May 30…..Time sure passes quickly.  Tomorrow is the official end of the Utah turkey hunt for 2014, but unofficially today is my last day I can go and try to fill my tag.  Weather for today is calling for a high of 84 degrees!  Wow that is warm.  Who would have thought?  We started this season sitting on the hill with snow blowing in our faces and now it’s going to be 84!  We have gone from Spring to Summer and just in the time it took for the turkey season to begin and end.  It’s all good.  We have also gone from hunting one particular hill and brush blinds, to a completely different valley and hunting out of a purchased blind, again it’s all good.  If the birds don’t care, why should we?

We have learned some valuable lessons this season and probably the most important one is calling technique.  A purring hen can only be heard by the human ear if you are within 15 yards and I have heard it with my near deaf ears.  I’ve also heard the raucous noise of two fighting gobblers from 10 feet away.  I almost think the bird Weasel took a couple of days ago was the one that got beat up that day.  They have no mercy on each other.

This morning will find Weasel and I sitting on what we hope is the X once again.  But just like all our mornings, the birds have to be there and cooperating or else it will be just another day where we get to witness the coming of the morning sun and the awakening of the woods.  Nothing is wrong with the latter, but it would be nice to get a chance at a bird.  We have said all along, you don’t get to fill your tag by sitting (laying) on the couch.  It’s 3:09 a.m. right now and time for a morning cup of Joe.

Thinking back about this turkey season, we have seen coyotes, foxes, chipmunks, mice, hundreds of turkeys, geese, ducks, grouse, pheasants, sand hill cranes, squirrels, deer, cows and probably millions of other birds.  We had two or three little bluish/grey ones fighting within a couple feet of us one morning.  Nature is fun, but like I said, you don’t see it by not being out in it.  There really isn’t anything better than watching and listening to the world wake up at first light, from the first start of a diesel engine far off in the distance to the waking call of a Robin followed by another far off Sandhill Crane.  The cool, sometimes very cold, morning breeze and when things are right, the first gobble of a big old bird up in the tree.  There is a lot to be said about turkey hunting and for sure, this old boy is hooked on it.  I have to thank the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for putting these birds out and getting the flocks to survive like they have.  They say it’s one of the best and most successful programs they have done and I believe it.  Their map of established flocks shows turkeys available for anyone in the state to take advantage of them.

http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=72119ec937f3426197b800217502df25&extent=-117.8402,36.5649,-105.311,42.0349

They have a lot of people NOT HAPPY about these birds as well and perhaps that is why they are talking about a season for them this Fall.  Turkeys can be a pain in the butt if they get together in a residential area.  They are a big bird, with lots of bad habits….well, not bad habits really, they are just doing what turkeys do best….scratch and eat.  Scratching can lead to the paint on your vehicle from looking its best and eating can devastate your veggie garden and lets not talk about the stuff you track into your house after being outside.

This morning I’m going out and try to make sure one more turkey can’t get up on someones brand new Silverado!  Wish me luck!

Bears Butt

May 30, 2014

UPDATE:

Weasel and I arrived in perfect time to set up his blind at our favorite little meadow.  Most if not all of the birds were still sound asleep.  Once in the blind however, we started hearing the sounds of the robins and then the crows.  A wonderful morning to be out in the woods.  Little or no wind, no chance of rain, a bit on the warm side.  And best of all, there were gobblers in the area.

The first birds to sound off were quite a distance below us, almost out of hearing range, but they were there, at least two distinctly different sounding birds.  The rest of the gobblers were sounding off up hill from us, farther West than where we usually find them perched.  When it was light enough for them to come down, they dropped silently and then quit gobbling all together.  Our hopes of having them fly down to our location was dashed.  Our only hope at that point was that they would feed into our meadow, so we kept a close eye out for any movement in the grass.

Weasel spotted three gobblers walking a trail up on the side of an open hill some 400 or more yards from us.  They gobbled a time or two before disappearing around the curving landscape.  15 minutes later they were an additional 300 yards up the hill from where we last saw them.  For sure not coming our way…bummer.  All was quiet as far as gobblers and their noises were concerned and so Weasel decided to give his hen yelp call a try…why not?  Nothing else is happening and it just might get something going.  About the time he got the call out, 4 birds came into view on the hill opposite from where we saw the 3 gobblers earlier and they were coming down in our direction.  Weasel gave out a hen yelp and we could hear them yelping back.  A quick look with the binocs showed all 4 birds were gobblers.  With the call back in his hands one of the birds lifted off and came sailing down in our direction.  I readied the shotgun for the action I knew was about to unfold before us.  But instead of the bird coming down and landing in front of the blind, it landed right behind us, maybe 10 yards.  When it hit the ground it went into super defense mode and began putting like a crazy bird and walking away from us down the hill behind us.

What caused him to putt is beyond us, he could not have possibly seen us inside the blind.  And for the life of us we have to question why it didn’t land right on the X in front of us to check out the decoys.  As it putted away, the other 3 on the hill looked down and I just knew they would fly down as well.  I was ready!  But instead of flying down they began to walk down the hill parallel to the tree line and disappeared into the trees lower down on the hill.  The terrain in that part of the hunting area contains a deep gully and we didn’t think they would cross it up high where we knew they were going to go.  Down near us the gully flattens out and would make them about 40 yards from us when they showed their beady eyes and red heads.  We waited patiently for the view of them coming through the grass….after a long time, we decided they weren’t going to come down that way.

Weasel got out his call and gave a single hen yelp string and was immediately answered by a gobbler in the trees West of us and probably 100 yards up hill.  My hopes were reignited and I was ready for action.  After what seemed like an eternity and no sight of a gobbler coming into our meadow, my legs, knees and feet began to ache very badly from kneeling there without blood for such a long time.  I had to move or begin to cry.  Inside the blind we could get away with moving some and when the blood started to flow, I almost began to cry from the rush of it going down into my feet.

We stayed on our spot for another 15 or so minutes and then I decided my season had run its course…..It’s time to go!

Well, another fine morning and we did see 8 different birds, all of which were gobblers and one of them was less than 10 yards from us!  When we were in the truck and heading up the road to go home, I did spot another turkey down in the trees, but at soon as the truck stopped it took off running the other direction.  I didn’t get a good enough view to know if it was a tom or a hen, but my bet is on a tom.  Heck yes I would have shot at him had he given me the time to get my shells out and loaded (about 2 minutes by my estimation)…so a total of 9 birds today.  When you think about how big (small) the area is that we are hunting in, that is quite a few birds and to all be toms….Next year we are going to have a ton of turkeys to play with!

A great year and I’m very glad Weasel got to tag one of them!

In our case…Turkeys 12, Hunters 1…..

Bears Butt

May 30, 2014