Left SW MT in the wee hours of the morn Thur to make it to a bow hunting only ranch in south central MT early enough to not bump birds. Got there and got set up with plenty of darkness to avoid detection. Within about 20 min I realized I had a major problem. All the gobbling was on the wrong side of the Yellowstone River. Despite every effort they just weren't coming across that morning. So I packed up and headed to a public land spot that was close. When I got there I gave a toot on the crow call and 3 birds blew up about 1/2 mile away. Grabbed the shotgun and went and got set up. A couple yelps and they were coming fast. These guys were hot. Pretty quick I had 3 toms at 25 yds and let the 20ga bark. R5 bird in the bag
Hit the rd and headed to my next destination in eastern MT. Got there mid day spoke with a few landowners and hit the sack. The next morning one hoot one the ole knight and hale owl and I had too many choices....or so I thought. Grabbed the bow and went and set up the blind and dekes. Then sat and listened to turkeys in every direction...until they hit the ground and the world went quiet. WTH?? about 630ish I hear hens so did some kee kee and clucks and 3 hens came walking in. Ok any second the fan is gunna appear.......not! huh? oh well, about 7, I stuck my head out and ripped out a cackle and got an immediate response from several toms. But they sounded pretty jakey. Sure enough here come 4 jakes right into the dekes. I stuck it out till almost 9 hoping to get a de-henned tom to come check me out. Packed up and went to check out another property. About a mile up the ranch rd I look up on an open hill and what do I see? a fanned out bird all alone. SWEET! drove around a hill and set up.....and nothing! I know this bird is within 300 yds and its too open to sneak in closer. So I wait and call wait and call and wait and crap theres a red head looking at me from behind a juniper 60yds away. Apparently he didn't see me cuz he popped into strut and came walking into 30 yds Boom!
had to edit to preserve location
Went out that evening to another spot and watched a group fly up to roost so I had a starting point for the next morning.
I woke up with the plan of 100% killing a bird with the bow this time. So I went and got set up real early and waited till about 530 without hearing a gobble. Sent out some calls and nothing, tried again and got a very unenthusiastic response back. I tried again and a different bird popped with a little more enthusiasm. Then the hens started talking. I waited a while and called again and one popped and I could tell they were on the ground. I could hear the hens calling and started calling to them with kee kees and they started coming down the cow trail. Pretty quick 7 hens and a strutter are….. Long story short, don’t put your decoys too close if there is a downward slope. I found out I cant get my arrow to clear my window on a turkey @ 9 yds. I hung out for another 30 min hoping the other tom would come check me out. Nadda. So I packed up went back to the truck and switched to my run and gun gear. It took a few hrs to locate some birds but finally did and moved in and set up. The tom wasn’t very vocal but the hens really took offense to whatever I said and started coming to set me straight yacking the entire way. When the 6 hens, 3 jakes and a strutter showed up I could see the tom was a good 60 yds behind the hens. The hens came into about 15 yds and milled around and got nervous and started to move off dragging everything else with them. In a attempt to stop them I called. Didn’t stop the hens but the jakes turned and came started coming. This ticked off the tom, which charged the jakes and ……
for sure one of my better Merriams spur wise @ 1 1/4 beard was a little over 9"
Hit the rd and headed to my next destination in eastern MT. Got there mid day spoke with a few landowners and hit the sack. The next morning one hoot one the ole knight and hale owl and I had too many choices....or so I thought. Grabbed the bow and went and set up the blind and dekes. Then sat and listened to turkeys in every direction...until they hit the ground and the world went quiet. WTH?? about 630ish I hear hens so did some kee kee and clucks and 3 hens came walking in. Ok any second the fan is gunna appear.......not! huh? oh well, about 7, I stuck my head out and ripped out a cackle and got an immediate response from several toms. But they sounded pretty jakey. Sure enough here come 4 jakes right into the dekes. I stuck it out till almost 9 hoping to get a de-henned tom to come check me out. Packed up and went to check out another property. About a mile up the ranch rd I look up on an open hill and what do I see? a fanned out bird all alone. SWEET! drove around a hill and set up.....and nothing! I know this bird is within 300 yds and its too open to sneak in closer. So I wait and call wait and call and wait and crap theres a red head looking at me from behind a juniper 60yds away. Apparently he didn't see me cuz he popped into strut and came walking into 30 yds Boom!
had to edit to preserve location
Went out that evening to another spot and watched a group fly up to roost so I had a starting point for the next morning.
I woke up with the plan of 100% killing a bird with the bow this time. So I went and got set up real early and waited till about 530 without hearing a gobble. Sent out some calls and nothing, tried again and got a very unenthusiastic response back. I tried again and a different bird popped with a little more enthusiasm. Then the hens started talking. I waited a while and called again and one popped and I could tell they were on the ground. I could hear the hens calling and started calling to them with kee kees and they started coming down the cow trail. Pretty quick 7 hens and a strutter are….. Long story short, don’t put your decoys too close if there is a downward slope. I found out I cant get my arrow to clear my window on a turkey @ 9 yds. I hung out for another 30 min hoping the other tom would come check me out. Nadda. So I packed up went back to the truck and switched to my run and gun gear. It took a few hrs to locate some birds but finally did and moved in and set up. The tom wasn’t very vocal but the hens really took offense to whatever I said and started coming to set me straight yacking the entire way. When the 6 hens, 3 jakes and a strutter showed up I could see the tom was a good 60 yds behind the hens. The hens came into about 15 yds and milled around and got nervous and started to move off dragging everything else with them. In a attempt to stop them I called. Didn’t stop the hens but the jakes turned and came started coming. This ticked off the tom, which charged the jakes and ……
for sure one of my better Merriams spur wise @ 1 1/4 beard was a little over 9"
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