The second weekend of the UWC Youth Turkey Camp was a huge success just like last week was.  Was there any doubt?  Not one bit!

As camp hosts we have a lot of duties to take care of and even though it was Thursday night, we still had to make sure all the pieces of the puzzle were put together and made ready for our guests when they arrived on Friday.  It didn’t take us too long to get that done and then sit back and relax. The schedule showed the guests needed to be there around 8 a.m.  That meant we could stay up a little later than the rest of the weekend.  Tye and Kris provided us with some good old down home guitar playing music, which is always fun!

We had a great dinner cooked over the grill and who do you think showed up to spend the night and enjoy the fun?  None other than Brayden from last weekend!  I would have to say he and his dad, Mike, were sort of excited to be back at camp.  Even Mom showed up to have supper with them!

Mom told us that when Brayden was heading out to go to school that morning he said “I can hardly wait for school to get out so we can go back to the hunting camp!” (or something like that)  Come to think about it, I’d rather go camping myself…but for you youngsters reading this, don’t let camping keep you from getting your education!  You will have plenty of time for camping after graduating!

With plenty of sleep behind us we were quick to get the coffee and hot chocolate ready for when the guests arrived.  We were expecting a couple of old faces from last weekend to show and four new ones.  Another fun and exciting weekend was awaiting us.  Even Tonya Kieffer from the Utah DWR came up to take pictures of the camp and the hunting for the KSL Outdoors Show with Adam Eakle.

You can watch the video she took on that show and I think she said it would air on May 11 at 11 p.m.  Don’t hold me to that, just look it up on the KSL website page.  www.ksl.com

We had everything ready for action and guests started to arrive about 7:30 in the morning.  I love it when people arrive ahead of the time scheduled.  It gives more time to meet them and get to know them a bit before the activities begin.  They were all there when it was time for the DWR to give them a reminder about gun safety and safety while hunting turkeys.  Making sure they knew what was a legal bird to shoot and the consequences of making a wrong choice.

When that was done it was time to go pattern their shotguns.  Some, like Brayden and Kam, already knew where their guns patterned and so they went to get ready for the days hunting.

The young hunters were very good at safely handling their shotguns and made sure the barrels were all pointed safely down range or in the air at all times.  Darin thought it a wise thing to have the hunter/shooter assume a hunting position, one where they were most likely to be in when a gobbler comes a knockin!  He became “the tree” that the young hunter would lean against.

Each hunter did a fine job and made sure where they would have to aim in order to get their bird.

I’d have to say, this would have been a dead bird!  Way to go Aubrey!

Once the patterning was done, the hunters and their dads, or in one case grandfather, were paired up with a guide.  The guides instructed them on what to wear and to get ready to head on out!  It was nearly 10:30 and these kids were anxious to get out into the woods!

We camp folks cleaned up from the breakfast and made ready our exit to become spotters…Wapiti, Weasel, Conner and I chose “The Gallery” to watch.  We were not sure who the guides and hunters were that were down in there, but we wanted to find some birds if we could.  “The Gallery” is a ridge over looking a remarkable piece of land that holds lots of game.  During the weekend, we saw Elk, Moose, Deer and Turkey while we viewed from this spot.

Again, being camp folks, our time for spotting was limited and we could only stay out until about 2 p.m.  Supper needed to be ready for the hunters and guides by 4.  We learned last year that the supper meal had to be served and eaten before 5 p.m. so that the hunters could go back out and “roost” some birds at dark.  Eating after returning from a “roosting hunt” would mean they would be eating after dark and there would be NO time for a camp fire and story telling time.  Lights out is at 10!  The morning wake up  usually happens just about 4:30 a.m.

We didn’t see any turkeys on this spotting excursion of ours this day and were back to camp preparing supper by 2:15 (see boss, we did good!)

After our supper, we cleaned up the mess (it sounds like we are a bunch of slobs doesn’t it?  We actually are quite sane about preparing the meal and eating it)  and made ready for an evening of spotting.  A contingency of us decided we needed to go off in a direction that none of the guides had taken any of their hunters.  We needed to drive our ATV’s into an area that offers little to no advantage view points from which to spot.  We figured if we could work our way into this area, find a bird or two and take some GPS coordinates of the birds where-abouts that we could get guides into there the next day.  The ride was wonderful and we saw lots of game but only sign of turkeys.  There would still be a chance that a guide could call a big bird in.

