IdahoBugler
Well-known member
Well I went up with a group of guys from work and we had a pretty good trip. Our buddy Scott was able to take his first bear at 200 yards with his rifle. It wasn't the biggest bear but still a good one for his first. Then WileyCoyote (Willie) and I did a some turkey hunting and I was able to take a pretty rare bird (I think).
Our buddy shot the bear on Saturday night so we were up until 1:00 preparing the bear and getting some grub. That night we got into some birds and put them to bed. We woke up after about 4 hours of sleep and headed up to the birds. They weren't talking very much but enough to keep our interest. We set up as close as we dared and waited him out. He goubled probably every 5-10 minutes but never really hammered my calls. After 30 minutes of very light calling he went quiet. After about 30 minutes I had thought he hit the ground and shut up. Then he finally gobbled but still in his roost. I looked at WileyCoyote and told him to start counting the intervals between his calling so we wouldn't get too bored. It went something like 10 minutes, then 5, then 3, etc... After about 2 hours of light he finally flew off his roost and landed on the ground. I could tell he landed in a opening below us. I turned and looked at WileyCoyote and said this is a done deal. I started using some excited clucks and purrs and he came in fast. It was sweet because we saw him at 125 yards out walking up the hill. Then at 20 yards he came around a bush and saw the decoy and went into his strut. I couldn't take it anymore so I let the hammer down. We were able to take this bird with a lot of patience and some luck. He is rare because he has 4 beards. The first is 9.5", second 4", third 6", and the fourth is 2" for a total of 21.5". He has 1" spurs that are rounded or wore down pretty far. All in all it was a sweet hunt and hopefully WileyCoyote will get his bird. He was staying one more day to try and fill his tag.
Buddies bear
Me with the non-typical turkey
Willie and I with the turkey
All four beards
Our buddy shot the bear on Saturday night so we were up until 1:00 preparing the bear and getting some grub. That night we got into some birds and put them to bed. We woke up after about 4 hours of sleep and headed up to the birds. They weren't talking very much but enough to keep our interest. We set up as close as we dared and waited him out. He goubled probably every 5-10 minutes but never really hammered my calls. After 30 minutes of very light calling he went quiet. After about 30 minutes I had thought he hit the ground and shut up. Then he finally gobbled but still in his roost. I looked at WileyCoyote and told him to start counting the intervals between his calling so we wouldn't get too bored. It went something like 10 minutes, then 5, then 3, etc... After about 2 hours of light he finally flew off his roost and landed on the ground. I could tell he landed in a opening below us. I turned and looked at WileyCoyote and said this is a done deal. I started using some excited clucks and purrs and he came in fast. It was sweet because we saw him at 125 yards out walking up the hill. Then at 20 yards he came around a bush and saw the decoy and went into his strut. I couldn't take it anymore so I let the hammer down. We were able to take this bird with a lot of patience and some luck. He is rare because he has 4 beards. The first is 9.5", second 4", third 6", and the fourth is 2" for a total of 21.5". He has 1" spurs that are rounded or wore down pretty far. All in all it was a sweet hunt and hopefully WileyCoyote will get his bird. He was staying one more day to try and fill his tag.
Buddies bear
Me with the non-typical turkey
Willie and I with the turkey
All four beards
