After an uneventful youth turkey season, Ella Anderson believed a good luck charm might help her bag her first gobbler.
It's a National Wild Turkey Federation medallion that her father Tye Anderson gave her for Christmas in 2020 for good luck after the father and daughter shared a heart-to-heart conversation about hunting. Ella had experienced only bad luck in several seasons of turkey hunting, but she killed two bucks in her first deer season.
"I asked her at Christmas which she liked better, deer hunting or turkey hunting," Tye said. "She immediately said deer hunting. I asked her why, and she said because it's easier. I gave her the medallion, and we talked about how hunting is more about memories as we talked about her near misses with turkeys over the last two years. We talked about how turkey hunting requires good woodsmanship, patience and a little bit of luck."
Ella then relived the high points of the turkey hunts together.
"That's why I got her the medallion, just so she might remember some of the hunts she went on with her dad years down the road," Tye said. "Considering how difficult our turkey seasons have been over the last few years, I'm thankful she stuck with it. We were both rewarded with a great memory."