Well it was finally Turkey Season again, and after the year our daughters had last year, we were just hoping that they would get as lucky as they did last year. Both our girls harvested their first turkeys last spring on the same day. But this year they were going to try to harvest a turkey with their new PSE crossbow. With lots of practice in the backyard, our oldest daughter Emily was going to try it first. She is 7 now and very excited to get out to the turkey blind.

The Thompsons were gracious enough to offer us a spot to hunt so on the first day of Emily's 5 day hunt we headed up to the Thompson farm to try our luck. As we pulled into the field there were 3 Toms in full strut with a few hens, and Emily said she was going to get one of those "fat ones" as she called them. So we bumped the birds off the field so we could get the blind and decoys setup. It wasn't 20 minutes after Emily, Kylie, her 5yr old sister, my wife Holly and I were settled in the blind, the 3 Toms were back out in the field strutting. It took about an hour to finally get them to commit to the decoys. They came right in but didn't stick around to long. Emily got one in the cross-hairs of the scope and pulled the trigger but the arrow just missed to the left of the bird. We were all holding our breath waiting for Emily's reaction hoping she wasn't too disappointed. But instead she looked at us and said " it's ok, I'll just get the next one that comes in". Knowing how hard it can be sometimes to get another shot we were just hoping to get another chance.

The following day was Friday and I had to work until noon, so I called Holly and asked if she could go get the girls out of school- I was on my way home and we would head back out to the same spot to try it again. We had birds all around us the whole evening but none wanting to come in. After about 25 birds were at the other end of the field and the night was seemingly over, I spotted 2 Toms that were running around and chasing all of the other Toms off the field. I thought if they could see our decoys we might have a chance. Sure enough a few short yelps and they stopped, picked their heads up, and noticed our Killer B Tom decoy. They ruffled their feathers and started our way. I told Emily and Kylie "girls, these 2 are coming so get ready". I helped Emily get the crossbow up onto the trigger stick and she got the decoy in the scope. She said "I'm ready." As they were entering the blind window, I told Emily to look up so she could see them and she did. One of the Toms was in full strut and Emily again said " I want the fat one". As they came into the decoys, they were a mere 7 yds from the blind and facing right at us. She started saying "I got him, I got him, can I shoot?" I told her to take her time and squeeze the trigger. She steadied her aim and pulled the trigger and nothing happened. I was shocked and realized that I had not taken the safety off. I reached over, clicked the safety off and she got him back in the scope and said "I got him." He was now facing away from us and I told her to aim for the middle of the back. She says "Can I shoot?" I said "yep."

She pulled the trigger and anchored him right in his tracks with a perfect shot and the sheer joy and excitement in the blind was priceless!!

Emily and the rest of our family were all screaming with joy. She was so excited to get out there to look at her Tom. My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and said "Did that just happen?" So we all jumped out of the blind and ran over to him. Emily kept jumping up and down saying "I got the fat one, I got the fat one!"

We want to truly thank the whole Flatline Outdoors crew along with The Thompsons for allowing us to make such special memories for us and our two daughters.

Its all about passing this great sport of hunting onto our youth. And creating memories that will last forever!!!!!

Mike and Holly Wiltse

Here are the results of my trip to Steuben, Wisconsin. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get it on film, but at least it'll still taste delicious!!

I was drawn for their 3rd season (April 27 - May 1st) and it was over on day one! The morning started off full of gobbles from the tree tops but they were henned up the moment they hit the ground. I had one tom workin his way up a draw about 65 yards away when he spotted my jake decoy. He turned and hightailed it out of there. While trying to figure out what happened, 4 jakes showed up to check things out, but I wasn't interested in taking them.

We went in for breakfast & while talking with a local, she offered to let us hunt her 300 acres, so of course we jumped on it. She had foodplots down in the valley and up on top of the hills, and since I'm quite a few years younger than my hunting partner, I went up the hill and he went low.

It was about 250-300 yards to the top of the hill, but when I was about 50 yards from the top, I hit my crow call and instanly he gobbled from the field edge. I dropped my decoys and gear and snuck up another 10 yards sat down and started calling. It took a bit of coaxing to get him off the field edge & back into the woods, but after about 25 minutes I could hear him spittin & drummin so I knew he was close.

He finally popped out from behind a tree at 30 yards and two steps later my Benelli unleashed a 3 1/2 inch mag of 2oz shot into his cranium. Lights out!! His measurements are: 24lbs 10 1/2 inch beard 1 1/8 inch spurs!!
Our trip ended without filling the other tag, but on the last day we found 2 dead young bucks! Must've died fighting?

Jeremiah Alderman

I had finally gotten drawn in the lottery system in Minnesota!  My season ran Monday-Friday and Sam and I knew that the only day we could hunt sun up to sun down was Monday.

The morning started with us setting up in some pines.  Right away in the morning we knew we had set up too close to the roost as we hadn't been able to get out the night before to roost these birds.  The hens flew down and were quite nervous as they hit the ground.  With soft calling and a little movement of the decoy, we got the hens to calm down a bit to stay around.  Little did we know that a tom had flown down and was now in  full strut 10 yards BEHIND the blind.  The tom came within 5 yards of the back of the blind, all in full strut! He just wouldn't come out for a shot!

