fingershooter
04-21-2014, 08:41 PM
After confirming that we were still allowed to hunt a piece of private property, My son, grandson, and I scouted it out and found that most of the "herd" (including most of the good toms) hung out and roosted in the one area we were not allowed in. Opening morning, well before first light, and on a small field well away from the restricted area, we set up the blind, set out the decoys and settled in to wait. Before long, the turkeys roosting around our location started gobbling and we got pretty pumped.
Well, within half an hour, a couple of hens and a half dozen jakes landed in the small field in front of us. This was going to be easy, we thought. They started heading towards us and then turned to feed up the hill towards a fence-line which had a line of thick brush along part of it. We planned on running up, using the brush for cover, as soon as the turkeys crossed the fence. Well as they approached the brush, a shot surprised us (and the turkey that dropped on the spot). There were only 2 other people allowed on the property and we had not seen their vehicles. Soon, a "hunter" crept through the brush towards the remaining turkeys, which were milling around.
Terrific, we thought, he's trying to push them towards our blind which, by now was obvious in the full daylight. All of a sudden, this guy lines up his shotgun on another bird, directly in line with us. Nick says, "he's going to shoot right at us!" I don't know if this guy heard or maybe he spotted us when he looked down the barrel of his gun, but he ran over to the downed bird and grabbed it and RAN! Well,... away we go after him to find out who he is. I went one way, Nick the other. When I finally caught up with my son down the mountain a few hundred meters, he told me that he followed a trail of feathers through the brush halfway down before he gave up the chase. Apparently, the guy was not interested in conversation.
While we stood there chatting, a bunch of turkeys started gobbling on the ridge just a few meters from us. We snuck up the trail and after a half hour of cat-and-mouse, Nick dropped his bird with one shot. The rest of that day, I managed to get very close to a few birds, but could not confirm that they had beards and so that ended opening day.
The next three days the weather was wet and cold and our friends, and hunting partners from Alberta, Dave and Jay, who were on their first trip to the Kootenays, went fishing and scouting.
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4811.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4811.jpg.html)
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4812.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4812.jpg.html)
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4818.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4818.jpg.html)
Saturday, the 19th, finally gave us a sunny, although chilly morning. We'd set up near a roosting area that my partner, Randy, had found and all of the gobblers flew to the mountain and climbed up out of reach. when we regrouped back at the trucks, we heard them making their way back down. We figured that they had headed up to where the sunshine first hit the steep slope and then followed it back to the bottom to their feeding areas. We high-tailed it back to our spots and Jay sneaked in and make a good shot on his first turkey.
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4819.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4819.jpg.html)
With that group being spooked, we drove to another area and cruised around calling periodically. At one point, near the end of the dirt road, I got an immediate answer and it was close. Dave put the stalk on while we waited at the truck blind calling. About 80 meters from us, he went into a crouch and motioned that the bird was heading away. I ran down the road till I got past the tom (which was still gobbling and strutting on the ridge above me) and then climbed the back and put him down.
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4824.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4824.jpg.html)
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4829.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4829.jpg.html)
Dave caught up to me and we made our way back down to the road. Randy and Jay were not driving down to meet us, but still calling - or so we thought. There was another tom on the bank that I had just ran past and it called for a while but left before we could figure it out.
Dave had some action and got close to gobblers the rest of that day and the next morning but could not connect on a tom.
On Sunday, we roasted the jake that Nick had gotten and deep-fried a store-bought turkey and had a big feast with friends and family. Randy's home-made huckleberry cheesecake finished off a terrific meal and great hunt.
Well, within half an hour, a couple of hens and a half dozen jakes landed in the small field in front of us. This was going to be easy, we thought. They started heading towards us and then turned to feed up the hill towards a fence-line which had a line of thick brush along part of it. We planned on running up, using the brush for cover, as soon as the turkeys crossed the fence. Well as they approached the brush, a shot surprised us (and the turkey that dropped on the spot). There were only 2 other people allowed on the property and we had not seen their vehicles. Soon, a "hunter" crept through the brush towards the remaining turkeys, which were milling around.
Terrific, we thought, he's trying to push them towards our blind which, by now was obvious in the full daylight. All of a sudden, this guy lines up his shotgun on another bird, directly in line with us. Nick says, "he's going to shoot right at us!" I don't know if this guy heard or maybe he spotted us when he looked down the barrel of his gun, but he ran over to the downed bird and grabbed it and RAN! Well,... away we go after him to find out who he is. I went one way, Nick the other. When I finally caught up with my son down the mountain a few hundred meters, he told me that he followed a trail of feathers through the brush halfway down before he gave up the chase. Apparently, the guy was not interested in conversation.
While we stood there chatting, a bunch of turkeys started gobbling on the ridge just a few meters from us. We snuck up the trail and after a half hour of cat-and-mouse, Nick dropped his bird with one shot. The rest of that day, I managed to get very close to a few birds, but could not confirm that they had beards and so that ended opening day.
The next three days the weather was wet and cold and our friends, and hunting partners from Alberta, Dave and Jay, who were on their first trip to the Kootenays, went fishing and scouting.
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4811.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4811.jpg.html)
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4812.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4812.jpg.html)
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4818.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4818.jpg.html)
Saturday, the 19th, finally gave us a sunny, although chilly morning. We'd set up near a roosting area that my partner, Randy, had found and all of the gobblers flew to the mountain and climbed up out of reach. when we regrouped back at the trucks, we heard them making their way back down. We figured that they had headed up to where the sunshine first hit the steep slope and then followed it back to the bottom to their feeding areas. We high-tailed it back to our spots and Jay sneaked in and make a good shot on his first turkey.
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4819.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4819.jpg.html)
With that group being spooked, we drove to another area and cruised around calling periodically. At one point, near the end of the dirt road, I got an immediate answer and it was close. Dave put the stalk on while we waited at the truck blind calling. About 80 meters from us, he went into a crouch and motioned that the bird was heading away. I ran down the road till I got past the tom (which was still gobbling and strutting on the ridge above me) and then climbed the back and put him down.
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4824.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4824.jpg.html)
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/Brez2/DSCF4829.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/Brez2/media/DSCF4829.jpg.html)
Dave caught up to me and we made our way back down to the road. Randy and Jay were not driving down to meet us, but still calling - or so we thought. There was another tom on the bank that I had just ran past and it called for a while but left before we could figure it out.
Dave had some action and got close to gobblers the rest of that day and the next morning but could not connect on a tom.
On Sunday, we roasted the jake that Nick had gotten and deep-fried a store-bought turkey and had a big feast with friends and family. Randy's home-made huckleberry cheesecake finished off a terrific meal and great hunt.