BUTLER COUNTY, Kan. _ The sounds of a 12-year-old's laughter and shouts rolled through a recent Friday morning's mist, as Sydney Wooldridge celebrated. She'd just filled both of her Kansas spring turkey tags. One was a rare bird that carried two beards.
The seventh-grader minced few words teasing her dad, Brian, that she'd accomplished something, with the double-bearded bird, he'd never done in his many years of hunting. The elder Wooldridge bantered a bit with his daughter, but largely just smiled and watched the celebration. Inwardly, he was probably happier than the child.
"The turkeys are great, but she got a lot more than just two nice birds from this trip," he said later. "We both did. A lot's happened here."
Sydney learned the power of determination at the governor's turkey hunt in El Dorado. She made new friends and experienced one of the best hunting environments in the nation.
"I'm just dumb-founded by the whole experience, all they do for us," Brian Wooldridge said. "It's seriously overwhelming, but in a good way."
