Aaron Henderson enjoys working with young people.
He’s not only a Spanish teacher at Camden Hills Middle School, he also serves as the school’s wrestling coach.
So this spring, with Henderson’s own children too old to hunt on youth spring turkey day, he opted to share the experience with another youngster.
Together, he and eighth-grader Colton Duke, who competes on the wrestling team, set out last Saturday to find some turkeys.
“He loves hunting and my kids have aged out of the youth hunts, so I enjoy taking him as his parents are not hunters,” Henderson said.
Colton, it turns out, is quite a successful hunter. He demonstrated his skills again on youth turkey day.
They set up on the edge of a field with a few decoys deployed directly in front of them. There was a flock of birds to the right of their position and there was another turkey approaching from the left.
“We had lots of action with this tom coming in from our left while a whole flock of birds came from our right,” Henderson said of the drama leading up to the shot.
Colton connected and took home a 20-pound bird of which any hunter would be proud.
“He shot his first ducks and deer last fall and this was his first turkey!” Henderson said.