elks96
Long Time Member
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- 3,798
Shout out really fast for everyone willing to share some information here... Thanks.
That being said, my son and I were beyond ready to get out for the weekend. So Friday night we packed up the truck and drove 3 hours to a place we had never been before to try and find some turkeys, We had spoke with a biologist and he said he seen a few that were on private but really close to the public, He figured they might be accessible at times.
Friday night I crawled into the back seat of the truck with my son to sleep. I love my mega cab for this reason. A memory foam pad and a couple pillows and you have enough space to sleep for the night.
The next morning we woke up early. As we were getting dressed an SUV pulled up and the person was a turkey hunter on a mission. Having a 10 year old I was not too keen on trying to race anyone to birds etc. Especially, since I have never been to this place before. So the early morning we scouted in the truck to get a feel for the land. Called the creek bottom searched for tracks etc.
Sure enough there were turkeys just on the private and out of reach. Once we located the group we studied the map and figured out the closest way to approach and set up just off the private. We hiked in about 1.5 miles and set up directly south of the birds. At first they gobbled and carried on across the river about 800 yards out. They then spooked and went running away from us deeper into the private. As we were picking up the decoys, they came back gobbling a ton and running back down the road they went up. We set up on the river edge and called. Pretty soon they jumped the river and were on our side about 20 yards away. Unfortunately they flew into the thickest nastiest stuff in the bottom and were coming in from the entirely the wrong direction... We shifted and ended up with 3 toms with in 20 yards but you could not see them at all. They eventually spooked and went across the road and way back up the opposite mountain.
We went back to the truck and cooked breakfast and sat and ate. As we were eating we could hear the toms way up on the mountain on the private. They were working towards the national forest property. I asked my son if he wanted to head that way. He said sure. We headed up a steep nasty little ridge to a flat we could see. As we went up the toms were still working towards the public. We ended up just a little higher than them. We set up our decoy in a "good spot". And began to call...
They came on a rope across 2 canyons. Soon all three were less than 30 yards out. But instead of circling to the decoys and up into the open they stuck to taller sage and just off the edge. My son was too short to see, we worked hard and he eventually got 3 shots at the birds, all three were high and were misses. I would have much rather him get the kill shot, but since he was out of ammo I stepped in took the largest birds as they were leaving.
Break em in right. They need to carry the load for us old guys lol... He was excited to pack the bird down that mountain...
That afternoon and the next day we had a few more close encounters, but no shots. he never gave up and kept hunting hard. Even exhausted and sleeping in the stand he refused to leave early.
On Sunday we had a couple moose move through our decoys...
Next weekend I have some names of property owners who allow youth hunters. I am going to give them a call and see if we can get lucky. If not we might have to drive across the state and get real serious.
Needless to say I have taken a ton of birds, but this had to be one the physically hardest turkey hunts I have been on in some the coolest country. It was truly more like sheep country than anything a normal turkey hunt is like.
That being said, my son and I were beyond ready to get out for the weekend. So Friday night we packed up the truck and drove 3 hours to a place we had never been before to try and find some turkeys, We had spoke with a biologist and he said he seen a few that were on private but really close to the public, He figured they might be accessible at times.
Friday night I crawled into the back seat of the truck with my son to sleep. I love my mega cab for this reason. A memory foam pad and a couple pillows and you have enough space to sleep for the night.
The next morning we woke up early. As we were getting dressed an SUV pulled up and the person was a turkey hunter on a mission. Having a 10 year old I was not too keen on trying to race anyone to birds etc. Especially, since I have never been to this place before. So the early morning we scouted in the truck to get a feel for the land. Called the creek bottom searched for tracks etc.
Sure enough there were turkeys just on the private and out of reach. Once we located the group we studied the map and figured out the closest way to approach and set up just off the private. We hiked in about 1.5 miles and set up directly south of the birds. At first they gobbled and carried on across the river about 800 yards out. They then spooked and went running away from us deeper into the private. As we were picking up the decoys, they came back gobbling a ton and running back down the road they went up. We set up on the river edge and called. Pretty soon they jumped the river and were on our side about 20 yards away. Unfortunately they flew into the thickest nastiest stuff in the bottom and were coming in from the entirely the wrong direction... We shifted and ended up with 3 toms with in 20 yards but you could not see them at all. They eventually spooked and went across the road and way back up the opposite mountain.
We went back to the truck and cooked breakfast and sat and ate. As we were eating we could hear the toms way up on the mountain on the private. They were working towards the national forest property. I asked my son if he wanted to head that way. He said sure. We headed up a steep nasty little ridge to a flat we could see. As we went up the toms were still working towards the public. We ended up just a little higher than them. We set up our decoy in a "good spot". And began to call...
They came on a rope across 2 canyons. Soon all three were less than 30 yards out. But instead of circling to the decoys and up into the open they stuck to taller sage and just off the edge. My son was too short to see, we worked hard and he eventually got 3 shots at the birds, all three were high and were misses. I would have much rather him get the kill shot, but since he was out of ammo I stepped in took the largest birds as they were leaving.
Break em in right. They need to carry the load for us old guys lol... He was excited to pack the bird down that mountain...
That afternoon and the next day we had a few more close encounters, but no shots. he never gave up and kept hunting hard. Even exhausted and sleeping in the stand he refused to leave early.
On Sunday we had a couple moose move through our decoys...
Next weekend I have some names of property owners who allow youth hunters. I am going to give them a call and see if we can get lucky. If not we might have to drive across the state and get real serious.
Needless to say I have taken a ton of birds, but this had to be one the physically hardest turkey hunts I have been on in some the coolest country. It was truly more like sheep country than anything a normal turkey hunt is like.
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