deerkiller
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This year was a tough one, even though I tagged a bird on day 3 of the season. Usually bird numbers are plentiful in the areas I like to hunt, but I struggled to even find birds. I started off my first day I could hunt, may 2nd, over looking a valley where there's usually a good number of birds roosting. Upon further inspection, I could only locate 1 hen all morning. I went and checked out a few other spots that I thought they might be in later that morning into that afternoon that showed the same results. The next morning I took my dirt bike up a single track trail to the snow line where I was able to find a lone set of tom tracks that seemed to be fairly fresh. Around 9:30, I finally got him to answer to my calls. It was pretty obvious that he had his mind made up on where he was going so I didn't chase after him and decided to come back that afternoon. Around 6:00 I got him to start talking again and after a few gobbles it sounded like he was headed my way. I made a quick set up because he kinda caught me off guard, not expecting to even hear him for another hour or so and have him actually be as close as he really was. At 6:15 he came strutting into the little meadow I was set up on. I didn't have time to throw out a decoy so when he got to where he thought the hen was, he was a little suspicious when he didn't see her. He stayed behind the only little cedar tree around for quite awhile, then after he decided something was wrong, he turned and headed straight away from me. At 10 yards and an xfull choke in my gun, that little tree didn't offer him much protection. This is my 11th turkey tag in Utah and my 11th tom. I'm glad Utah allows us to have a GS turkey hunt each year. They sure are a great way to kill time in between the real hunts!
http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos_2017/37765img0641.jpg
On a side note, I think the birds had a much higher winter kill than normal. Atleast in central Utah anyways. That or they were extremely good at hiding this year than they normally are. My wife has a tag still, so it'll be interesting to see if we can finally find where they are hiding, if they are really still out there
http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos_2017/37765img0641.jpg
On a side note, I think the birds had a much higher winter kill than normal. Atleast in central Utah anyways. That or they were extremely good at hiding this year than they normally are. My wife has a tag still, so it'll be interesting to see if we can finally find where they are hiding, if they are really still out there
