Several area kids found success during New York’s second Early Youth Turkey Hunt this past weekend.

The birds were very responsive Saturday morning as a multitude of gobbles came from turkeys on their roosts at the crack of dawn. One would sound off and the others would answer on the surrounding hillsides.

It’s a thrill to be in a meadow or on a forest ridge when you can listen to the tree talk and morning chorus from a flock as the first fingers of dawn break through the darkness. Just ask Otego resident Brandon Garrison, who experienced that magic moment and shot his first tom turkey with an eight-inch beard last weekend with the help of his uncle.

Despite the weekend’s rainy weather, plenty of other new, young hunters had great stories, too.

Ryan Strong of Milford took a nice bird, even though he was knocked over by the kick of his 12-gauge and the magnum loads he us[an error occurred while processing this directive]ed. When he got up, the bird was down.

Ryan’s brother Chuck had trouble when a bird came in close. His gun failed to discharge as he pulled the trigger, so the bird got away. At least he took a good tom turkey during last year’s early hunt.

That’s why this youth hunt is so great. These kids will be hooked for life, and their companions — fathers, uncles, neighbors and friends — probably got more of a thrill than if they shot the birds themselves.

The regular season opens Sunday, and there should be plenty of birds. The turkey population is up because of the easy winter, and they’re making a good comeback even though spring has been cold and wet the last couple of years.

Spring hunting is great.

Like the bugle of an elk, the gobble of an old tom just gets your heart pumping. An added bonus is that spring bird hunting ends at noon, leaving the afternoon open for your favorite trout stream. It’s a blast-and-cast situation: You can shoot turkeys in the morning and catch fish in the afternoon. What a day!

Even with the heavy rains, fishing has been very good.

Take Unadilla resident Dave Keogh. On opening day, he and his friends took a couple 6-pound browns from the small dam above Deposit on the West Branch of the Delaware.

Last week, Keogh caught-and-released several large trout from some other local streams. By walking a little farther up or down the creeks away from the bridges — you know, the area that most others don’t quite get to — he and Jason Zorda have found some great fishing. They’ve been finding fish by drifting nightcrawlers into the deeper holes.

In a way, fishing is like hunting. You have to search for those special spots, and to find bigger fish, you have to get off the beaten path. To get an old, big longbeard or a hung-antlered buck, you have to sometimes go the extra mile.

This weekend, when you chase turkeys or seek big fish, continue what was started last weekend. Take those kids along and share the excitement.

After all, they are the future of hunting and fishing.

Rick Brockway writes a weekly outdoors column for The Daily Star. E-mail him at brockway@dmcom.net.