Kansas Turkey Adventures

kansasdad

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Joined
Jul 30, 2011
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Location
Wichita
Those of you expecting to hunt Kansas for turkey this spring may be in for a treat. The winter flocks have/are broken/breaking up, and a turkeys thoughts are turning to making new turkeys. We have had a relativity easy winter, and throughout most of Kansas the drought effects of the last two years has been eased, if not broken. As a reminder, there is a price break in purchasing your "combo" license before April 1st. Resident and non-resident adults can save $7.50 on the permit/tag, which is then good for the entire season.

Youth and disabled get first crack at the birds, with an April Fools opening day. Archers then start on the 6th, with shotgun hunters opening on Tax Day, running through the end of May.

As has been my habit for the last several years, the permethrin anti-tick spray was applied to the camo, with hopes of once again going tick bite free for the duration of the turkey spring season

I have been watching "my" slice of Kansas heaven via trail camera and limited visits to the promised land. The last birds seen on the camera were there mid-November, and we were hoping to find evidence that the birds were once again in the neighborhood. The son in law of the land owner has been strongly bitten by the hunting bug, (url]http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?t=258728[/url] ) so it was with great anticipation Phillip and I went up for a scouting trip Saturday. We drove past our normal parking spot at the bottom of the hill, so we could scout the crop fields to our south. Winter wheat is looking good, and we were able to see a rooster and his harem of hens picking up supper. Four strutting toms were spotted just across the road from where we will be hunting this spring, so it seems like the the boys at least were out and about.

We sat down after a little bit of half hearted shed hunting, and settled in for a short sit hoping for some unwary coyote to show themselves. My dying rabbit call was rewarded with a rousing gobble just off the property line, so as Uncle Si would say, " it's on like Donkey Kong":D
 
These boys gave me my first gobbles of the year. They are living inside the city limits of Wichita.
 

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I'm getting excited as well, but have to wait until the third weekend in April. Heard my first gobbles on Saturday. Only two as it was cold so I assume they were still on the roost.
 
I am ready for it, it will be the first time hunting Kansas and I am pumped. Excited for the hunt but really looking forward to the vacation time more than anything.
 
getting permission for turkey is usually not too hard. Don't forget to check out the WIHA (walk in hunting) turkey areas either. Our WMA's normally hold good numbers as well.
 
So the '97 Avalon is packed, my daughter Julia and never-before-gone-hunting-nephew Nate have tried on the camo (waders and rain gear as we will be confronted with temps in low 30's and 30-40 mph north wind and the alarm is set. Around11 PM the alerts start to chime on the NOAA radio. Uh oh. The radar shows a big red line of straight line winds and hail. Stubbornly we wake up to no electricity at the house and head off into the teeth of the wind for a date with adventure.
 

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We arrived just in time to gear up and walk down the hedgerow to get set up for what we hoped to be Julia's first turkey. Gusty winds and chilly temps were going to be a challenge. I put out three decoys along the edge of the hayfield, and then walked back into the cedars to put the bright orange decoy bag out of sight. Bad move there kansasdad! We had set up just about under the roost of one big turkey, and as I rounded he cedar, he flew off out of the tree. We had lots of gobbles ringing out from upwind for most of he morning. And several times they seemed about ready to cross over to our side of the treeline. But no dice for the kids today. We will fondly remember the whitetail doe who came in to pay her respects to our decoys before she winded us and took off. A great (and very cold start) to another turkey season in Kansas.
 

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My son (kansasson) has lived overseas for the last year. He has a bet with his flatmates (all Americans) for bragging rights on who will get the highest scoring turkey while they are home for the summer. I sent him this trail camera pic to whet his appetite, and maybe put a little fear/pressure on the other contestants.
 

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"My" suburban flock is silly. Driving to work this morning I pulled over to admire the boys leaving the feeding station that one of the neighbors has in his backyard. I pulled out the mouthcall and yelped a little. Nothing. I cut it up loudly. Nothing. Ambulance out on the highway .........double-gobble-palooza !!

Note to self: work on your calling, and maybe get an ambulance siren for use as a locator call.
 

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K State "fans"

Driving in to the office this morning I did a little detour through the suburban turkey haven. I am glad I did as I found a couple of strutting turkeys showing the jayhawk their hind ends ( the truck's license plate)
 

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Did I already mention how goofy these suburban turkeys are? Driving to go pick up dinner, we detoured through the neighborhood with the turkey flock. As I was driving my wife's car, I did not have any turkey calls with me. We found the first group of birds and pulled over to watch. I snapped a few pics, and then decided I wanted to get an "action" shot. I told Julia to gobble. She looked at me like I was nuts.

"I can't gobble daddy".

"Sure you can Julia.....just like this", and I break out my rendition of a floppy jaw, loose cheek fully human made turkey imitation. She laughed, and the toms looked perturbed. I asked her to try.

She just laughed and said " I cant".

"Ok, then just say something".

"Hello turkeys" she calls out in a sing song tone. ....gobbling their heads off. Now laughing and saying "hello turkeys" she does what seems to come naturally to teenage girls....snapchats her successful efforts to get the boys fired up.
 

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Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

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