I planned this hunt a year in advance with an outfitter around Hays, Kansas. The time leading up seemed to drag, especially the last month or so, but it always does. I left Thursday morning from Virginia and drove the 20 hours straight there. Pulled into Hays around 2 a.m. on Friday morning and went straight to the walmart to buy my tags. I asked the guy to give me all the tags I needed for a non-resi to get two birds. Long story short, i double checked the regs and had to tell the guy which tags I needed. After a day of hanging around Hays and going to see super troopers 2, I was finally able to fall asleep the night before my hunt. I pulled into the lodge at 5:30 and talked to some of his clients that were leaving. The couple I mainly talked to was also from Virginia, so I hoped they would give me honest feedback. They filled 3 of 4 tags which isnt bad, but I expected limits given what I had been reading from reviews. I know hunting is hunting though and the weather this spring hasnt been acting right. So I just Brush it off.
The guide puts me in a blind on the edge of a cow farm he leases and before I even get in the blind in the dark I hear gobbles not far into the woods. I set the decoy and wait. Lots of roost gobbling but once they hit the ground they go pretty silent. I blind call every 15 minutes or so and 7 hens come into the field and work their way to the right of me followed by 3 jakes. They wander over into the cow pasture and mill around for most of the morning. Im getting pretty bored around 9:30 or so when i see 3 more hens come into the field followed by a longbeard. My heart starts pumping and im excited. Theyre working their way towards me from my left so I move the chair and get ready. From my ready position I cant see whats happening with them. The gobbler works his way into sight and is acting nervous and walking away from the decoy "what the #&%!" goes through my head a time or two and then I see three jakes pushing him out of the field. I couldve shot two of them I was so pissed. after they chase him into the woods two more longbeards come out and chase each other until one finally leads the hens back into the woods with the 4 jakes and two gobblers following behind them. I wait a little while longer but nothing else shows up so I head back to the hotel for a nap and some food before the afternoon hunt.
I get back to the lodge around 4 and the guide takes me to a place that hasnt been hunted yet this year. When the main guide said he was taking me there his buddy and other guide looked at me and said "youre gonna kill one this evening" Thats what i like to hear! On the way to the spot we saw 30 or 35 turkeys all ganged up in a field with multiple strutters so I was getting a little excited. When we get there, weve got a couple hundred yard walk to the spot. He tucks me into some cedars and asks if I want him to stay or go scout other spots. I told him go ahead and scout because Im not much on being guided anyways, and that I just need private land to get my Rio. Truthfully Id rather him go and find a bunch of spots holding birds than sit there and hold my hand anyways. Kansas is way different than what Im used to in VA. Im used to hunting big forests at home and in Kansas theres not many trees. Just little draws with cedars and cottonwoods. So as im sitting there for about 30 minutes watching this open spot in a draw Im thinking theres no way Im gonna see anything here when its raining, 50 degrees and blowing 30 mph winds. I make the best of it and hit my box call. I set the call down and glance at my phone and see the guide has text me asking if im ok. I text him back "yeah just im just sitting here waiting." No sooner had I sent the text a look to the left through the cedars and see some hens coming. I set the phone down and get my gun up while I still have some cover from them. Following behind them were three of the most beautiful strutters Ive ever seen. The hens are running to where they heard the call come from and the gobblers arent far behind. They work their way into my shooting lane and that same old adrenaline rush comes back. Ill never get tired of that. One of the hens sees something she doesnt like and is keeping her eye on me in between feeding. Every time she puts her head down I inch a little further out of cover so I can make a shot before she busts me. About the time I cant take it anymore two of the strutters line up perfect and I tag both with one shot. After grabbing my birds I grabbed my phone to take a picture and see hes texted me back. I told him I was tagged out and to come and get me. The first text was at 7:34 and the text I sent saying I was tagged out was at 7:39. Its crazy how fast a hunt can turn around.
I hung around the lodge the next day and helped one of the other clients get a bird and to take some pictures of all of us together with our birds. There were an unreal amount of birds here and while Ive never used a guide before, this was a pretty good experience. Ill post some pics in a few minutes.
The guide puts me in a blind on the edge of a cow farm he leases and before I even get in the blind in the dark I hear gobbles not far into the woods. I set the decoy and wait. Lots of roost gobbling but once they hit the ground they go pretty silent. I blind call every 15 minutes or so and 7 hens come into the field and work their way to the right of me followed by 3 jakes. They wander over into the cow pasture and mill around for most of the morning. Im getting pretty bored around 9:30 or so when i see 3 more hens come into the field followed by a longbeard. My heart starts pumping and im excited. Theyre working their way towards me from my left so I move the chair and get ready. From my ready position I cant see whats happening with them. The gobbler works his way into sight and is acting nervous and walking away from the decoy "what the #&%!" goes through my head a time or two and then I see three jakes pushing him out of the field. I couldve shot two of them I was so pissed. after they chase him into the woods two more longbeards come out and chase each other until one finally leads the hens back into the woods with the 4 jakes and two gobblers following behind them. I wait a little while longer but nothing else shows up so I head back to the hotel for a nap and some food before the afternoon hunt.
I get back to the lodge around 4 and the guide takes me to a place that hasnt been hunted yet this year. When the main guide said he was taking me there his buddy and other guide looked at me and said "youre gonna kill one this evening" Thats what i like to hear! On the way to the spot we saw 30 or 35 turkeys all ganged up in a field with multiple strutters so I was getting a little excited. When we get there, weve got a couple hundred yard walk to the spot. He tucks me into some cedars and asks if I want him to stay or go scout other spots. I told him go ahead and scout because Im not much on being guided anyways, and that I just need private land to get my Rio. Truthfully Id rather him go and find a bunch of spots holding birds than sit there and hold my hand anyways. Kansas is way different than what Im used to in VA. Im used to hunting big forests at home and in Kansas theres not many trees. Just little draws with cedars and cottonwoods. So as im sitting there for about 30 minutes watching this open spot in a draw Im thinking theres no way Im gonna see anything here when its raining, 50 degrees and blowing 30 mph winds. I make the best of it and hit my box call. I set the call down and glance at my phone and see the guide has text me asking if im ok. I text him back "yeah just im just sitting here waiting." No sooner had I sent the text a look to the left through the cedars and see some hens coming. I set the phone down and get my gun up while I still have some cover from them. Following behind them were three of the most beautiful strutters Ive ever seen. The hens are running to where they heard the call come from and the gobblers arent far behind. They work their way into my shooting lane and that same old adrenaline rush comes back. Ill never get tired of that. One of the hens sees something she doesnt like and is keeping her eye on me in between feeding. Every time she puts her head down I inch a little further out of cover so I can make a shot before she busts me. About the time I cant take it anymore two of the strutters line up perfect and I tag both with one shot. After grabbing my birds I grabbed my phone to take a picture and see hes texted me back. I told him I was tagged out and to come and get me. The first text was at 7:34 and the text I sent saying I was tagged out was at 7:39. Its crazy how fast a hunt can turn around.
I hung around the lodge the next day and helped one of the other clients get a bird and to take some pictures of all of us together with our birds. There were an unreal amount of birds here and while Ive never used a guide before, this was a pretty good experience. Ill post some pics in a few minutes.
