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Wilderness turkey trip (warning long post!)

woods89

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2014
Messages
76
I mentioned a couple times that I was going to do an overnighter for the turkey opener here and thot I would write up a little summary here.
Our season opened April 20 ( last Monday) so I left after lunch on Sunday. I went back and forth on going overnight a little because the forecast showed thunderstorms overnight but decided to scrap the tarp and bivy option, take our tent, and go for it. I managed to get about 2 mi in from the access and got set up just a a storm rolled in. I fixed my supper and lay in my tent listening to the rain on the tent fly for awhile before going to sleep.
I was just a little to reluctant to get out of my sleeping bag Monday morning so by the time I had eaten breakfast and was ready to go it was shooting light already. That turned out to be a good thing because as I was finishing breakfast I heard a bird gobble up on the ridge behind me. I left camp and started easing up the ridge. I had just got to the top when all of a sudden I saw a turkey. I froze and it was obvious that she had seen me but wasn't sure what I was. She moved off the side of the ridge and flew across the valley but didn't cluck or anything. Thinking there might be more turkeys with her I set up within about 30 yds. By this time the gobbler that I first heard was gobbling semi frequently and I was wishing I could have gotten a little closer before setting up. I started off with a short yelp sequence and although he wouldn't cut me off he would sort of gobble back to me. I gave him 3 short yelp sequences and then shut up ( more on this below!)
Over the course of half an hour he slowly worked his way toward me. I think for quite a while he was strutting back and forth just out of sight because every time he gobbled I was convinced he just fixing to walk into sight. He worked his way just out of sight below the spine of the ridge over my right shoulder. By this time I had my gun up and was shaking like crazy! Finally I saw him but unfortunately all he did was ease up the side of the ridge and stick his head up for about a second and a half and I had no shot. He was satisfied at that point that the hen he heard was gone and started to move off behind me.
I knew that if I didn't do anything at this point he was going to move off for good so knowing he was out of sight from his gobbling, I reached down and made the softest purr on my slate that I could. Then I switched my shotgun to my left shoulder and rested it over my pack which was leaning against the tree to my right so that I could shoot behind me. After about a minute and a half I saw something moving up and down between two trees and sure enough, he was back for another look! He spent quite a while looking from behind those trees and finally took a couple steps out from behind them. I was ready and tipped him over at 30 yds with my little 20 ga.
Walking up to him was almost a surreal experience. If you've ever been to the Ozarks in late April you will know a little what I'm talking about and I killed him on one of the most beautiful hardwood ridges I've ever seen. My first impression when I walked up to him was " His feet are huge!" Later when I was on my way home I stopped by my folks and dad brought out a dried foot from a 2 yr old he killed last year. My birds toes are close to 3x as big as that birds. I didn't get a weight on him because I skinned and dressed him at my camp before I packed out but his beard was 9.5'' and he had one 1.25'' spur ( the other was broken off). For me he is an incredible trophy not only because I believe he was an old gobbler but because the hunt was a real match of wits and the setting was so beautiful. I don't have any pics (due to my faith) so I hope I can create a bit of a picture in your mind. This is the pinnacle of my turkey hunting thus far.
As far as the gear aspect goes I had a pack weight going in of 48-49 lbs. This includes 4l of water, a 7lb shotgun, 3 meals and snacks, and an 8lb tent. If the weather had been better I could have compromised on my shelter a bit and dropped a fair bit of weight. I also could have trimmed some water weight if I had a filtration system. As far as hunting gear I had my camo, my shotgun, 1 slate, 2 strikers, and one mouth call. I found it kind of liberating to have to trim my gear down to just the essentials. I typically don't use decoys anyway as they seem to not be as effective in the timber as more open areas and a lot of times I don't want to go the extra 20 yds to set them up for fear of spooking turkeys.
I used the freezer bag cooking method to keep my pot clean and am totally sold on it. Before I leave I package all my meals in quart freezer bags ( this time ramen with tuna and salmon pouches and oatmeal for breakfast) and then just boil water in my pot and pour it into the freezer bag. I have a little cozy made out of a windshield reflector that I put it in and it rehydrates quickly. Then you eat out of the freezer bag, seal it up, and pack it out.
I made mention of calling above so I will address that yet. In my somewhat limited experience calling to public land birds on or just off the roost too much calling is far worse than too little. My best luck is with just a few short yelp sequences and then just letting them find me. I think if I had kept calling this bird would have hung up and never came into range. Obviously I did have to make that one little purr to make him take another look but I only did that when I knew it was over if I didn't. You might find differently in your experience and thats fine, but that's what works for me.
Happy hunting!
 
Congratulations Bud! Great story..... I love hiking into the back country and camping like that. Doesnt get any better!
 
Thanks man! I'm really looking forward to using this technique on deer some this fall. And I'm eligible to kill another turkey Monday morning!
 
One thing I forgot to mention is that with overnight rain I had some small water puddles on my tent floor by morning. I'm planning on sewing a simple floorless shelter this summer partially for this reason and to save some serious weight. Likely a more expensive tent would do better but when you really shouldn't put your boots on inside the tent and you have to step around puddles in your socks it really stinks! Anybody else into running floorless?
 
Thot maybe I would update on how the season's been going here.

I was out last Wednesday morning and almost filled my second tag. Had a longbeard come in off the roost and skirt my setup at 35-40 yds. He was really nervous tho since he didn't see a hen and didn't hang around long. 35 is kind of my limit with my 20 ga and I just wasn't comfortable with the shot for several reasons so I let him walk. Still was an awesome experience!

Then my wife and I went on an overnighter Friday night in a wilderness area about 2 hrs from home. We covered a lot of ground morning and never heard a single gobble. It was still a lot of fun but it turned out to be a camping/hiking trip more than a hunting trip. We blind called a few places but with no luck.

I never have been able to understand what makes turkeys hot one day and silent the next. They certainly seem to have a mind of they're own.

I'm gonna be out in the morning again for a while. That might be my last chance as it's supposed to rain this weekend but it's been a great season none the less!
 
woods89 said:
I never have been able to understand what makes turkeys hot one day and silent the next. They certainly seem to have a mind of they're own.

!

If you could figure that out you would be a rich man in deed!

I've been enjoying reading through your adventures though. Sounds like a lot of fun and something to add to the hunting bucket list.

I have been using and Alps three-person backpacking tent with the rain fly and a matching footprint for the last four years for some light camping and have been caught up in some nasty downpours and have not gotten wet in it yet. I think though that the tent is fully seem sealed and allegedly waterproof. You could look into waterproofing your time either by spraying it or taping it.


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It has been a great season! I'm not in a position to take big out of state trips at this stage in life so I try to find my adventure close to home. We are extremely fortunate to have the public land opportunities here that we do.

I think you may be right about my tent. If I hit it with some silicone spray that would probably help a lot. Its not new any more.

I was out this morning again but didn't have any luck. There were some birds gobbling but not a lot. I'm probably not gonna get my second tag filled but that's OK. The last week of our season is always kind of tough!
 
Well it looks like I'm gonna eat my second tag. I took my wife back to her folks four hours away for mothers day so my season is done. It was lots of fun and now its time to get ready for deer season!
 
Just had the chance to read this. Congrats on the bird and thanks for sharing! I was hoping to get to do a trip like this this year but didn't get to make it happen. If I sweet talk my wife enough.. maybe I can do 1 night next weekend. Not sure its gonna happen though.
 
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