10-year-old fourth Grader Garrett Laperle brought down a 21-pound turkey (one-third of his own weight) on his very first day of hunting.

The successful hunt took place near the Laperle home on Spooner Road, with the help of a friend, Doug Sprague.

Garrett’s father Rick tells the story better than we could. (For those not familiar with turkey hunting, the toms must first be "called in" by vocalized turkey sounds or "calls" that the birds find appealing.)

By Rick Laperle

This was Garrett's first weekend hunting with a firearm. Garrett just turned 10 in March and studied very hard and passed the Hunter Safety Course on the 14th of April. He has been extremely intruiged with turkeys and turkey hunting for a long time. Garrett has learned some calls and is working to master them, but this day he did not call.

Garrett and I were hunting by our home on the Spooner Road Saturday and we heard some turkeys but could not get them to come to us. Dad is not a turkey hunter and my calling is not very good, so I called Doug Sprague to see if he could help us on Sunday; as his son Jacob shot a very large bird Saturday. Doug agreed to give us a hand.

Garrett, Doug and I left the house about 5:30 Sunday morning. Doug did all the calling for Garrett and had called in three or four birds to him, but never close enough to get a shot.

At one point Garrett could see the head of a turkey but I asked him to let the gobbler come a little closer, and he ended up not getting a shot. It was a very eventful morning, and the woods were alive with many toms gobbling all around us. That was a lot of fun.

We left the woods at around 9:30 a.m. to have a coffee and a snack and try to think about what to do next. We went up the road from our house and entered the woods around 10:30 just a quarter mile perhaps from where we had been earlier. Garrett had left his face mask at home so he used Doug's and Doug had to use some brush to hide his face. Garrett thought that was funny!

As we were climbing the hill, Doug called a few times and finally we heard a tom gobble very close to us. Garrett and I settled down with a very large fallen tree at our backs. Garrett was sitting in front of my lap with his shotgun resting on his knees, as Doug was about 20 yards behind us, calling. We could hear the turkey gobbling and coming closer from our right. He answered Doug's calling three or four times in just a couple of minutes.

Suddenly in front of us, I could see a very red head of the bird as it passed behind a large stump. Garrett saw it too and shifted slightly and was ready as the turkey passed by the stump around 30 yards in front of him. He made his shot (just one!) as the turkey entered an opening and as you can see by the smile on his face, he was very excited, as were both Doug and I.

The turkey weighed 21 1/2 pounds and had a 9 inch beard! Garrett tried to carry the turkey but the head kept hitting him in the ankle, so he left that for dad to do.

Both Garrett and I want to thank Doug for his time and his help in this adventure. He made the experience a great deal of fun.

From a Dad's perpesctive, this was an incredible experience to witness.

Garrett has worked hard to get himself in a position to be able to hunt and enjoy the outdoors and has been a wonderful and attentive student. For everyone with a child that has an interest in the outdoors, there is nothing more exciting and fullfilling than sharing this experience with them. You really need to get out there with your children, it's a great time.

When I tucked Garrett into bed that night, I kissed him and thanked him for a memory that I will cherish forever. I think he will too.