One Island Bird Down....

[lokidog]

A friend invited me to hunt with her on Lopez Island for the opener.  She has property access and a landowner that is tired of feeding the turkeys her chicken food.  My friend has gotten one each of the last two years with the shotgun and wanted to turn her hunt up a notch and use her new bow.

I brought my blind and bow as well.  Set up before dark on the usual morning path.  Only heard one pair of gobbles on the roost.  Just before 7 we could see birds bombing off the trees.  After a bit, they came down the road and stood from 7 to 13 yards in front of us.  Her spot, so she had first dibs.  TOO MANY TURKEYS!     They would never clear each other for an ethical shot....  There were about eight big bodied toms and  five to seven hens.  Finally one stepped out to the side facing us at about 10 yards, thwup, small puff of feathers high and left, miss, a little excited.     Still milling around, another shot, miss, not sure where that went as it was out of my view.  The birds moved to our left but did not clear one branch that was missed in the dark setup so I had no shot.  The birds moved off.

About ten minutes later a very noisy hen came tentatively back toward the blind calling all the way.  We figured we were back in the game when she passed by and headed toward the chicken coops, No such luck, noone followed her.   

After a while we headed out to see if we could figure out where they went.  We saw some more, maybe same flock, a quarter or so mile away so we circle through another neighbor's to move in on them.  We get there and the birds have moved off to the back corner of a, mostly abandoned, farmstead.  After sneaking around the bulls, we were able to get within 30 yards but there was a fence between us.   The birds started moving away and around another fence so i tried to thread an arrow between the boards for a 30 yard score... sounded like a baseball bat hit that fence!  They continued to move off, though not in a big hurry, toward the end of a little ridge in the bull pasture.

We circled again back around to the access road where we had started and positioned around the ridge waiting for them to feed by us.  I was up the backside of the ridge and she was on the fencerow in font of them.  After about 20 minutes, the first ones appeared in front of me over the ridge.  I had a tree at 15 and 22 yards so I figured I would sit still until one went behind one of those trees (I had no cover, just grass).  Finall one steps up behind another tree more to the left so I draw and estimate 20 yards and wait.  He takes a few steps, pauses, I release and hit the ground on the far side of him, I think I dropped my arm looking for the hit.  He was also a few yards farther than I thought away.  I nocked another arrow while he and a jake did a little circle dance.  The jake went behind the 22 yard tree so I drew back.  Not really wanting to take the jake, I decided to rise up on my knees and look over the ridge, there were several less disturbed birds there.  I drew a bead on a nice tom just as he  turned a bit away from me, zing, thud, down he goes, looked like a spine shot with the arrow sticking out, a few kicks and some wing flaps and all was still.  Unfortunately, the other birds went back the way they came instead of past my partner.

Twenty three yards, twenty pounds, 5/8 inch spurs, an eight inch beard with an arrow I fletched... Awesome!

Weathergirl might try to get her first turkey after my friend gets hers.

Hope everyone had a good time out there this weekend.

[bearpaw]

congrats... 

[denali]

Nice, congratulations!

[Todd_ID]

Cool story and great picture!

[Michelle_Nelson]

NICE!

[lokidog]

Cool story and great picture!

Thanks.  Yes, it is one of my best turkey pics as most of the time I have to prop the camera on a stump or bumper..... 

[rasbo]

awesome

[gasman]

way to go 

[turkeyfeather]

Nice job!! Sounds like a good time.

[PAW66]

Congratulations, nice bird

[h2ofowlr]

Nice bird.  Even better with a bow.

[TheHunt]

You using those guillotine broadheads? 

[blacktailer]

Right on.  I always like to hear of the westside birds.  Congrats.

[lokidog]

You using those guillotine broadheads?

Nope Muzzy MX-3's, 100gr.  My partner was wishing she had those though....     I might pick up a pack for future use when they are standing 10 yards away though.

[seth30]

Good job!

