Hello From Arkansas

[GobblerGetter]

Hello from Arkansas!  This May my father and I will be traveling to your neck of the woods chasing gobbling long beards.  Although he was the one to introduce to me to the traveling part of turkey hunting at an early age he has never had the opportunity to kill a Merriam.  We hope to knock that out this spring!  The plan is to fly into Spokane and hunt the Colville NF.  From my internet studying there seems to be a great population but my question for you local boys is about your neighbor to the east.  A few years ago I made the commitment to kill a turkey in all 49 states that have them before I go.  I have A LONG way to go (killed in 15 states) but at 34 years old I have time good lord willing.  I have set a personal goal to do this on public land and outside of Florida and Texas all of my out of state turkeys have came on public land.  Again my question for any of you folks that live in the Spokane area how is the population of the turkeys in Coeur D Alene  NF just to the east of Spokane?  My original plan was to hunt the Wallowa Whitman so I could knock out OR and WA but with dad joining me I would rather hunt Merriams instead of Rios because he has killed a boat load of them through the years.  If any of you guys have any info that you think would help in our quest to the pac NW I would be all ears!  Thanks Chad Parker Benton, AR

[JKEEN33]

If you're going to be hunting the Colville area, your are fairly close to the Idaho border. Depending on where you are hunting it is extremely close. I'm usually withing 20 minutes if not closer when I'm turkey hunting. Getting a turkey in Idaho would not be difficult at all.

I would be looking a little further North than Coeur d' Alene. If you are looking at a map, look around the Newport area. I hunt out of there and further North. Newport is divided by the WA, ID border and there are turkeys all over the place.

Depending on how much time you have I would not see getting an Oregon bird out of the question either. I've done some hunting in the South East corner where you are 5 miles from OR, WA or ID. Depending on the year, conditions the Merriam's in The NE and ID can be fairly easy to get. I would think you could easily get them in a day. The tough part for you is not having the local knowledge. I would suggest contacting the owner of this site. He is a guide in the area. I have not used his services, but I have read quite a bit from guys that have. I know he sells maps of the area that would probably help a guy form out of state.

[GobblerGetter]

Very informative JKEEN33!  Thank you!  That was actually my original plan.  I have already bought the NF maps down in the SE part of the state and NE Oregon because of the close proximity of the states to be able to jump boarders!  Having a 20 month at home and with my work I plan on flying in Friday night the 2nd and hunting through Wed morning so with good weather and being able to find a gobbling turkey or two knocking out 3 isn't out of the question.  Having my dad with me and him probably wanting to enjoy the moment better than I do typically it would just have to work out perfect for that to happen.  Another local knowledge question is the pressure usually lowered a notch or two when getting into May?  On a normal weather year is the first of May the time to be there? 

[JKEEN33]

Turkey hunting has been getting more popular the last few years. That being said, after the first week it gets a lot quieter. The areas I hunt are a little higher in altitude and can still have deep snow for the opener. I like getting out the first week, but have taken birds late in the season too. Let me get the maps out and I will send you a PM to get you started. There are a lot of birds, but they can be spotty. A lot in one area and none in others.