A Few Things For Fall **Post Trip Report Update**

[TheStovePipeKid]

So Federal "PREMIUM" TSS shotshells are basically $10 a round. My Father and I have been debating whether to switch over or not. I've admitted that as often as I'm out hunting turkey I'll have to give in to the TSS itch eventually. The price tag is making it easier to hold out. I suppose when they come down to a more modest $5 a round I'll HAVE to switch. We are sticking with Winchester Longbeards for now.

I've got a tag left over from Spring and an oath of vengeance to enact upon a flock of turkey and I'll be making good come September. I'm taking the old man out to Colville again to make my dream of getting him a turkey come true. My Brother and my Niece will be meeting us there. My mission, should I choose to except it, will be a first turkey for all of them. So I'm headed to the field of battle with a heavy family weight and a chip on my shoulder. There will be blood, and if all goes as planned it won't be mine. I'll be grabbing a second tag in Colville just in case. I learned the hard way to always have two.

After number crunching I found I could get a big game Cougar tag and small game license for like $5 more than just a small game. After getting busted by a cougar a few years back trying to bag some turkey I have a score to settle.

Wish me luck. I have one week to kill four turkey for me, four turkey for Dad. With three days to kill two turkey for Brother, two turkey for Niece, and a fat cougar for me whenever. Maybe some crawdads and fishing during all the free time.

[Dan-o]

Good luck!

$10/round???         

Turkeys die pretty dead with normal ammo.

[birddogdad]

Good luck!

$10/round???         

Turkeys die pretty dead with normal ammo.

yep. Tungsten is expensive. you can shoot #9 shot and your pattern density is the big improvement at 40yds and shooting 9's are close to shooting 4's in current turkey magnum pellet loads, all about the pellet count in a 10" ring @40yds... not something your gonna burn at geese by the box, but shooting just a couple rounds a season, with all other expenses (time, gas, ect) really small potatoes in the grand scheme! Tough expense (for me) was running a pattern check on these but i am sold...

[Big game archer]

Good luck!

$10/round???         

Turkeys die pretty dead with normal ammo.

yep. Tungsten is expensive. you can shoot #9 shot and your pattern density is the big improvement at 40yds and shooting 9's are close to shooting 4's in current turkey magnum pellet loads, all about the pellet count in a 10" ring @40yds... not something your gonna burn at geese by the box, but shooting just a couple rounds a season, with all other expenses (time, gas, ect) really small potatoes in the grand scheme! Tough expense (for me) was running a pattern check on these but i am sold...

  If I'm only shooting a few rounds a season, it's worth the expensive price to me. I'm not a big fan of using lead ammo these days...

[TheStovePipeKid]

I'm out hunting turkey every year. Spring some years and Fall every year. I figure I can hold out for maybe one or two more seasons before I cave in and jump on the TSS bandwagon.

[TheStovePipeKid]

I've added grouse and crow to my list. I'll be talking to some property owners about coyote as well. Last three times I've been out there are a few coyote running around. Should be a full trip.

[TheStovePipeKid]

The time has come at last to chronicle the ambitious journey I set out upon September the 8th.

It all started in the predawn hours as TheStovePipeDad and I crawled from beneath the warmth and comforts of home and hit the road before the sun rise. travel was as always a seven hour journey through mountains and fields, rain and sun. We arrived at a respectable afternoon hour and met our Airbnb hosts up on Bear Mountain in the Kettle Falls/East Marcus area. I had booked a nice a frame cabin with full amenities so we could pursue death and carnage by day and fine dining and warm beds by night. My Brother @Where all the Turkey at was driving up from Utah with his eldest daughter to participate in the deadly game of life. His 13 hour journey was still a couple hours from completion so Dad and I unloaded the rig and packed all the equipment inside. We decided to meet up in Colville and procure the first half of groceries we would need for our week long trip. As always we stayed up way too late clucking like hens while we plotted our murderous assault on all living game animals.