I was absolutely irritated at this point.  Usually this irritation does not occur until weeks and weeks of going through the turkey grind.  As the turkeys left the area so did we. We went to a few different spots throughout the day, but this giant bird would not get out of our minds.  I just had to kill this thing! We decided we were going back to hunt the roost.  I knew it was my best opportunity to kill this thing.  As we set up I knew it was going to be a long sit, but well worth it.  I spotted a tom through the woods at about 150 yards in full strut.  Looking through the bino's I knew it was him... the tom I wanted.

For two hours we watched this thing go in and out of strut until it came up the hill and decoyed right in.  I let him have it at 10 yards......long story short, I finally got him!

If you want to know the real story, just wait for Spring Fling Vol. 3.....coming in 2012.

Tony Seibert

The 3rd day of B season in Minnesota will always be remembered throughout the years. I only had 3 days to get a longbeard on the ground and I knew it would be tough. I had roosted a bird the night before and woke up the next morning to an inch and a half of snow....NOT GOOD! Absolutely no gobbling in the woods where I had roosted this bird and I was stumped. I was on the verge of not killing a turkey for the year.

My cameraman Sam kept my hopes up. He knew of a field down the road where turkeys had been killed in years past, and knew it was our last hope to get a bird on the ground.

We ran out there and set up about 10 am and struck the calls. A gobbler fired off just inside of the woods and took one look at the b-mobile 360 and came in on a string. I let the bird decoy up and listened to Sam as he talked me through the hunt as this was the first turkey that I would have ever shot.  I let the trigger on my release go and watched as my arrow struck where I was aiming. The bird ran through the field but didn't even make it to the edge.  I will always remember my SNOW kill in April!

Thanks to Sam for the hard work he put in to let me get a crack at putting my first turkey down!

It was cold and windy this morning, but after 7 am the sun shined down on us!

We had a 2 blind set with 2 cameras rolling as 2 Toms came running across the field from 200 yrds.

Sam played his sweet music with the mouth call and Mitch ran the Killer B with the 360 swivel and they could not resist. They came up to the decoys and I let him have it at 12yrds.

20 lbs 9-1/2" Beard and 3/4 spurs.

Thanks Dad, Sam and Mitch for helping me catch this on film. I will never forget this morning.

Connor

First time hunter bags his first bird with Team Flatline Outdoors

Once again the state of Minnesota along with the Thompson family have provided a life long memory for another youth hunter.

This weekend, we brought a first time hunter named Hunter, age 4 1/2, out to experience the wonderful sights and sounds in the turkey woods. The weather wasn't the ideal weather, but the birds were still strutting and gobbling.

The first morning we had a nice Tom come within 5 ft of the blind and Hunter's eyes were as big as golfballs. After trying to get him into position for a shot without spooking that big Tom, he ended up spotting us and the game was over.

The next afternoon we got set up in a corn field where Clay and Corey have been seeing 3 big toms every evening.

It wasn't long and we spotted a strutting Tom at the end of the field and he was headed our direction. He got to 60 yds and decided to head back with the group. We thought it was over, then about 1/2 hr later the Tom and 2 jakes were slipping through the woods, a few soft yelps and a couple spins on the decoy and he couldn't take it and was on his way. Hunter said to his dad Andrew "Dad, He's coming". Andrew got Hunter into position for the shot when the bird stopped at 25yds. Hunter pulled the trigger and yelled "GOT HIM DAD! I GOT HIM!!!!". His next words were "Dad, I smoked that jellyhead".

His smile was endless and the memories are priceless!

Thanks to the entire Thompson family along with the whole staff of Flatline Outdoors.

-Mike Wiltse
-From all of us at Flatline Outdoors & Flatline Productions Inc - Awesome job & Congratulations on your very first turkey!!! What a turkey it is!!!!
Hunter, you are truly a Turkey Hunting Ninja! Excellent Work!

April 15th, 2011 was the morning my dad and I will always share together. We got up at 4:30 a.m. to get out to our ground blind, even though the weather was cold and windy, the turkeys were still doing a lot of gobbling.

Our good friend, Tony Seibert, was behind the camera, and my dad was on the other side of me in the ground blind. The sun started to come up and my dad made a few calls.

We had two toms and four hens come walking into our decoys. I let the two toms check out my decoy set for a few minutes until I got a clear shot at one of the toms.

I released my arrow and was able to harvest my first tom by 7 a.m.

It is always a blast to go out spring turkey hunting with my family and friends!

Good luck to all who have tags to fill yet.

God bless,

Kendra

OPENING DAY OF MINNESOTA TURKEY SEASON

FLATLINE OUTDOORS PROSTAFFER JUNIOR EMMA HEIN
- BAGS 'BIG BIRD' -

24 pound 10-1/8" Neck tie & 1" spurs
19 yards with 20 gauge
All in awesome HD video!

1st Bird of the year is on the ground!