[BullMagnet76]

NICE   

[ghosthunter]

Excellent

[carpsniperg2]

Nice job man! I whacked my biggest tom today with a bow as well. Nice to see a few thunder chickens getting whacked with a bow

Congrats

[kevinlisa06]

Great west side bird congrats!

[lokidog]

Nice job man! I whacked my biggest tom today with a bow as well. Nice to see a few thunder chickens getting whacked with a bow

Awesome!

Congrats

[Gobble Doc]

great work.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

 
Thats cool !!

[lokidog]

Thanks all, forgot to mention that when I went to recover the bird, I noticed a pile of beard feathers where I missed the first shot.  Guess I shaved off 1/3 or so of his beard.  The missing ones were about 6 1/2 inches long.

[Special T]

Cool story thanks for sharing! 

[ICEMAN]

Great story and pic Lokidog, thanks for posting. I am continually amazed at the fun you come up with on the island! Good for you!

[Machias]

Fantastic story and congrats!!

[BOWHUNTER45]

GOOD JOB LOKIDOG !!!!

[turkeydancer]

Great job, but wondering if Merriams were planted on Lopez Island or if this was a "private" release?

[lokidog]

Great job, but wondering if Merriams were planted on Lopez Island or if this was a "private" release?

They're all white meat on the inside....   

Don't know, don't care.  Some have said they were planted with the NWTF.  More likely locals.  Still a challenge and fun to hunt. 

[LITTLEBUCK]

Great job, you need to shoot about 20 more of those birds. Yes they are Merriam's, and were planted by private. I was asked by the land owner a couple years ago if any youth or disabled would be interested in hunting his birds with a small donation if possible and I was blasted from all directions from a certain few on this board.
Back to the hunt, I don't care if they are Merriam's or Easterners, it sounds like a lot of fun. I kick myself for not going up and doing the same hunt when I had the chance a few years ago. Again good job.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Who gives a sheet where you kill him... those birds been out there for along time ..... I have hunted those Islands back in the early 90s ...All I did was jump on the ferry and it was on ... most of my hunting was on Orcas & SanJuan .... Used to be hundreds on San juan but they have disapeared.... yes their are a few still there but good luck trying to get permission to hunt them ...The only birds ever planted out there was in the 60s and it was by Wdfw ...not the Nwtf ...

[Wacenturion]

Originally the birds on the islands were from two sources back in the 60's.  One was from a few wild trapped Merriams from Klickitat county caught by Dept. of Game biologists and the other from Easterns that were raised on one of the old Department of Game game farms, most likely Widbey Island.  They eventually grew in numbers and poised a nuisance problem.  That is why WDFW Region 4 office has historically been opposed to turkey releases in the counties they administer......King, Snohomish, etc.

There could have possibly been some addition releases by private individuals over time.

[LITTLEBUCK]

The birds I speak of were indeed planted by a owner that has 300 acres on Lopez. It started with about 30 birds he bought and just let run. The last time I spoke with them he said he had about 300 birds 2 years ago.

[turkeydancer]

No  offense was meant, but I thought he should know that the Lopez birds may be "feral farm" vs "wild" turkeys.  I know I would want to know. Even a "feral farm bird can be challenging to harvest I'm sure. But I also know 2 people that have taken "feral farm" birds that look like Merriams and were where 3 good intentioned farmers did a "private" release of farm raised, but not close to state/NWTF released wild turkeys. And they put in and received the WA slam pin like they just scored their Eastern. Hhhhmmm - not.   After that if it flips your trigger, I really don't care ... personally not my thing and not buying a wild turkey tag for it.   

[lokidog]

Whatever!  Did I claim they were "easterns"?  Did I say "woohoo, I've got my slam"?  Trust me, these birds are as hard to hunt as any birds in WA, well, maybe not Capital Forest ones....

Sounds like some jealousy to me.   

BTW, scored my first Eastern (23 pounds on DNR land) back in 95 or so, the year only 17 birds were killed west of the Cascades!  Have gotten a couple more easterns since including one with the bow by Onalaska.  Have completed my WA slam but don't really care.

