Opening Day Success!! 4 Birds Down

[KimberRich]

This years Turkey Season was a short one but a Great one!! So here's the story..   Birdguy and I took off Wednesday morning about 10 headed for Springdale area.  We wanted to get there early and scout the area in the afternoon and possibly roost some birds for the morning.  We hiked all over and found some sign and a few feathers but not a ton of stuff to get us pumped.  Come dusk we started hearing some Gobbles below us towards the valley floor.  It's always hard to tell how many birds are actually gobbling when there is a group but we estimated 2-3 which wasn't a ton but was enough to have us excited for the morning!
Morning comes and we're set up just up the hill from where the birds were roosted.  5:30am: They are gobbling and working their way through the timber..  But not towards us.  Almost every time we call they gobble back but slowly are fading away onto property we don't have permission to hunt.  After hiking around and jumping some birds and setting up in a great spot and seeing a couple hens we decided to call it a morning.  3pm: As we are driving back up the road to the property and I thought I heard a Gobble right in the draw next to the road..  We stop and bail out and listen..  Sure enough there are birds close by.  We grab our guns and take off after them but they wont come to a call and are working away from us so we decide to return to the truck and get all our gear and head out.  We hike in the direction that we last heard the birds and to our surprise they had circled below us and were on the same ridge as us.  We closed the distance to about 75 yards and had no time to put out decoys so I got settled against a tree and Birdguy did the same to my right. I made a couple light clucks and they gobbled right over the rise in front of us!!  They appeared slowly feeding up the hill at 35 yards.. Birdguy wispered there were 3 legal birds that he could see.  We were going to try and get 2 birds at once but there were to many trees and rocks and such so I told him to take the shot if he had a good one.  BANG! He shot and the birds scrambled. One trotted through an opening and I shot and knocked it down and then he shot again and we had a Triple!!!    1 Tom, 2 Jakes. 
We high five and take a few pictures and hike back to the truck.  As soon as we got to the truck we hear a Gobble up in the timber above us a couple hundred yards.  I grab my stuff and take off circling below them as I think they are working down hill.  I called and they gobbled about 8 times and each time I closed the distance a little more..  I got to within about 75 yards of them and still couldn't see them but they had shut up and I couldn't pinpoint their location.  Being the great hunting partner he is, Birdguy had great timing and let out a call a couple hundred yards below me and they sounded off.  I crawled on my hands an knees the last 40 yards behind the only hump of dirt between me and them.  Slowly peering over it from my knees I saw 2 Toms and 1 Jake standing looking in my direction at about 25 yards so I took the safety off and slowly raised the gun and BANG!  Bird down and we were tagged out!!
So it was a short season but a great one! Not a bad view from Turkey camp Either!! 

[carpsniperg2]

great job guys, good shooting. by the fans i would say you have 3 toms 1 jake from what i see in the fans.

[KimberRich]

great job guys, good shooting. by the fans i would say you have 3 toms 1 jake from what i see in the fans.

Thanks! It's hard to tell from the pictures but the bird on the far right in the picture of all 4 birds is a Jake.  Short beard about 3 inches and small spurs about 1/2"..  But his fan looks to almost be a Tom.  Not sure what qualifies as a "Super Jake"??

[carpsniperg2]

yeah he would be a super jake for sure with that short of beard but a full tail like the toms. i have killed a few of them last year on my opening day doubble i got a small jake and a super jake. also allot of the jakes will have just a small bump for spurs. were the  super jakes will have a little more of a point and be longer like you said 1/2" or so. very nice colors on all of those birds the one i got opening day was allot more of a dull color compared to the years past maybe a little diffrent blood lines 2 people taged out is great

[h2ofowlr]

Nice looking birds.

[LongTatLaw]

slayin' em!!   u da man!

I was just proud I had em yellin back at me this weekend!