Our Gang for the trip consisted of myself, a confirmed turkey killer- Dad, who is a confirmed turkey hunter, a brother (Where all the Turkey at), confirmed newbie, and a niece (insert-witty-name-here), an unconfirmed newbie. None of the three in my hunting party had harvested turkey yet, with my brother and niece only having the Utah spring season under their belts. We spent Sunday evening and Monday touching base with contacts I had on previous hunts as well as meeting some new land owners. We used out scouting info and months worth of personal reflection to plan out our plan of attack for the week.

Dad has been on more than one hunt with me, including financing and transport for our very first turkey hunt back in 2008. A personal life goal of mine has been to kneel next to the old man and get a picture in front of his bird. I tried to set him up on my honey hole so he could be the first to bag a bird but life moves fast and against all my preparations I ended up bagging the first turkey, a juvenile jake.

The Niece was next up with the crossbow. We had met a few folks in a small neighborhood off highway 395 who always had 30 or 40 birds milling around. We got crossbow permission for the whole area and gt a chance to make some magic. After a few mis-steps my bother and niece found themselves in the right place and she blasted the legs off a juvenile jenny.

Where all the Turkey at was up next. We got on a flock in an area we had almost 300 acres to hunt. With our luck the were are the small parcel right next to it on private land. We made a move to try and get in place but they were moving slow and manage to stay out of site. After checking on a few other spots in the area we made a second pass before leaving. It paid off with about 20 birds being right next to a barn we could hunt. I sent the brother to the far corner of the barn to head off the turkey and I took up the other corner at their rear. He found himself in the perfect spot and decided to try for a double in one shot which paid off. I managed to sprint over a creek, up a hill, crawled through tall grass on my hands and knees and was able to pick off my second one. We ended up with three juvenile jennies. That tagged my brother and myself out at two. I decided not to purchase the two additional tags so I could focus on my Dad and Niece, and my Brother was on a 3 day out of state license that was coming to and end.

I ran my dad around for the evening near the end of the week and despite my best effort we came back empty handed. We had a few more attempts with the Niece that also came up empty. We continued to knock doors and meet new people through the whole week so we considered each day to be successful.

Saturday evening became the last stand. We setup in a high traffic roosting area and again placed Dad at the forefront. We had a nice flock of about 20 birds milling on the other side of a field and we were set at the roosting area. All we had to do is watch and wait. I could already smell the scent of gunpowder and blood. It was going to be a massacre. What could possibly go wrong? At long last I could see the flock moving towards our setup and was giddy with excitement. To say I was a little confused when they went right back to where they had been and stopped would be an understatement. Turns out the coyote also planned on a turkey massacre that evening and two of them were out pushing our birds around the area. Lucky for us a flock decided to use the same trail we did to get to our spot and jumped my Dad and Niece from behind. When the smoke cleared and the wings stopped flapping we had two more juvenile jakes in hand.

Final count for the trip: Me, 2 turkey, 0 grouse, 0 cougar, 0 crow, 0 crawdad- Where all the Turkey at, 2 turkey - Niece, 2 turkey - Dad, 1 turkey.

If anyone reads the beginning of the thread I had some mighty tall ambitions for this trip. A local ended up shooting the cougar I was going to hunt because it was hanging around the back porch of an elderly friend of his. The one grouse I had in my crosshairs gave the slip right before I fired. I tossed the crawdad trap near where we were staying out of convenience and never ended up with any. I never did get around to hunting crow. I also made the mistake of leaving the rifle at the a frame on Saturday so the two coyote braced me without consequence. I feel pretty successful after all was said and done. The Bother is already working on permission to hunt there in Utah with a February 28th close on the fall season there. Dad is already gearing up for a spring hunt with me in 2020. I think I'm just about recovered from the months of planning, full week of guiding, driving the rig, and cooking dinner for everyone every night. Too many fond memories and good stories to recount. Good luck to everyone who is still at it!

[Where all the Turkey at]

You forgot the part where She was sleeping and came full awake and took her shot laid out prone. In my humble opinion her shot was much more impressive than mine. I was standing behind a cement wall with my shotgun braced on top of it.