Why don't you come out and shoot one w/o a tag and see how the state wildlife officers feel about shooting them since they are farm birds?   

[Turkeyman]

I new this was going to get good 

[Wacenturion]

I new this was going to get good 

So did I.

[lokidog]

It's too bad people have to say something if they don't have anything "nice" to say.   

[Wacenturion]

Not sure that a fair statement Loki.  Comments weren't directed at your hunt or your bird.  Nice picture and nice bird and archery to boot.  Congratulations.  I don't believe Dancer meant anything personal as he was just expressing the obvious when it came to two individuals submitting Island birds as their Eastern for a slam.  Wild western Washington Easterns they are not, and never will be.

The other comments were merely historical, nothing more.

Sorry if you took offense.

[JCKILLSHOT]

Great looking bird don't mind all the jealous words either!!

[turkeydancer]

WACENT absoultely correct - Since I'ld want to know, the question was meant to inform and no way disparage as I'm sure even a feral tom is not an easy task.

LOKI - Actually my first day hunting I had 3 Easterns approx 25 lbs at 10 yards, and also been there many more times since.  I'm also not into pins and records ... just good times with good friends. I'm glad that it trips your trigger. Myself I would want to know, thus the question posed.  If you want to take that as a personal attack, then that's also up to you.   Jealous ... not hardly.

[BOWHUNTER45]

I am with ya AL .. I am not into the records or pins neither .....but it seems this site gets a few in an up roar .... I just listen and laugh now ... No need to prove sheet to anyone but its in our nature to do so ... We all love to hunt so we need to support each other either way ...Those birds are not that dumb out there but I would not classify them for the record books ....thats just my opinion ... Lodi lives out there and he has opportunity that most of us do not have and I am with him him on taking advantage of the situation ...I hunted out there on the islands and its a cool place to hunt but its also hard to get on land to hunt ...I have not been since 93 or 94 ....We used to go out there have a ball but now we have alot more choices I prefer N.E  just way more birds and I love hunting turks in that part of our state....I killed my share with my bow and one was a huge bird but I do not go on bragging about just because how everyone reacts on this site  But Now just go with it ... I know how much sheet I kill and I will just post a picture or 2 and shut up !!!!!

[turkeydancer]

Thanks John ... good luck to you and yours.

I truly meant congrats to Loki for nailing one with his bow, but also thought he should know about these birds. I think most people that know me know that it was meant to inform and had nothing to do even a hint of jealousy. But as you stated, I shouldn't have been surprised on this site by any response. 
 
The main thing that concerns me about these private releases is the fact that they can spread avian diseases to the wild populations everyone has worked hard to get established. And then there are the  releasers that look to profit from people  harvesting these feral birds (like the guy that advertises Easterns in eastern WA).
 
Note: in the second post, one of the two pin "winners" I mentioned was in the Belfair area and one on Lopez. 

[BOWHUNTER45]

I know exactely what your saying AL ..I have delt with Davidson ( local bio ) for years on trying to convince him we need turkeys in N.W Washington ...and a couple of years of the Dept. PUTTING PRESSURE on him he finally said O.K Lets give it a shot ...Well the problem is they had a meeting in Acme Wa. and they were basically leaving it up to the people of whatcom Co. since this is the place they wanted to turn loose some Rios.... Yeah Rios not easterns .. The dept decided they will not be buying anymore birds from out of state so they wanted to try Rios ... Well after a few months the people of Acme complained enough to shut it all down ...Mostly Berry growers and ranchers who did not want turkey sheet mixed in with their cow sheet ...some lame ass excuse like that ....thats when I said I had enough of all the BS and decided I was just going to be a hunter and stop wasting my time with dumb--- people ...we have all the birds we need in the N.E where most of us hunt anyway so its all good with me .....

