JohnSWA
Senior Thread Mover
Well folks, I was off for my turkey hunt in 4A early Friday morning all by myself in my truck with my cab-over camper and trailer with quad, generator and large cooler just in case.
I arrived in an area recommended by the awesome folks at Ross Outoors. One of the guys there shot an awesome Tom and it's mounted on the wall of their store. I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember his name, but he spent at least a half an hour describing the area and what terrain to look for. I can't say enough about the great folks at Ross Outdoors.
Back to the hunt....
I set up my camp just at sunrise. I put on my new predator camo, strapped on my vortex binos and strapped on my backpack and headed for the hills. After about a mile of hiking I came upon Turkey Creek. I decided to sit beside a tree and wait to see if any turkeys would come to get their water, I mean, it's called Turkey Creek... right?
After sitting for about an hour, I heard some branches breaking and leaves rustling in the hill on the other side from where I was positioned. It was a heard of elk heading for the creak to get their fill of water. I sat in awe as I saw the lead cow with a younger cow by her side about 10 feet from the creek. While watching this beautiful group of animals, I forgot about my shotgun that was on my lap in a downward slope. Gravity set in and it slid only about 3 inches, but it made enough noise to alert the lead cow and then the hills exploded with the sounds of hoofs pounding the ground in a panic to get out of Dodge!
I sat there for about another 1/2 hour watching the surroundings and all I saw was another hunter walking the length of the creek. I got up and climbed the opposing hill in pursuit of my invisible quarry. In my hike, I found elk sign everywhere! I couldn't believe all of the fresh tracks and sign that were to my left and my right! I climbed two other ridges and actually saw elk! Lots of elk!! First I would see a cow and then a calf. Eventually I would see more and more elk, but of course they would see me and head for the hills. While I was climbing one very steep hill, I heard a bark! I was thinking to myself... Great! I walked into someone with a dog! While climbing the steep hill, I was watching my feet on the climb and not straight ahead since I didn't want to fall. I looked straight ahead and I was amazed at the sight! It was wall to wall elk! I've always heard that elk may bark when frightened, but this was the first time I've had it happen to me! I was so pleasantly surprised to see all of those beautiful creatures. Of course the surprise was short lived since the hills exploded again with elk every which way.
When I reached the crest of the ridge, I saw a number of oak trees, which looked like the perfect place to wait for some hungry turkeys. While surveying the area, I found plenty of elk sign... of course! I saw what might have been mountain lion sign, but I also definetly found plenty of bear scat too! Instead of hanging out at the top of the ridge I decided to blend in with the oaks right next to a game trail. After sitting for no more than 5 minutes, I heard the magestic bugel of a bull no more than 30 yards away! What an awesome day! I didn't see any turkey, but I saw at least 5 heards of elk and plenty sign of other inhabitants of our beautiful forest.
I hiked back to my camp and started a nice warm campfire reflecting on what a great opening day of turkey season I had.
Day 2:
I set my alarm to wake up at 3am and woke up to rain pouring down with thunder and lightning. I turned over and went back to sleep since I wasn't going challenge that type of weather. After enjoying a nice hot breakfast, I waited for the sun to come up and headed out on the quad since I didn't feel like punishing my body like I did the day before. After trying a few different FR's and hiking a few miles looking for oaks, I decided to go try a different area. While motoring towards my destination, I saw a guy hiking back to his camp. I stopped and we chatted a while. He told me that I had taken turkey from this area in the last 3 years with out any problems, but this year was different! We shared stories of our hikes and talked about all of the elk we had seen, but without any sign of turkeys anywhere!
While we were chatting, a group of hunters in a truck stopped and told us about a flock they ran into a couple miles up the road! I guess they couldn't score, but at least we heard a story of birds in the area. It was the area I was heading for anyway, so I bid farewell to my new friend and took off in search of the illusive turkeys!
Amazingly enough, after about three miles of riding, I saw a flock of turkeys on the left side of the road! Since I'm not a "Road Hunter" I didn't have my shotgun loaded on my quad as I like to play by the rules and not break the law. Anyway, they saw me and started to cross the road to my right. Luckily, they trotted past the road and didn't take off flying! I stopped my quad and grabbed my shotgun and ran after them while trying to load at the same time. I lost count of how many shells I had loaded and ran with the gun fully loaded while holding one shell between my teeth!
The flock ran just to the edge of the hill and I though that I had lost them when two heads popped over the ridge. I aimed for the larger head of the two and pulled the trigger. Wellah! One beautiful turkey harvested in less than two days into the hunt! I was so excited that I put my shotgun down and picked up my bird and headed back to the quad. You know that feeling like you forgot something? Well I finally figured out that I left my shotgun where the turkey laid and traced my steps and saw the feathers and finally my shotgun!
