Richards, 12, tags 2 turkeys during youth weekend

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Darrell Richards knows that turkey hunting can be an exhilarating and frustrating game.

The Roque Bluffs man started hunting turkeys 20 years ago … and it took three years before he actually bagged a bird.

Over the ensuing years, he has become adept at the sport, and had looked forward to sharing the experience with his children, including daughter Lily.

“I’ve had her in the woods with me since she was probably 21/2,” Richards said on Monday, after a busy weekend afield. “She likes to turkey hunt most of all the things she’s done.”

After the weekend she just enjoyed, Lily likely enjoys turkey hunting even more.

The 12-year-old sixth-grader didn’t just tag the first turkey of her life on Maine’s Youth Turkey Day.

She tagged two.

Before you call the wardens, you’ve got to realize that her dad is pretty serious about his hunting.

And he knew that if he planned ahead, Lily could get the chance to hunt both weekend days.

New Hampshire, you see, also holds a youth day … and it was on Sunday. For the record, the duo also took part in Rhode Island’s youth hunt the weekend before but didn’t have any luck.

According to Darrell Richards, he and Lily rose at 2:30 a.m. Saturday and drove from Roque Bluffs to the home of friends Gary and Debbie Sargent in Surry.

Roque Bluffs isn’t in a zone where hunting is allowed, and the early start was necessary.

“After a few minutes in the blind, Lily and I can hear three birds gobble,” Richards said in an e-mail. “By 5:30 the birds are on the ground, [and] a few yelps later the toms are on their way in. To add a little more to the mix, a couple hens showed up along with nine jakes.”

In all, the Richards had 13 birds in front of them at one point.

After a few turf battles, the tom drove the jakes away, and Lily was left with a 15-yard shot.

She connected.

“Everybody in eastern Maine heard us scream,” Richards wrote.

That bird weighed in at 18.7 pounds and sported a 71/2-inch beard and 3/4-inch spurs.

But the weekend was young, and the Richards team was just getting started.

After tagging the bird in Bucksport, they drove five hours to the town of Alstead, in southwestern New Hampshire.

And early Sunday, the trip paid off.

Darrell Richards said he spied five jakes in a field, and the duo set up a jake decoy and began calling.

“After 15 minutes and what seems like 100 gobbles, three birds arrived,” he wrote.

When they did, Lily was ready: She took aim with her New England Firearms 20-gauge shotgun and picked off the one on the far left, at a range of 21 yards.

That bird weighed 14 pounds and had a 31/2-inch beard.

Darrell Richards said friends often ask him why he spends so much time and effort hunting turkeys, and rising from bed at obscene hours to do so.

His answer is simple. He just tells them about Lily.

“I can put it this way,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of sunrises together.”

‘Outdoor friend’ bags another

When hunting season rolls around – any hunting season, really; the species doesn’t seem to matter much – I sometimes receive a particularly enjoyable e-mail.

And it’s always signed, “Your outdoor friend.”

My outdoor friend is Holly Hughes of Corinna. And since her dad first told me about her hunting exploits three years ago, Holly has sent periodic updates.

Hughes is 15 now, and over the past five years of hunting, she has tagged five deer. On Saturday, she capped yet another successful turkey season.

Hughes doesn’t send an e-mail every time she has a successful hunt but does so when she’s got a tale to tell. And this year, she did.

“It’s been awhile since I last wrote to you (two deer and two turkeys ago),” she wrote. “I just enjoyed another successful youth hunting day, bagging my fourth straight turkey. It was a rather challenging hunt due to the fact I was on crutches as a result of a serious softball injury.

“Although I enjoy my extracurricular activities at Nokomis (field hockey, cheering and softball along with being a member of the school bands), I still had the desire to get up and go hunting for my fourth turkey even though I had a badly sprained ankle,” she wrote.

Hughes quickly found that her mobility was a limiting factor and changed her game plan.

“Although I badly wanted to bag a tom, I realized it was going to be difficult to get around with crutches, and settled for the first bird I was able to call in to my decoys,” she wrote.

Hughes ended up with a nice jake … and kept up her skein of successes.

Congratulations, Holly … and to the rest of the state’s youth hunters who enjoyed their own special Saturday in the Maine woods.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.