Opening day Toms Long!!

elks

New member
Over the last 3 years I have slowly became a turkey guy. I had never really hunted turkeys at all except for one year back when my wife and I first met. It was a hard year and resulted in no opportunities. Heck, I heard only 1 gobble. At that I gave up until 3 years ago I found a renewed interest in turkey hunting. I can still remember the day that my interest changed...

It was a late February weekend. My dad and I were out looking for fresh cat tracks to call. We wondered into country we never really knew existed. The country was rough Canyon country. At the end of February there was no one around and it had been weeks since the last vehicle track had been in the area. We had just crossed a large canyon filled with snow and mud in the blazer and just topped back out into a large older burn in the pinon and junipers. Not a 100 yards into the burn we spotted 15 hens and 4 toms. At this point we were stunned to see the turkeys(mainly because turkey country is supposed to be fields, cottonwoods, water, etc.) This area had none of that. That day in the pounding snow storm will forever change my hunting activities and what I do every spring.

After that initial day I got to thinking about the country, how remote and wild it was, how I could or would be the only one hunting it if I was serious enough to travel the 3 hours on old beat up dirt roads and 2 tracks. After 2 more "scouting" trips out I finally decided the Friday night before the opener to have a go at hunting turkey. I picked up a couple calls, a decoy, and some shells. On the way home that night, my dad called and ended deciding to try it as well. Opening day, we ended getting his (our) very first bird. That season I spent the next 5 weekends without another shot. But his bird was so cool I was addicted!

Last year opening day found us in the same area and as a result of a massive snow storm we both took young jakes (barely legal) but it was only our 2nd year and the year prior I never had a shot...

So this year came with much anticipation. We made the trip out 2 times to scout, unfortunately, our trips only turned up 2 sets of tracks. Maybe our secret honey hole was spent, maybe fires last summer pushed the birds out, or they just had not moved in from the winter, or they were higher because of less snow, at any rate we were nervous come opening morning.

Opening morning found my dad and I meeting up at 4 am. That was rough, as Friday night I decided to do taxes! I would love to say that I stuck it to the man in that ordeal, but when I finished up filing at 1:30 am, I felt used! Needless to say an hour of sleep, was not a lot, but the wild turkey(not the whiskey) addict I have become could not be denied!

Our plan for the morning was simple, find some birds. Since our recent trips scouting had not turned up anything consistent, we start off by calling from the truck every couple miles in areas where we knew turkeys are likely to be. At 7:15, we had our first response. It was a tom way down off the rock ledges in the bottom of a canyon. He sound like he was a good 800-1000 yards out. After his first gobble, we unloaded, grabbed Juicy (my decoys slutty name) and we headed down towards the bird. we managed to cover about a 150 yards when I tried to locate the tom again. I made one little peck to locate the tom again, At that the tom exploded in a gobble right over the edge in front of us. We instantly froze and dropped. Juicy got stabbed into the ground to my right only 2 feet away. The tom came over the little ridge at was at 8 yards when I shot. WOW! He had came so hard and so fast that we barely had a chance. He was a great bird, had a beard a little over 8.5 inches. As is typical with desert Merriam, not much for spurs, but a great bird. Fully dressed, and prepared for the oven he weighed in at 18.6 pounds. Needless to say he made a great Sunday dinner for the family!

Here is a shot of the country. The bird came from below the rim rock in the bottom of the picture. The sun was just clearing the clouds/horizon.


The fan was great and it was my first good mature tom. We should have taken more pictures, but I still would not share as for the last 3 years we have been the only people hunting this area, never have seen another hunter and have only ever once seen another person in the area...



Then of course the pack out shot!


We got my bird loaded up and sent text and pictures to family and friends. My uncle was already razing my dad asking where his was at, etc. I told my dad we will send a pic of his in an hour. We headed to the next point and stepped out of the truck. I let out a few calls and suddenly a tom called right back just under us. This tom was not as easy. The tom was out strutting and being a stud for the 3 hens he had. He called only a couple times then went silent. We tried everything we could to get him from his girls, but like a big old bull he was not about to leave his ladies... After what seemed like an eternity, the birds slowly started heading a direction. We made a move to get ahead of them, and closed the distance.

They had quit calling all together and for over 5 minutes my dad and I sat and listened for any indication the birds were still around... We crawled down a little lower and as we did so dad spotted a head 30 yards out. The bird was feeding and when its head was down we managed to close the distance. When we could finally see the beard dad let the bird have it. It was almost an hour to the minute when he dropped his bird. His bird was also good sized and a mature bird. The beard was not quite as long, but still good. My bird had a just a slight size advantage...

In all honesty it was a great hunt and one of the only times I can remember when we both got our animals together at the same time/on the same day... What a great morning, now I just have to figure out what I am going to do with the next 4 weeks since there is not more turkey chasing...



Sure wished my predator season went this good! Maybe next year!





 
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SWEET!
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Way to go on the turkey hunt with your dad. Thanks for taking the time to post the details and pictures of your hunt.
 
Originally Posted By: DesertRamSWEET!
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Way to go on the turkey hunt with your dad. Thanks for taking the time to post the details and pictures of your hunt.

thanks I went back and fixed the wording a little bit! I was rushed the first time around!
 
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