As we were taking a short break from riding at this pond, we took a stroll around the bank and found quite a bit of turkey sign.  Scratched up grass and leaves, turkey poop and a general “grazing” of the grass.  A good place to set up and call.

Speaking of call, Jeremy got a text message from his wife back at camp…”Bird Down!”

BIRD DOWN!!!!  We were all excited to find out who the lucky hunter was and so we packed up the goods and headed off the mountain and back to camp!

As we rode into camp it was quite obvious as to who the young hunter was that bagged his big bird!  Brayden!

A very nice “double beared” Jake bird and a super story to go with it.  Braydens dad, Mike had called home and mom was soon at the camp to give her son a congratulations kiss!

High fives were had by everyone as Brayden was congratulated by everyone in camp

…even the little ones…

As it turned out, Tonya just happened to be with this party of hunters as Brayden took his bird.  What she got on film just might air on the show…so tune in to find out.

Another thing that happened occurred the at the fire the night before when Weasel made an offer to Brayden…He said, “Brayden, if you shoot a full grown Tom bird, I’ll give you $5, but if you decide to take a Jake bird, I’ll give you $20”.  His dad then said, “And Brayden, I’ll do just the opposite.  You shoot a Tom and I’ll give you $20, but if you shoot a Jake I’ll give you $5”.  Well Brayden was in a win win situation with the bird as the icing on the cake.

That was a nice way to end Friday evening!  Chock another successful hunt with guide Darin.  Congrats to you and to Brayden!  Is it the dream catchers that are making this luck come together?  Or is it the skill of the guides and the extremely good shooting of the young hunters?

We built a good fire and asked the young hunters to tell us their story of the day and each one of them did.  I just love it when the young ones come out and tell such great stories!  I am actually learning a thing or two about telling stories just listening to them.

Don’t look now, but that young lady in the picture is Breanne and they call her “Sasquatch”!

Then it was off to bed…we all had a busy day and the morning will come early…Camp folks!  I’ll see all of you at the camp kitchen at 4 a.m.!!!!

4 a.m. comes very quickly after a full day the day before, but we have the coffee and hot chocolate ready…some danishes, and lunches for the days hunt…the guides are the most anxious as can be seen in this picture.  Mostly guides and a couple of hunters…where are the rest?  We have turkeys to kill..oh ya, Brayden will be sleeping in today.

As time ticks away the rest of the hunters find their way out to the gathering place and to the smell of hot chocolate and coffee.  A wonderful day ahead.  Partly cloudy and breezy is what is called for by the prognosticators, not being a died in the wool turkey hunter I don’t know what the guides are saying to each other about strategies, but they have something up their sleeves for sure.

Again, just like yesterday, once the hunters are gone, the crew cleans up the camp and gets ready for spotting duties…we are going to the Gallery again today.  Others are going various places to try and put an eye on a bird from a long distance.

Up on the Gallery, the crowd slowly builds in size as the other spotters realize we have something going on up here that is a good thing and they want to be a part of it.

Hours and hours of peering through spotting scopes and binoculars tends to take its toll on the spotters.  Add to that the long day the day before and the short nights sleep and suddenly a nap seems more important than looking for birds.

The sun feels really nice laying on this steep hillside, but not everyone is sleeping.  We have a big tom bird spotted down the hill and we are trying to get the guide, Kelly and his young hunter Leo on the bird.  All morning long that bird just strutted its stuff down there and more than once the hunter was just about on top of the bird for the shot…but the bird slipped away.

Not once did the bird know just how close he was to the frying pan and that gave the hunter a good advantage, but still the bird walked on and on.  The story gets really good when the hunters are hunkered down under a cedar tree and a hen turkey comes to within 10 feet of their position without seeing them.  But they had to wait until she got out of sight before they could move closer to the Tom…hours slipped by as we spotters watched and watched.

