I did my first solo turkey hunt last weekend. Having only killed a hen previously by chance in the fall, and not knowing a damn thing about turkey hunting, I was prepared for a weekend long bust. Friday night I went to the spot I had been scouting for 3 weeks, only to find that some other folks had already setup there. I made the best of it Sat morning but the forest was silent. Ended up going to Plan B, Woodward Meadows in Colville Nat Forest, and it was a bust. Managed to get my truck stuck so bad I had to hike down the mountain to a guy sawing up firewood and have him pull me out, in trade I would help him load a cord into the bed of his truck.
Morning of day 2, I went to the Rustlers Gulch Wildlife unit, and struck out there. I went in on the west side, and all the Gobblers were on the east. About 9am I packed up, ran into a Game Warden on my way out, and he gave me a solid piece of knowledge, "Sometimes with turkey, not knowing anything can be a blessing". Drove to the east side and prepared for my long hike in, and at random, a tom went screaming by me while only a half mile in. Calls in my vest, decoys on my back, and I ended up not needing any of them. I'll take the freebie. 15 yards.
Amazingly, he was 21lbs. 8 inch main beard, 4.5 2nd, 3.5 3rd, 5/8 and 3/4 spurs. Not a bad 1st tom.
I'm going to try and fill my 2nd tag this weekend, and hopefully I can call one in.