What a great time! I'll never forget my first turkey hunt! I'm sorry for the long winded story, but that's the way it went!
I arrived in an area recommended by the awesome folks at Ross Outoors. One of the guys there shot an awesome Tom and it's mounted on the wall of their store. I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember his name, but he spent at least a half an hour describing the area and what terrain to look for. I can't say enough about the great folks at Ross Outdoors.
Back to the hunt....
I set up my camp just at sunrise. I put on my new predator camo, strapped on my vortex binos and strapped on my backpack and headed for the hills. After about a mile of hiking I came upon Turkey Creek. I decided to sit beside a tree and wait to see if any turkeys would come to get their water, I mean, it's called Turkey Creek... right?
After sitting for about an hour, I heard some branches breaking and leaves rustling in the hill on the other side from where I was positioned. It was a heard of elk heading for the creak to get their fill of water. I sat in awe as I saw the lead cow with a younger cow by her side about 10 feet from the creek. While watching this beautiful group of animals, I forgot about my shotgun that was on my lap in a downward slope. Gravity set in and it slid only about 3 inches, but it made enough noise to alert the lead cow and then the hills exploded with the sounds of hoofs pounding the ground in a panic to get out of Dodge!
I sat there for about another 1/2 hour watching the surroundings and all I saw was another hunter walking the length of the creek. I got up and climbed the opposing hill in pursuit of my invisible quarry. In my hike, I found elk sign everywhere! I couldn't believe all of the fresh tracks and sign that were to my left and my right! I climbed two other ridges and actually saw elk! Lots of elk!! First I would see a cow and then a calf. Eventually I would see more and more elk, but of course they would see me and head for the hills. While I was climbing one very steep hill, I heard a bark! I was thinking to myself... Great! I walked into someone with a dog! While climbing the steep hill, I was watching my feet on the climb and not straight ahead since I didn't want to fall. I looked straight ahead and I was amazed at the sight! It was wall to wall elk! I've always heard that elk may bark when frightened, but this was the first time I've had it happen to me! I was so pleasantly surprised to see all of those beautiful creatures. Of course the surprise was short lived since the hills exploded again with elk every which way.
When I reached the crest of the ridge, I saw a number of oak trees, which looked like the perfect place to wait for some hungry turkeys. While surveying the area, I found plenty of elk sign... of course! I saw what might have been mountain lion sign, but I also definetly found plenty of bear scat too! Instead of hanging out at the top of the ridge I decided to blend in with the oaks right next to a game trail. After sitting for no more than 5 minutes, I heard the magestic bugel of a bull no more than 30 yards away! What an awesome day! I didn't see any turkey, but I saw at least 5 heards of elk and plenty sign of other inhabitants of our beautiful forest.
I hiked back to my camp and started a nice warm campfire reflecting on what a great opening day of turkey season I had.
Day 2:
I set my alarm to wake up at 3am and woke up to rain pouring down with thunder and lightning. I turned over and went back to sleep since I wasn't going challenge that type of weather. After enjoying a nice hot breakfast, I waited for the sun to come up and headed out on the quad since I didn't feel like punishing my body like I did the day before. After trying a few different FR's and hiking a few miles looking for oaks, I decided to go try a different area. While motoring towards my destination, I saw a guy hiking back to his camp. I stopped and we chatted a while. He told me that I had taken turkey from this area in the last 3 years with out any problems, but this year was different! We shared stories of our hikes and talked about all of the elk we had seen, but without any sign of turkeys anywhere!
While we were chatting, a group of hunters in a truck stopped and told us about a flock they ran into a couple miles up the road! I guess they couldn't score, but at least we heard a story of birds in the area. It was the area I was heading for anyway, so I bid farewell to my new friend and took off in search of the illusive turkeys!
Amazingly enough, after about three miles of riding, I saw a flock of turkeys on the left side of the road! Since I'm not a "Road Hunter" I didn't have my shotgun loaded on my quad as I like to play by the rules and not break the law. Anyway, they saw me and started to cross the road to my right. Luckily, they trotted past the road and didn't take off flying! I stopped my quad and grabbed my shotgun and ran after them while trying to load at the same time. I lost count of how many shells I had loaded and ran with the gun fully loaded while holding one shell between my teeth!
The flock ran just to the edge of the hill and I though that I had lost them when two heads popped over the ridge. I aimed for the larger head of the two and pulled the trigger. Wellah! One beautiful turkey harvested in less than two days into the hunt! I was so excited that I put my shotgun down and picked up my bird and headed back to the quad. You know that feeling like you forgot something? Well I finally figured out that I left my shotgun where the turkey laid and traced my steps and saw the feathers and finally my shotgun!
What a great time! I'll never forget my first turkey hunt! I'm sorry for the long winded story, but that's the way it went!