[Birdguy]

It was a lot of fun. It was great to be done  but I am wishing it was time to go again already  ! I may have to pull the boy out of a baseball game and head back over again. My neighbor hunted a few miles from us and they ended up filling three limits by Friday evening as well  . Great season for jakes and birds in general, another reason to take the boy back over . Another winter like this last one maybe a while coming. Besides with the lakefront accommodations it is just perfect. Checked to odometer on the truck yesterday, just under 1200  miles in four days of turkey hunting and souting around  . Betwen tags fuel, food, gear, and stuff I figure that turkey only cost about $40 a pound, but the chance to go and do it was priceless. We should probably start saving money for diesel now . We have really had some great hunts over the last few years, I really hope our good fortune continues as we add children to our hunting party. Harvesting is fun but the good time and experience makes it AWESOME. 

[bowhunterforever]

Congrats guys!

[carpsniperg2]

funny you said that birdguy, my dad always gives me crap he says he can go buy 20 turkeys for what i spend on one

[rougheye]

nice job .  hope you didnt have to haul them out to far   

[Birdguy]

We packed three out (all at once) about 1/4mile, the last one I drove up and picked him up. Beautiful day, spirits high, my two tags full  , I was glad it was him that got to go after the last one  .

[rougheye]

Thats awesome man .  i shot mine down in a hole and i thought about boning him out 

[Birdguy]

That would have to be a pretty steep hole   

[fishunt247]

Nice. Where I hunt, the two year olds have 1/2" spurs...a little less sometimes. A 3/4" spur (a true, measured 3/4" spur) is a good spur in this country. I think it is steeper and rockier. Must be different up north.

[LongTatLaw]

hey birdguy,

I believe I now share an office with ur cousin Rob! Good kid!

[turkeydancer]

Congrads my good friends .... I know what scared the heck out of you the most was knowing you were getting a "Dancer" hug when you showed up at our camp   ...

I called 3 toms in for my friend Jeff Mayor to 10 yards and he got a 19-1/2 lb tom (Tacoma News Tribune Adventure writer - see Sundays addition for the story), then I took a tom the same size 6am Saturday morning (my only day to hunt without a rookie with me).  I passed on 7 Jakes at 10 yards that afternoo. Another buddy took a Jake opening morning. Had numerous other great encounters with up to 6 toms, but  a garbage truck .. coyote ... bobcat ... and some mistakes by my 2nd rookie meant no more birds in coolers. Pictures later ...

[Birdguy]

LTL, yes that would be him. Truly a good kid. I hoped to get him out turkey hunting this spring but with the kid in baseball and the birds at home in full swing I was real lucky to get out and get mine. I may make one more attempt to get the my son on one but I NEED MORE LEAVE! Next time you see him tell him to stop lurking and start posting....I see he is on here daily  . We all watch for a while but someday you have to jump in.

[LongTatLaw]

I will...i spent half an hr harassing him about not mounting that high buck he took...that was a nice buck..rather lone nice first buck??  and he just cut the skull plate off??

I blame you!! 

Im gonna try to get him after an elk this fall...right after I secure mine

wer will be battle buddies for a while..

any way

congrats on the birds...Im very jealous!
dave

[Phantom Gobbler]

Great Camp, Great Opening Week Hunt and Great Pictures.  Thanks for sharing!

[KimberRich]

Congrads my good friends .... I know what scared the heck out of you the most was knowing you were getting a "Dancer" hug when you showed up at our camp   ...

I called 3 toms in for my friend Jeff Mayor to 10 yards and he got a 19-1/2 lb tom (Tacoma News Tribune Adventure writer - see Sundays addition for the story), then I took a tom the same size 6am Saturday morning (my only day to hunt without a rookie with me).  I passed on 7 Jakes at 10 yards that afternoo. Another buddy took a Jake opening morning. Had numerous other great encounters with up to 6 toms, but  a garbage truck .. coyote ... bobcat ... and some mistakes by my 2nd rookie meant no more birds in coolers. Pictures later ...

Thanks for the update TD and we've come up with a return favor for your "Dancer" hugs.. If we run into you this fall we may have to implement it.  You could start your own thread with all your info maybe??     I'm sure everyone on here would like to hear about your season and see pics.  I'm seriously hoping your pal Jeff writes you up as the "Mary Poppins" of Turkey hunting!!  Would be the cherry on top for my season!!     

[turkeydancer]

Article should be in this Sundays Tacoma News Tribune about his hunt and about "turkey camp".   So happy for you guys ... congrads again !!!

By the way, no reach arounds or kisses on the lips ....