[Wacenturion]

I know exactely what your saying AL ..I have delt with Davidson ( local bio ) for years on trying to convince him we need turkeys in N.W Washington ...and a couple of years of the Dept. PUTTING PRESSURE on him he finally said O.K Lets give it a shot ...Well the problem is they had a meeting in Acme Wa. and they were basically leaving it up to the people of whatcom Co. since this is the place they wanted to turn loose some Rios.... Yeah Rios not easterns .. The dept decided they will not be buying anymore birds from out of state so they wanted to try Rios ... Well after a few months the people of Acme complained enough to shut it all down ...Mostly Berry growers and ranchers who did not want turkey sheet mixed in with their cow sheet ...some lame ass excuse like that ....thats when I said I had enough of all the BS and decided I was just going to be a hunter and stop wasting my time with dumb--- people ...we have all the birds we need in the N.E where most of us hunt anyway so its all good with me .....

Bowhunter45.....Not exactly true.  WDFW left some of the decision up to dumb a** NWTF biologists who thought Washington's turkey program was premature with Easterns and should have planted Rios in western Washington instead.  That brain fart was generated from all the successes of the Rio's in western Oregon, primarily the Roseburg area.  Now any idiot knows Whatcom county is not Roseburg, Oregon.  Roseburg is more like northern California.

Then with a rush by the local NWTF chapter to get anything released in their backyard to hunt, everyone was full speed ahead.  There were landowner concerns and yes they ultimately shut it down, and good for them.  Rio's would have been a disaster.  If they had taken, they would have headed toward the lowlands around I-5, in and around the farmlands.  There would have been a nuisance problem for sure.

On the other hand, Easterns would have been an easy sell.  They would have headed east and up away from the open berry fields.  They would have been ghosts like everywhere else in western Washington.  The failure to get releases in Whatcom county was entirely due to NWTF biologists from back east, and the local NWTF chapter making dumb decisions while Davidson and WDFW stood back and quietly laughed.  WDFW got exactly what they were hoping for....no birds.  Period, the end.

[BOWHUNTER45]

  I knew I would draw gun fire ... could not exspect nothen less .. Whoevers fault it is I could give a rats a-- ... either way I am not getting birds in Skagit & whatcom counties ... and I agree with the whole Rio Deal ... We need easterns ... but its obvious and i know that we will never get any ... Plus now we have every frickin mountain known to man block off I sure in the hell do not want another situation like we had with Pilchuck tree farm ....spend thousands of dollars to plant some and then have them sell off to some animal loving , no hunting organization .... Like I said ...I am happier than hell hunting where I hunt , even though it takes 7 frickin hours to get there..and as far as the game dept ....Well I leave it at that ....and as far as the NWTF at least they tried to get the ball rolling ...not saying they are perfect but they tried ....and as far as Biologists go , we had no one with experience when it came to planting easterns .. Thats why the NWTF sent out a BIO to help out ... ALL I am sure we had Biologists who thought they knew what they were going  but when I hear comments like ..( the turkeys will eat all the frogs ) and on & on THEN I just have to LMFAO !!!!!  pLUS WE GO THREW THIS SAME TOPIC EVERY YEAR ... I RETIRED ... its all good !

[BOWHUNTER45]

THANKS LOKI .... 

[lokidog]

Just one more thing....

From Wikipedia - A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer.

If these were broad breasted bronze turkeys, I would agree that they are feral.  Merriams or easterns that have been transplanted, even ones hatched in captiviity are still wild stock birds.  Every bird in Washington has a hatchery hatched or transplanted bird in its history.

All I know is that I worked hard to get a wild turkey, I don't care about its lineage.  The bonus, I didn't have to drive 5 to 7 hours and burn a crap load of gas.   

[turkeydancer]

BH & WaCent -  Tom Tamer and I were involved with that process and had some good discussions with WaCent  ... got down to the final meeting, and the organic farmers stated a little opposition ... Mick caved big time instead of addressing their concerns.  Now state just wants to sit back except for habitat inhancements statewide ... no trap and transfers, but would rather go in and shoot 100 "excess" birds out of the trees if they get any complaints.  Crushed our brothers in NW Wa who worked so hard to get any turkeys and the sport going up there ... do agree that easterns would be the preferred bird. 
 

Loki - Again congrats ... just meant to inform you was all.