Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Turkey Hunting => Topic started by: dawei on March 28, 2008, 10:10:49 AM
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Is anybody planning to hunt the Klickitat for Merriams this year? I scouted down there last weekend (03/22) & heard a few gobbles although I didn't see any turkeys.; sign was scarce also. I understand the area had a hard winter & the population may be down.
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I do not hunt turkeys but the couple of times i have been down there they were everywhere. Where did you scout.
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My parents use to live right on the river just east of town. The winters never seemed to have much effect on the population. No matter how harsh they were. They seemed to be around all over. It was finding land to hunt on. I was lucky and a place to go so that wasn't an issue. The turkey are all over the place. Just have to go searching for them. They are there. Usually find them in the treed areas up in the hills. I know this probably doesn't help you much. Good luck.
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I do not hunt turkeys but the couple of times i have been down there they were everywhere. Where did you scout.
On the hillsides between 2 & 3 miles before (south of) Liedl Park.
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MOSTLY the birds are everywhere. Your goal will be more to try to find where they aren't being pressured.
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One thing to keep in mind. This time of the year they are still bunched up pretty good, so you can scout an area and find little to no sign. Then after the break up they are all over the place. They should be spreading out quite a bit in the next couple of weeks, that is if it evers stops SNOWING!!!! :)
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Pick up a copy of fishing and hunting news. In the past month they have been printing articles of where to go, in the klickitat, northeast and blues. Or start knocking on doors and get some permission to hunt some private land.
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Good idea, go get a copy of hunting and fishing lies and wherever they say to go-do the opposite.
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Good idea, go get a copy of hunting and fishing lies and wherever they say to go-do the opposite.
Exactly------ they have ruined more than a couples of spots for me
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Never hunted turkey's there but when I was Hunting deer there I saw loads of them! had about 75 go right under my tree stand all mommas and some young jakes but still a cool sight!
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Hang a right before you drop down the hill to stinson and liedl. They will be higher up in the mountains this time of year down there. I dont know why but they are. Another good spot is to go past leidl and park at the gate on the left. Hike in there up onto that ridge. You will find them there also. Also stay on the south slopes they like to eat that new green grass and the bugs will come out in the sun also. Just stay up out of the river bottom and you will be golden. To many people hunt down toward klickitat so you are on the right track. Again i am not a turkey hunter but I do know where they hang out because I shed hunt all through those areas.
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where to even start with the turkey's. there are lots of places and there are some good places. i know of several due to lots of time in the area. pm me for specifics
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My brother and I hunted down there for the first time last year early archery. We saw sign and birds all over the place. We are ging back down for them and hopefully find some good ones. This will be our time turkey hunting. It should be fun to try to get them in.
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I live right in the middle of them. The toms aren't talking that much in the morning. Lot more last year. Maybe if we didn't have two inches of snow and cold temperatures might have an effect.
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Pick up a copy of fishing and hunting news. In the past month they have been printing articles of where to go, in the klickitat, northeast and blues. Or start knocking on doors and get some permission to hunt some private land.
X2...best thing to do is wear your best and deffinantly talk it, But going door to door had gotten me onto alot of property that i currently hunt on year after year........
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I hunted by the klick last year and shot a nice bird.Klickriverchome called one in for me it was my year to shoot first.There will be a lot of people on the public land but the further you walk in the less people.If you don't have good luck the first week or two don't give up.A lot of people only hunt the first weekend and give up.The last 2 weeks the tom start running out of hot hens and the go into a frantic search for love and a susceptible to calls it is not like on TV you have to work for them.Good luck
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where to even start with the turkey's. there are lots of places and there are some good places. i know of several due to lots of time in the area. pm me for specifics
PM sent
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Just know that some of the land down there is not posted or not well posted so be aware of where you are. Good people around that area. Most will have no problem with you coming and asking. They may not let you hunt but they are kind about it. Unlike a lot of westsiders I've gone and asked. One of the doors you might be knocking on might be Buzz Ramsey's house. My parents lived just above his place. Good man to talk to. He and his family are great people. Good luck and enjoy yourself down there.
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KRC I got your PM & replied; thanks for all your help! (Hope to see you down there!)
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Just know that some of the land down there is not posted or not well posted so be aware of where you are. Good people around that area. Most will have no problem with you coming and asking. They may not let you hunt but they are kind about it. Unlike a lot of westsiders I've gone and asked. One of the doors you might be knocking on might be Buzz Ramsey's house. My parents lived just above his place. Good man to talk to. He and his family are great people. Good luck and enjoy yourself down there.
I'll second that about Buzz!!!!
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Time for an update: I hunted all over the Klickitat Wildlife Management Area Tue-Fri, 04/15-04/18. (I had zero success getting permission to hunt on any private land; despite being a disabled veteran & having a WDFW Disabled Hunter Placard in my vehicle.) I hunted off Soda Springs Road, Klickitat River Breaks Road, & the old Klickitat River Road behind Leidl Park. I tried all of my locator calls, & every turkey call in my arsenal; to no avail. I heard not a single yelp or gobble in four days of hard hunting. Every hunter I encountered (11) experience was similar to mine; nada. I talked extensively to the KWMA Biologist & the WDFW Enforcement Officer. Their take was:
• The winter was extemely hard on area wildlife. (I found numerous winter kill deer)
• Turkeys migrated to far lower elevations in the Klickitat River Valley.
• Both felt turkeys would migrate back up the valley with warmer weather & greenup.
For now I'll pursue Easterns in the Skookumchuck Valley. I'll try Klickitat again the second or third week in May; maybe then I can tag a Merriams Gobbler. I'll keep you posted.
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Thanks for the update.....great information for me as I usually hunt the Klickitat for turks.
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I've had same experience in Klickitat. Been working Soda Springs and Breaks in the WDFW area. Got one single gobble on 4/16, almost all the way down by the river, then nothing else. Last week, saw a couple toms trotting down the road but couldn't get them interested. Heard a couple gobbles just before dusk but couldn't get anything going next morning. Went out today and didn't see or hear a darn thing. Think I'm just going to wait a couple more weeks so that I quit spending my gas money.
Be curious to see if anyone has actually had any success in Kilickitat to date?
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I've had same experience in Klickitat. Been working Soda Springs and Breaks in the WDFW area. Got one single gobble on 4/16, almost all the way down by the river, then nothing else. Last week, saw a couple toms trotting down the road but couldn't get them interested. Heard a couple gobbles just before dusk but couldn't get anything going next morning. Went out today and didn't see or hear a darn thing. Think I'm just going to wait a couple more weeks so that I quit spending my gas money.
Be curious to see if anyone has actually had any success in Kilickitat to date?
Me too!
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For those of you that hunt down Soda Springs Road, stop by. My house is the second place on the right. Have a red barn. If you need water and we are not home. help youself. There is a frost free by the barn. Anyway stop by. It is raining off and on today. I am going to start hunting next week. Have killed turks on the opening days several times. Not the last two years. We had 11 deer walk across our lawn this morning. One was a very nice 3 point. Yep. Still had his rack. Go figure.
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Jerbear i have never turkey hunted but the buck i have in my gallery was shot not to far from your place.
Most of the turkeys i have seen while out deer hunting have been over out of willard.