The morning was mild and windy. As Emma and her dad, Flatline Outdoors' Pete Hein, pulled out of the driveway at O' dark hundred to head down to brother Corey's for opening morning of the Minnesota spring turkey season, rain drops spotted the windshield.

Upon arriving at Flatline Outdoors' Corey Thompson's, we were met with hugs and high 5's - and you could just feel it was going to be a very special morning.

We were going out early to set up. There was no blind out, so we headed out a little early to set things up under the cover of darkness. Like Ninjas in the night, this deadly trio silently made their way to their ambush spot. An area well know for sending big birds to turkey heaven. With all the tools of the serious ground and pounder in tow, we set up the Primos Darkhorse Blind and positioned the newest weapon in our turkey death arsenal, "T1" - A custom Primos Killer "B" Tom Decoy with Pete's fan and beard from his 1st MN Bow kill bird, all set on a 360 degree chassie.

As we nestled into the comforts & darkness of the blind, rain began to pour down. With the gun, HD camera and gear in place, Emma, Pete and Corey prayed together...as we prayed, we were truly in the presense of the Lord. As the the wind and rain whipped outside of the blind, we prayed, quoting Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord, whatever you do; and your plans will succeed.", I kissed my daughter on top of the head and asked for a blessing on Emma's hunt. A safe, fun hunt....amen

10 minutes passed. The east began to show light. The rain stopped, the skies lightened, the wind died and the woods erupted in a chorus of gobbles. Hearts began to pound!

At sun up, 2 hens made there way into the decoy spread and calmly departed for greenier pastures. And just enough time passed from their coming and going to calm the racing pulses inside the blind, before 2 long beards started to bear down on our set.

The pair of Toms were coming through the woods to our left. They were not wasting anytime either. Pretty much on a dead run, backs humped, ready to rumble. They marched right into the decoys, dancing, bobbing, darting, showing off! They were silohetting each other. No clear shot. As Emma took aim, the birds darted and moved, making it very difficult to stay on target. Like a whily ol' veteran, Emma showed unbelivable poise. Patience. Waiting for the ok from dad to shoot, Emma concentrated on the kill zone. The ever moving, bobbing, darting kill zone. As the pair of Toms danced around the decoys, they made their way out of the decoy spread to our left, and thats when the unbelievable happened, the smaller Tom kept walking away and the Big Ol' Tom turned around, like he was saying "You talking to ME?..." - He turns around and slows to a crawl, neck stretched and starts walking right at the blind. Perfect clear shot opportunity! - I quietly whispered to Emma, SHOOT! - Emma took aim........and BOOM! - The Big Ol' long beard was on his back!

All the practice in the backyard. The teaching. The entire season last year of hunting. The Keith & Mike turkey videos. Watching Spring Fling Vol 1 - 150 times! -

ALL PAID OFF! - As tears filled my eyes, the joy of watching my daughter harvest her first turkey, was an awesome experience. To share it all with a brother. To be able to watch it back on video. To see her tell the story to her friends and family, truly a blessing!

There is no other joy in the world that can compare to sharing your faith with the ones you love. To enjoy GOD's creation with your family. To watch your child grow before your eyes......we were truly blessed this day. Praise God!

A special thanks to our brothers. From the entire Flatline Outdoors Family, "Congratulations Emma! - you now have graduated to full blown ground blind ninja status!"

- From the happiest dad in the entire universe

Good Morning Cabela's,

From all of us at Team Flatline Outdoors & Flatline Productions Inc (501-c3)
Thank you very much for your support for our 2011 Youth Spring Turkey Hunts @ the U of M Cedar Creek!

The kids and mentors absolutely loved the lanyards, water bottles and turkey calls you donated for this special
pre-hunt meeting. We had 21 first - time youth turkey hunters plus mentors at this event.

Team Flatline Outdoors met with the youth hunters on site at Cedar Creek, a 9 square mile, research facility near East Bethel Minnesota. This is where over the next 6 weeks, we will be conducting mentored, HD Videod youth turkey hunts!
Where boys & girls will be introduced to hunting for the first time. Even some of the mentors, including dad's & uncles, are
getting hooked & fired up about this upcoming turkey season.

The atmosphere was filled with a tons of educatioal pieces and seminars by Team Flatline Outdoors Prostaff, The U of M
Cedar Creek Staff, and the MN DNR. The kids were involved in interactive video clips, hands on equipment seminars and
the whole meeting was followed by a very successful 'Shed Hunt' - where the youth found over 16 shed antlers! including
a 70 plus" 5 pointer!

The products donated by Cabela's was a huge bonus to the kids (and us). The feedback was over whelming! There will be first time youth turkey hunters using the Primos 'Spring Hen' calls to harvest their very first bird! We can not thank you enough for your support! It is truly a blessing to be able to work with Steve Lonn on events like these, knowing such a great company cares so much for the future of the sports we love so much & are so passionate about is awesome. Thank you again!

From all of us at Team Flatline Outdoors & Flatline Productions Inc
Thank you & GOD Bless!

Sincerely,
Pete Hein
Proverbs 16:3