Like I said the spotting crew grew larger with more and more people coming to watch the events unfold.  In the end we had 17 people on the hill above the Tom and his 3 hens and the hunters.

As for me, I was on the cell phone talking to Kelly quite a number of times, trying to direct him to where the Tom was and at one point Kelly decided the bird had gotten out of town and they needed to do something different.  However, we had heard a gobbling down in the brush below our position and as Kelly and the hunters walked in the opposite direction I called him..the conversation went something like this:  “Kelly, I know you have  a plan in mind, but it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t tell you we have a gobbler sounding off at our feet.”  Kelly responded, “I’ll ask these two what they want to do.”

Pretty soon we see the three of them hoofing it back in our direction and toward the waiting Tom.  Suddenly we got a visual on the bird.  He was with his 3 hens and strutting like a crazy bird on the upper portion of a small opening in the oak brush.  I’m on the phone…ring, ring, ring…come on Kelly answer…ring, ring, ring…”The party you with to talk to blah, blah…”  I hung up.  Come on Kelly call me!  I’ll try him again…ring, ring, ring…”the party…”  I hung up.  After about 10 attempts, my phone rings…it’s Kelly…”Can you see us?”  I put the binoculars up and see them standing in a small clearing about 200 yards from the strutting Tom…”Yes.  But there is a deep cut in the draw between you and the bird.  He is up on the rise to your East…You will have to cross the deep cut to be on the same side as the bird.”  Kelly hangs up and they move in that direction, disappearing into the deep and steep cut.  Out of sight from us, all we can hope to see is the big Tom head in their direction and hear a shot from Leo’s shotgun.  We wait and wait.

My phone rings, it’s Kelly..”Still have a visual on the bird?”  He whispers…”Yes, but it is heading in your direction all fanned out.”  “Ok.” Came the response and then the phone hung up.  We figure Kelly can sense the bird is near and so wants to be really quiet…one of the only ways you can kill a smart Tom Turkey.  The bird goes out of sight from us in full strut and walking rather quickly toward where we last saw Kelly and the hunter.  We are all ears waiting for the report of a shotgun….nothing….nothing but the breeze blowing in our ears which are now as big as drums trying to pick up every sound of the forest at the same time.

Then the strutting Tom comes back into view, going up the edge of the brush line…I call Kelly…nothing…the phone goes to voice mail immediately…and then when I hang it up, it rings…it’s Kelly…”Hi Kelly, the bird is heading back toward the East along the edge of the brush, I think you will have to move toward the East and try to get ahead of it.”  The phone hangs up.

What do I know about turkey hunting?  I have only done it a few times over a 4 year period.  Why would Kelly want to listen to me, just because I can see the bird?  So we wait, not knowing what the guide and his hunters are doing and the big Tom slowly begins to disappear from our view.  17 spotters all trained on one spot, trying to see the bird which is now almost completely gone from our sight.

Suddenly the piece of a bird I am looking at explodes into a million feathers and the area turns into a dust bowl and the sound of the shotgun blasting comes upon our ears…17 people erupt into a loud chorus of yelling and screaming!  Some jump from their seated positions and are dancing around with arms flailing the air…someone should have been taking a video of the event…but you will just have to take my word for it.  Whatever it looks like in your mind is exactly what it was in mine and the guy next to me and the person next to them.  All of us were grinning and hooping it up!

And then someone says, I see the hunter…I call Kelly, Kellys says to  me…”Hey…he got it!” I say,  “Have him hold it up!”  And just then the bird is being held high by Leo as he walked toward our position and we could see him with the bird.  Again the crowd of us yell out our approval!  And we hear a similar sound from their direction!  What a great thing to experience!  Up on the hill far and high above the hunter, his dad and his guide we are high fiveing each other and in general just celebrating the success of a young hunter.

Now let’s side step this story for another.

Far down in the valley, possibly a mile from the young hunter and his downed bird is a guide with his young hunter.  He has had to answer the call of nature and has left the side of his hunter and her father.  He can see the 17 people high on the ridge above his distant position and turns his back from our view as he relieves himself.  He has always thought himself as more of a man than most men when it comes to certain body parts and as he finishes his duty, he hears a raucous yelling and hooping sound and turns to look over his shoulder at the dancing crowd at the top of the ridge…he thinks to himself…hmmm, I do have my back turned to them, but, well maybe they can see…..

