And It All Started with Turkey

The NWTF decided to compose a story on Braedan and his hard work in completing his Single Season Grand Slam. It is so well written, and Matt the author even went as far to contact a few of his friends in the business. Thank you Matt! We cherish this.

Thank you to everyone that supported Braedan on his journey to get his Grand Slam!  It was a blast and he felt all the Love, Prayers and Support!

God Bless you all!

The Roost Lodge In Nebraska invited Braedan out to get a shot on his last bird, The Merriam. We headed out there Memorial Day weekend, got in Friday morning around 5am. By 10am, he had his Merriam. We found a few in a field, and set up under a tree and Jeremy and Dustin gave Braedan the low down on what they were going to do. We saw them from a ways away, and then they were in and out of sight. Before he knew it two red heads were in front of him and he lined up on them listening to Dustin telling him which one was the true Merriam. They kept switching on him but Braedan remained calm as can be and layed it down to rest. It was a quick but incredibly awesome hunt! Thank you Jim Kuhn, Jeremy and Dustin for all that you did to make this happen for Braedan. 

In May, Braedan joined our local National Wildlife Turkey Federation and Wheeling Sportsmen's Organization's to hunt the Eastern. He hunted first with our Maumee Valley Chapter and didn't have the luck and the weather was not on our side with rain. But we always enjoy this great group of people that are our family. And a few of the hunters got their birds, so it was a successful weekend.  The weekend after, Braedan was welcomed to hunt with the NWTF Longbeards in Williams County Ohio. We met our guide Tracy at our spot bright and early and set off to the blind. We heard a lot of gobbling that morning and early afternoon but they did not want to come out of the woods. We relocated the blind to another area near a pond that Braedan bagged his bearded hen at last year, and waited for day break. Before too long we heard them gobbling and we hit them back. Pretty soon, a big ol longbeard come walking quietly out of the woods and Braedan got his bead on him and took him down.  

In In April 2017, we headed to Florida once again to try to get the elusive Osceola that seemed to give Braedan the slip so far. Between both trips, (yes that's right we made 2 more trips) Braedan was able to finally bag the Osceola. We are very gratefull to Tommy Beasley of Gator Quest and Harold Kennard of Osceola Obsession for helping us make this happen. We had a great time full of memories.

In April 2017, We head off to Kansas to give Braedan a chance on shooting a Rio Grande Turkey as part of his Grand Slam. Packing up and driving 15+ hours but it is worth it to make his dream come true. After that, we head back to Florida again to get another shot on the Osceola. Stay tuned to hear more soon.

April 6th, Braedan bagged his first Rio and it was a beautiful one! A bird with 2 beards and weighing 22 lbs. Incredible to watch, and as you can imagine his excitement was through the roof! Then he turned around the very next day and tagged out shooting another one at 50 yards. We had a wonderful time with Candler De Juan and Myles Foshee in Kansas learning much about the Rio Grande Turkey. Tagged out in Kansas,

Osceola

In March 2017, we traveled to Arcadia Florida for Braedan's first shot at an Osceola turkey. We hunted hard for 4 days sitting in orange groves, under palmetto trees and even crossed a river twice to get to them but it just wasn't meant to happen this time around. For those of you that don't know, turkeys have great eye site and hearing. You have to be very still and camo from head to toe. Braedan has such patience and sat so still and at his age and especially his condition, that is hard to do. Alas, we will be traveling back there after our trip to Kansas in April to give him another shot. All in all, we had a great time and we saw many birds and other critters as well.

"And it all started with a Turkey"

2017 is bringing in a HUGE goal for Braedan. His passion and drive of hunting is like nothing most will see in a young boy. It's hard to believe where it has taken us and all the wonderful opportunities in places that he has been able to hunt. The amazing incredibly kind people that we have had the grace to meet and that have literally wrapped him with love. He truly feels this love and we feel blessed by it.  With that, his love of hunting really all started with his first trophy of a Eastern Turkey in which our wonderful NWTF and Wheeling Sportsmen's Chapter gave Braedan the opportunity to hunt in. It was not just an ordinary guided hunt though. Our chapter brought in a special Guest Guide this year, and Braedan was lucky enough to be chosen to hunt with him. Michael Waddell, The Bone Collector joined him and Scott in the blind that morning and it was a great experience that we feel so blessed for and will never forget. We wish to Thank our NWTF Chapter and Wheeling Sportsmen's group and Michael for a wonderful day. That morning, really seemed to be the spark that started his real passion for hunting and it has not stopped since.

Turkey hunting is one of his top game that he loves to hunt and his goal in 2017 is to get the Turkey Grand Slam all in one year.

  Below is video of that wonderful morning that Michael captured for us.

Braedan's 2017 Turkey Grand Slam

For those of you that do not know what a Turkey Grand Slam is...

In the United States we have 4 species of turkey across our beautiful country.  They are the Eastern, Osceola, Rio Grande and Merriam.  All turkeys have a variety of differences about them that make them unique. 

 We have hunts lined up in areas across the United States for him to get his chance on these birds.  Braedan has the task at hand to make it happen after getting there. He understands fully that not all hunts end in bagging a trophy but he would like to accomplish this and also see if you would be willing to support him and his goal in pledging and amount for every turkey he bags.  

You can do this by clicking on our donate button and you can even leave him a special messae that he will get there. All funds are directed to our Braedan's Bridge, Inc. account so it is completely safe.

100% of all donations will be going towards Duchenne Research to help save Braedan and many other lives living with this devastating disease. 

A look at Braedan's Turkey hunts thus far

After hunting with Michael, the very next weekend we headed to Michigan to a friends place to hunt turkey. Scott had never used a call before and only went off of what he saw that day with Michael, some You Tube videos and practice and after we got settled in a blind he gave it a shot. Before we knew it, we had turkeys coming in for a visit and Braedan lined up on one and got it.  Thank you Rob for letting us hunt on your land!

A Bearded Lady

In 2016, we connected to another NWTF Chapter that graciously invited Braedan to hunt with them. We decided we would head west and he would try his luck there. He ended up shooting a bearded hen that day, and he was so excited to add that to his trophies. Thank you NWTF Longbeards Chapter for your support and generosity. 

We will keep you posted on his hunts on this site and you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. We start his Grand Slam Journey off with heading to Florida soon to try and bag an Osceola Turkey. From then on he is hunting turkey each month through May.

If you would be so kind as to pleadge an amount of your choice each time he get's one of his trophies, we would be ecstatic in knowing you support him not only as an outdoorsman with goals but also supporting his will to live.  God Bless.

You can donate on line or by sending us a check to Braedan's Bridge.