Amazing how fast things can pile up when you take a few days away.
Tuesday before I can get to this.
I'm not the greatest at this but here goes..........
I went to Methow Valley.........Mazama Winthrop Twisp area. First thing I gotta say is this was a hunt with my younger brother and my 79 yr old disabled Dad......I had NO knowledge of the area, or TURKEYS even......so.....that said........Disappointment is the result of unfulfilled expectations.......
My expectations were too hi....but that's another story. I will always have this hunt with the bro and old man to think back to and appreciate what I learned.
SO NOW.....That Said.....
Here's how it went as best I can recall and type it.......I had no knowledge of the area....so can only speak in general about that.....
We got a late start by MY standards but whatever.......we went UP.....to the snow.......then came back down maybe 700ft and dispersed.....3 directions, 3 hunters calling.........nothing.....so we went lower........
We ended up on Twisp River somewhere....in a long sort of valley....open fields of sage with trees in the ravines.
I got out at the first ravine with trees and they continued up the coolie. I went just inside the trees, sat down and started calling......first time calling for me.......sat there maybe 20 minutes....then got up.......heard some noise and something sounded like a woman talking to one of her kids about something.......and a deer or something moving off through the brush......hunted for about an hour after that with nothing......had to meet up with the group so headed out.............we got back together and they said they got calls back.....but some insane guy came flying through doing brodies and trying to climb a hill right next to them and that was that so they came picked me up.......I didn't think anything about my noises until later and thought maybe whatever the lady talking to the kid sounds maybe were turkey.....dunno.......so anyway we headed to my bro's cabin. Saw 4 turkeys on the way home, but all on private property....like in people's yards and such. Got home, ate New York Steaks, played poker and drank beer until late.
Packed up in the morning, and headed back to that same spot for one more try before we went home....
This time my brother dropped me off further up, but first.....then they went to were they were before....I could see them walk across the top of the valley as I made my way into the trees......I found a nice tree and sat down....called off and on for about 30 minutes without any turkeys calling back.....I pissed off a couple of squirrels or chipmunks or whatever those chatty little things are.....so they made a racket....had a raven park in a tree nearby and squawk at my calls for a bit.......still no calls back........
So I decided to stand up, put my pack back on, and do a couple quick purrs and clucks then move....as I was doing this I saw a slight movement of a "limb" sticking up out of the brush....and I focused on it.....then I froze....it looked like a turkey....so I put my slate in one pocket, stylus in the other. Then a car came along and the "limb" turned to look at the noise...I saw a beak and an eye. I started to bend down to grab my shotgun without taking my eyes off the "limb" sticking up out of the brush....as I did, the "limb" came up higher out of the brush, as I went down out of sight.....so I looked down long enough to grab my gun off the ground......I hadn't yet picked it up from when I was sitting down.....and when I stood back up and looked....the limb was gone! I rushed the 40 feet or so over to where the "limb" was........NOTHING!.......I tried calling again for a few minutes and then it was time to go without any more. This was about 1PM.....if I could have stayed to sunset I think I could have gotten one.........
So all in all Good First Hunt for me......
Now I need some clues about areas around Tacoma.......we still have until the end of the month!!
I hear there are some somewhere between Fort Lewis and Olympia............HINTS anyone?
