13-year-old kills first turkey, despite an unloaded gun

Youth hunter kept his cool, shucked a shell in with gobblers right in front of him

Fischer Richardson, 13-years-old from Latta, S.C., killed his first turkey on South Carolina’s 2021 opening youth weekend. The gobbler had a 9-inch beard and 1-inch spurs.

It was an exciting hunt, with gobblers putting a pounding on Richardson’s decoys.

And the young hunter added to the excitement by forgetting to put a shell in the chamber of his shotgun before the hunt started. It’s always a safe practice to wait until you’re completely set up and ready for the hunt before fully loading your gun. So as far as hunting mistakes go, it was a good one for Richardson to make. And it’s one that thankfully did not ruin the hunt.

His dad, Ryan Richardson, was by his side and prepared to do some calling when three hens came into their decoys. About 10 minutes later, two gobblers came out across the field about 200 yards away. The hens left the decoy spread and gathered up with the toms. Pretty soon, they all headed back into the woods together.

That’s when the elder Richardson began calling. But he barely made a peep before the gobblers objected forcefully.

“When they went back into the woods, I hit the call. The toms cut me off and started running full sprint towards us. I told Fischer to get his gun up slowly,” he said.

It was a lucky day for one turkey, an unlucky one for the other

The youngster got his shotgun into place, and his dad told him to take his time and take a shot whenever he feels ready.

“When he got ready to take his shot, ‘click,’” he said. “And I thought ‘oh no, he didn’t put a shell in the chamber.’”

Luckily, the gobblers didn’t notice the sound. They were too busy beating up the decoys, creating loud thumping noises every time they hit one. Fischer kept his cool, and followed his dad’s instructions.

“The turkeys are 20 yards away and Fischer has to shuck a shell into the camber. I wait until they get ready to hit the decoys again and tell him to shuck it. He does. I tell him to take the shot when he is ready. He does. And the bird flops!” he said.

The other turkey did not run off, but stuck around and put on a show for the hunters. It was that turkey’s lucky day — had it not been youth day, Richardson could have shot it to make it a double harvest with his son. But the proud dad was plenty happy anyway.

“It was one crazy hunt, but I was one proud dad. Fischer kept his composure when things didn’t go right, and he still got the job done. It’s the first bird for him, and it’s going to be one of the craziest hunts he will ever experience. I’ve been hunting 20 years and never had a hunt quite like that one!” said Richardson.