As it turned out the guide did not hear the report of the shotgun and knew nothing about the kill shot.  Now back to the story….

This is the view through my camera on full zoom..the killing field.  The folks down there are taking pictures, tagging the bird and just enjoying the bonus success of this hunt.  They still have a long and steep walk out from where they are.

As we wait for them to hike up to our position we have a lot of time to talk about this event, the kids involved, the volunteers and plain old turkey talk.  How it feels to be near your son or daughter when they succeed in the course they are trying to get to.  All the emotions that are felt in an event like this.  How the young hunters feel that don’t get the chance to fill their tag like this young man did.  And I wonder to myself, should there be a part in the teaching of hunters education a section on enjoying the sport as a pursuit with the bagging of the game a bonus rather than the ultimate goal.

And for this young man, he couldn’t be happier right now!

And for this old man writing this, I can only speak for myself when I say, today was the icing on the cake for me this weekend.  To watch for several hours as the sneaky old Tom continued to outsmart the hunters without even knowing he was doing it.  For Guide Kelly and the hunter to be extremely sneaky themselves and put the bird on the ground.  What a rush that must have been for Leo and what a proud moment for his dad.

Once we were back to the camp it was time to get the supper ready and feed these hungry folks.  A great batch of fixins was made by Kris and the crew;

Sloppy Joes with salad, chips and home made lemonaide!  A perfect meal for a perfect day.

After the supper meal was eaten the guides headed back into the woods with their young hunters to try one last evening push to bag that bird.  Lots of birds had been seen today and the guides were more than anxious then ever to put their hunter on one.

And while some took to road hunting, others hiked even with sores on their feet.  All were determined to bag that bird!

Ouch!  Kami are you practicing to become a doctor?  You need better tools.

And while the hunters were out getting as close as they could to those big birds, the rest of the camp were either spotting for them, or kicking back at camp enjoying the wonderful weather and the day.

And with only one more morning to hunt, the guides encouraged their young hunters in getting a good nights sleep this night.  The nights campfire was still a very fun one and stories were told, but the crowd was much smaller than the past couple of nights.

I apologize for not taking any pictures on Sunday morning, the last day of this fun event.  I was asked to go along with Dan and Aubrey and their guide Bill to hunt a small pond on the West side of the camp.  This I gladly did and it was a very fun morning hunt.  We only saw one hen turkey and the Toms skirted around us.  If I have only learned one thing about hunting turkeys it is this:  Don’t Move!  Taking pictures requires movement.

And that is it for the United Wildlife Cooperative Organizations, 2013 Youth Turkey Camp!  I thank you folks for allowing me and my gang to play.  We had a really fun time in spite of all the hard work and lack of sleep.  I’ll do it again!  We met some really great people, had a ton of laughs, ate some exceptional food and enjoyed a wonderful camp and fun hunting experiences.  For those of you who volunteered and came forward to pitch the tents, take the tents down, cook the meals, get up at all hours of the mornings to get the coffee and hot chocolate going, clean up after the meals, take out the garbage, guide the young hunters and try to keep the UWC bosses in line….I THANK YOU!   It would not be right not to give a VERY BIG THANK YOU  to the Whitear family for letting us camp on their property and to the R and K Hunting Company for letting us hunt the leased lands they have available!  It was very nice of you to allow that.  And finally I’d like to personally thank the Utah DWR for their participation at this event as well and a special note to the Director, Greg Sheehan, Thank You for what appears from the outside looking in, as an extra effort at expanding your “Outreach Program”.  It’s what is needed right now in recruiting new hunters and fishermen in this state.

AND as my last note:  Someone has lost a slip over face mask and this person was at the “Gallery” on the first weekend…if it’s yours let me know…I’ll get it back to you.

Thanks again everyone!

Until next year!

