Neil and Karsyn Kelly with the young hunter’s first turkey.
He’s game for adventure, there’s no doubt about that.
And this spring, it paid off with a gobbler.
Karsyn Kelly of Fox Chapel bagged a turkey just after 7:30 a.m. on April 28, opening day of Pennsylvania’s statewide spring season. It had a 10-inch beard and 1-inch spurs.
He dropped the bird with one shot, too.
Oh, and did we mention he’s only 6 years old?
Hunting with his grandfather, Neil Kelly of Latrobe, under the guidelines of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s mentored youth hunting program, he made the shot on his own. He held the gun, aimed and fired himself.
“I didn’t give him any help, other than some coaching and a lot of practice,” Neil Kelly said. “After all of the congratulations, Karsyn ran to me with open arms, jumped on me, hugged me and said ‘I love you pap.’ That was awesome.”
Kelly started hunting with Karsyn when he was 4. They tried using a youth model 20-gauge shotgun, and aiming together, but that never seemed to work.
Karsyn missed birds each of his first two years.
So, this past Christmas, Kelly bought Karsyn and his cousin Easton youth model .410s. Then, they went to work.
They started out shooting paper targets, then switched to long, thin balloons – think the kind clowns use to make balloon animals – to simulate a turkey’s head and neck.
They spent time in the woods, too. Some days started before the sun was up.
“He jumps right up. He thinks that’s the greatest thing there is,” Neil said. “Walking into the woods in the dark, he loves it.”
The pair hit the woods for the youth-only gobbler hunt, and had a bird located.
But another hunter showed up and put an end to things.
So they hit the woods again on opening day of the statewide season. They began calling to a gobbler, and played with him for 90 minutes or so.
Finally, it came into range, but amidst their decoy setup. That required waiting a bit longer.
“It took two minutes to come into range and that was the longest two minutes of my life,” Neil said.
Karsyn got his bird, though, shooting on his own.
Now, his grandfather has a new plan.
“His little sister Kylie Just turned 5 in March and I bought her the same .410 pump in pink camo. With a lot of practice Kylie and Easton hopefully will get their first gobbler in the next year or so,” he said.
Karsyn Kelly is all smiles with his first gobbler.
