John, Jon, and Leslie,
Re: Rex and Deb spring turkey hunting trip
First of all, greetings to the staff, our new office voice (Leslie), and all club members, I hope that the New Year greets all in good spirits and fortune.
My wife and I had a great time on our spring turkey trip in [location deleted]; it was her first year in the turkey woods. It only seems fitting that after sacrificing many years at home raising our four children, (while I was out hunting), that the Lord blessed her with a trophy gobbler for her first club turkey. Here is the account.
We got to [location deleted] St. Park on Saturday prior to the Wednesday opener to set up camp. We got things all in order and hit the road on Sunday to go scouting and also to look for a home in the area. We love the club and the area so much, and our retirement plans fit the notion of buying a small home in the area for when we return from Alaska this summer. We are working for a remote hunting and fishing fly in lodge this summer in south west mainland Alaska. We have quit our jobs, sold our homestead to our kids and are chasing our dream of exploring and enjoying as much of God’s beautiful outdoors that we can. It is our ‘mission field’ if you will, to spread the Word in our travels.
On Wednesday the opener, the weather was not the greatest, high winds and cold. Then the rains set in, and we had to quit early in the afternoon, as the opening day went uneventful with no turkey sightings for the day. I was wondering to myself if the locals were right, that the past two winters had a devastating ice storm that killed off up to 30 to 40 percent of the turkey population. We retired to the tent with the rain pouring down all night, the wood stove kept us toasty. It rained 3 inches overnight and we were stranded inside the [location deleted] Park, as the park is built around a dammed up lake, and the water was flowing swiftly eighteen inches deep over the dike, so we could not get out with a vehicle to go hunting on Thursday morning.. We sat around until mid morning and decided to take off on foot for our spot, which was two miles to the east.
We then loaded our backpacks and headed out on foot for our reservation, it took a little while but we got there about noon. On my way in, I happened to see a large group of turkeys just clearing a hilltop in the pasture heading my way. I ducked down in some cover in the creek bottom and worked my way over to where I thought they would travel to be in range for a shot. It worked out nicely, as the large group did come right to the spot where I was waiting and I got a shot at a nice gobbler. The only bad thing, I had gotten a boot full of water and I was two miles from the tent, with an extra payload for the long walk back.
We did make it back, exhausted and ready for a dinner of pan fried walleye from home. We calculated that we walked around 8 miles that day, and the last two or three, I had an extra 25 lb on my back. We retired to the tent and slept like a log.
Friday’s action got started as we walked in to a new section that I had never been in before, we set up the double bull and unknowingly, the birds were all around us in the trees. Fortunately we did not blow any off the roost because of the wind covered our noise, and the action started quickly. We had gobbling for the first time in the week, and soon after light several hens visited our spread. I was on the camera, hoping to get her first bird on film. After a couple of hours, it got real interesting. We spotted two gobblers, and a jake coming to the calls, and heading right for our decoys. I got some good footage until I decided we could possibly get both so I put the camera down and got ready.
The two dominant gobblers came in together and she took the shot at about 20 yds at the closest bird, the shot rang out and the bird hit the ground. The other bird was startled and took to the air, and I reacted quickly with a shot to bring down that gobbler as well. And just that quickly it was over, two mature gobblers were down, the only bad thing was that mine ended up in a wet creek bottom and did not look as good as it should for the pics.
Now here is the cool part of the story. As we got out of the blind, I was running the video camera, and when she picked up her bird we saw the multiple beards and we went crazy. After closer examination, the gobbler sported three beards of 9 – 6 – 3 inches, 1 inch spurs, and a hefty 25 lbs. What a trophy for her first gobbler in the club.
After several photos, we collected our gear and went back to the vehicle for some lunch. That afternoon, we set up again on the property further to the south in a small pinch of brush hoping to ambush some roaming birds. We did get some action with a group of 4 jakes coming by, but we opted to pass. On Sat am, we sat up in the same place as the night before, and patiently waited. No gobbling, but soon after light a couple of hens came by and soon wandered off. Then all of a sudden, like a ghost out of nowhere, a nice mature gobble appeared from the high weeds. I was tagged out and on the camera again trying to get another hunt on film. The gobbler got nervous right as she was shouldering her gun, the bird was moving away quickly and she shot. The shot did not find its mark and our trip was over. We had to leave for home on Sat noon, so we loaded up and went back to camp.
I am setting here in my office writing this story and reminiscing about the good memories of the past few days. It only seems fitting that God has blessed my wife with a trophy, as she has stayed behind many, many times to take care of the kids. And like a humble winner, when it was over she gave all the credit to her ‘wonderful guide’. I am taking our son to Missouri for our last excursion for the spring, for we are leaving for Alaska on May 1.
Thank you for reading our story
Rex and Deb
More about this family of deer hunters 2 3 4 5 6 or on turkey hunts 3 4 5 6 7 |
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