Bears Butt

May 6, 2013

For a peak at some of the happenings at this years Youth Turkey Camp the following link is what was shown on the Adam Eakle show on KSL on Saturday May 11, 2013

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1112&sid=25163956

Bears Butt

May 14, 2013

I know there are some anxious folks out there that want to read all about the second weekend of the Youth Turkey Camp, and I do too.  But there are still some things that need to be taken care of back at the camp and Wapiti and I are about to head that direction.

So, BEAR(s) with me!  This old BUTT will get it done as quickly as I can!

Until then try and find a turkey in this picture:

Pretty obvious huh?

Bears Butt

May 6, 2013

Yesterday was a pretty long day for Weasel and I.  I was up at 3 a.m. and ready to go when Weasel showed up at 4:30 and loaded his things in the truck.  A perfect day for hunting, at least here at home.

As we traveled the 45 minute drive we started to see snow in the headlights.  By the time we arrived at the sign in point of the Walk-In access it was snowing pretty good.  We knew it wouldn’t last too long, but it did bring in a dimension to the days hunting that we were not totally prepared for.  But, we mustered on!

At the hunker down point, we set the long hen decoy on a slight rise in the open field and made our ways to our trees of choice.  Not being totally familiar with turkey hunting in the first place we decided to split up and share the hen decoy from different views.  Each blind was about 30 yards from the decoy.  From my vantage point I could barely see it through the tall brush surrounding my tree.

I broke a few small branches off and settled into the small space with my newly made seat planted very nicely under my behind.  Resting my back against the trunk of the small oak I felt very comfy.  The wind blew into my face and when it brought a snow squall, that too pelted me good.  I figured it was just a small part of learning about turkey hunting.

I had been nestled into my space for about 10 minutes when I noticed the morning sky beginning to brighten and it seemed to brighten really quickly.  The overcast sky was lifting and revealing snow on the ground way across the valley to the East of us.  No snow lay on the ground around us as it was just spitting.

The birds began to chirp in the nearby trees and movement could be seen up on a hillside about 200 yards in front of me…deer…And then I heard the first of several gobbles.  The birds were still in the trees and were waking up…gobble, gobble….gobble, gobble.  And then another from a slightly different place.  And then a third.  From my vantage point I thought the sounds were coming from my left side, but Weasel confirmed they were coming from behind my position and high up on another hill.  The sounds had to be bouncing back to me from the hill where the deer had crossed.

When it was light enough for the fly down to occur the birds clammed up!  Not a peep could be heard and where they went is anyone’s guess.  We didn’t see any turkeys.

About 10:30 or so we decided to move to a new location several miles away and try again.  We drove the hour to that spot and then started trekking up the trail in the bottom of a small canyon.  A noisy stream runs down the bottom of the canyon, but we felt confident we would see a turkey.  There didn’t seem to be any sign of others walking on this trail but there were horse tracks most of which were quite old.  We hadn’t walked too far, maybe 300 yards when I saw a turkey running away from us up the trail and then it took flight!  A hen for sure, but are there others?  We didn’t see any more and didn’t hear anything either.  So off up the trail we continued.

The canyon is very steep on both sides and the climb was quite steep in places.  The view around us as we proceeded was not very wide and it just didn’t look like a likely turkey spot, but we continued on.  I have always threatened to take this hike and why not make it today?  On we went.

Soon, we came to a split in the trail.  The stream came down a drainage to the left and the other went right…we went right to get away from the noise of the stream.  Maybe we will be able to hear turkeys gobbling.  We would stop every 100 or so yards and make sounds like a hen, hoping to hear a distant (or close) gobbler…we got no responses all day.

At the end of the trail was a locked gate and a blown down sign saying something about no trespassing and a $200 fine…those who know where we were hunting will relate to those signs.

There was a wide spot on top of this ridge just down from the gate and it had loads of turkey droppings around on the ground.  Weasel figures this is a staging or strutting area that is used first thing in the mornings.  I don’t know, but it sure would be a great ambush place to get a turkey.  The problem is the 2 hours it takes to get there.

