2011 - Wild Turkey hunt from 9 to 94

May 31, 2011 • Voyageur Press

David and Tyson not only bagged their own turkeys this season, but they assisted in four other hunts. Tyson shared that taking his 9-year-old son Drake out for his first hunt was the best hunt he has ever been on.

His hunting experience with 94-year-old Arnold Dahl would also rank up there as a memorable day. It only took 94 years, but Arnold bagged his first-ever turkey on his grandson’s farm.



“It is nice to go hunting in the spring,” said Tyson, “and it is fun taking the kids out and Arnold... you get them a bird and they are definitely hooked.”

By the expression on Drake’s face, he is certainly hooked. He shared his experience and how ‘Uncle Roger (Line)’ invited him over, because he had two Toms walking around the farm.

Drake began by seeking a little help from his dad and David and they set up a blind at ‘Uncle Roger’s’.

“We were sitting in the blind and David had been calling them in for about twenty minutes when some turkeys came in,” said Drake about his first turkey hunt, “but a coyote came and chased them all away.”

That didn’t deter Drake and after another 35 minutes, he would get another chance. “They were walking real fast and my dad said, ‘Are you going to shoot one?’ and I told him they were going too fast.”

When the birds headed back to the hen decoy they stopped. “My dad told me to aim at the head, so I did. I shot it right through the ear,” recalled Drake.

Drake is pretty proud of that fact that he shot a Tom and his dad still hasn’t done that yet. The plan is to put the tail feathers and the beard on a plaque. “It is my first-ever big game animal,” Drake said proudly. “Otherwise, I shot a lot of red squirrels!”

Drake and Tyson want to thank ‘Uncle Roger’ for letting them hunt at his place. Tyson added that Roger isn’t really Drake’s uncle, but he has always called him that.

If Drake’s hunt was memorable, Arnold Dahl’s would rank up there as remarkable. The 94-year-old outdoorsman had never shot a turkey and this year he decided it was time. He chose to hunt on his grandson Steven Dahl’s farm. He shared how much he enjoyed the experience.

“I went down to my niece’s house two years ago,” recalled Arnold. “There were a lot of turkeys, but we couldn’t get one.”

When this opportunity arose, Arnold jumped at this chance. Arnold explained how he went out opening morning and sat in the blind for eight hours. “I never seen a thing,” Arnold shared. “The next day, the wind blew so hard if I would have opened the door it would have blown the tent away.”

Thursday it rained. Finally, David called and told Arnold not to do anything to spook the turkeys and that he and Tyson would be there at 4:30 a.m. to call them in.

“David is a good caller... I tell you,” added Arnold. Tyson agreed.

As the three waited for the birds to arrive, Arnold confessed that he had his hood up and it was fogging up his glasses so he took them off. “Rule number one,” Arnold reported. “Don’t take your glasses off. Take off your hood!”

Arnold doesn’t hear very well at his age, and he recalls not hearing the birds come in, but he knew they were close, because David was smiling.

“We told him the birds were coming and he took my gun, because he has like a 100-year-old shot gun,” said Tyson. “When they were at about fifteen yards from the blind, he raises his gun up and yells, ‘I can’t see because my glasses fogged up and I took them off!’”

“When I picked up that rifle, I could not see the front bead,” added Arnold.

Tyson was trying to get Arnold to quiet down and at the same time, pushes the old man’s head out of the way so he can help line up the gun.

“I looked down the barrel for him and tried to line him up,” Tyson explained only to watch Arnold move the gun in the wrong direction. “There was one on the side that was a Jake, so I wanted him to shoot that one. So I get him lined up again and three times he moves the gun away from the target.”

“He was just getting frustrated because he can’t see, so then Arnold takes the gun and and hands it toward me and says, ‘Here... you shoot the son of a #@$!#!’ I told him I’m not shooting your turkey. So he gets his gun up again and yells, ‘Which one is the rooster?’”

Tyson and David busted out in laughter and once they composed themselves, lined up Arnold one more time. “He locked in on one bird that was fanned out. He could kind of see that one and he was sitting there, so I said, ‘Shoot the son of a #@$!#,’ and finally boom and he tipped it right over.”

Arnold invited David and Tyson over for a cowboy breakfast (steak, eggs, and baked beans) after his successful hunt. “While I was doing dishes, they cleaned up my turkey,” said Arnold. “They are a nice bunch of boys and they deserved it.”

There was a little razzing at breakfast, but Arnold has a great sense of humor. He enjoyed his hunt so much, he plans on a fall hunt next.

“Of course I’m going to do it again next spring if I’m alive,” he said with a grin.

Arnold concluded by sharing that he learned a lot in that twenty minutes. His advice: “Don’t go sit out there by yourself and expect a turkey to come in,” he said. “Have a good caller and don’t take your glasses off... leave them on!”