The trail back was steep as we descended off the ridge.  We had just climbed up that trail and it didn’t seem that steep to me.  Sure it was a tiring walk up, but we were going slow and stopping often.  Coming down it I could feel my hips beginning to ache and my feet burning.  At the bottom of the 400 yard hill, Weasel spotted a turkey “getting out dodge”, I saw it disappear around a cedar in the bottom of the draw to our right.  We quickly set Weasel down on the point, I cut back about 20 yards and started calling.  Hoping that if it was a gobbler it would come back looking for the lost hen…30 minutes later we were on the trail down off the mountain again.

We saw one other turkey, a gobbler, on the lawn of a private cabin on the drive back home…and that was it for the day.  Oh, except for the very sore muscles in the legs and hips…talk about out of shape!

Today is our day to head back up to the youth turkey hunt!  It’s another exciting weekend for us and the kids!  The weather is calling for a 30% chance of rain on Saturday and I hope that doesn’t materialize.  Some say turkey hunting in the rain is the best time to go…personally, I’d rather hunt them when it’s 60 degrees and not raining or snowing.  So, just like last week, don’t expect any more from the Bears Butt until we come back from this hunt.  I’ll post up the final story from the UWC Youth Turkey Camp on Monday…pictures included.

Bears Butt

May 2, 2013

Today is the second day of Utah’s general turkey season and it looks like the Weasel and I are heading out to try and use some of the knowledge we picked up at the Youth Turkey Camp seminar that was put on by Darin Gardner.  I have so much confidence in bagging a turkey now I think the Weasel and I are going to come home with two big birds!  How about that Darin?!?  The proof will be if I post up follow-up pictures on this story.

The one thing about turkey hunting that I noticed last weekend is that if a guide gets up late he has to work three times as hard to get that bird.  Since I’m not a guide all I have to worry about is myself and right now it’s 3:33 a.m.  The plan is to hit a well known “walk in access” area in Northern Utah and make the attempt to get on a bird.  It’s about an hours drive from home and I will pick the Weasel up at 4:30…A question to you guides…Is 5:30 early enough to get in and set up before fly down?

We have a good hint on other areas where lots of birds hang out, but we know this little zone pretty well from past years hunting and like Weasel said, “It’s better that we hit this area today than try and learn a new place.  Especially since this is our only day to try this week”.  He is spot on.

If you are one who would like to hunt, fish, trap or just hike around in a “walk in access” area within Utah, remember that you have to read up on it on the Utah Division of Wildlife web site and take a short test to get a certificate to be legal to utilize the land offered.  It’s a small thing for you to do, but it could keep you from getting a trespass ticket.  The Walk in Access program is one where the land owner is being paid a token amount of money to open his land up for sportsmen to trespass and take advantage of the fish and/or game that is found on this property.  And as Sportsmen, it’s our duty to protect this privilege, honor the rules and do our part to maintain the owners trust.  If we who use these lands do our part, the lands enrolled in the program will remain in the program and more property owners will open up their lands for us to use.  For certain a win-win for everyone.  I have already seen a few new lands opened up in the area where Weasel and I are going today and I hope to get a chance to check at least one of them out today.

Yesterdays weather report was calling for a cold front to come through last night bringing winds and colder temps to Northern Utah this morning…they missed it a bit.  The temp right now is 39, they expected 29.  The winds are calm right now…they expected 30 mph…I studied about turkey habits in the wind and have my game plan in my mind, but it looks like Weasel and I can just walk in and shoot our birds…HAHAHAHA!  Could it be so easy.

Both of us have new “seats” with us so we should be able to set down and be more comfy while we wait the birds out this year.  Mine is home built out of a bag I picked up at D.I. and a padded boat seat I picked up off the highway a couple of years back.  I sat on it over the past weekend and never once felt a rock or a stick in the rear end.  I think I have a winner on my “back side”.  The Weasel went out and spent about $20 on a commercial one…I think mine is better than his.  But what each of our butts tells us after today will be the telling truth.

Guns, ammo, water, lunch, phone noises turned off and on vibrate, calls, a new chapstick and a very high confidence level (thanks to Darin)…will it turn into success?  More to come.

Bears Butt

Suddenly May 1, 2013

I’m still on a high from the past weekend and have to share a bit of realism with you.  As we were cleaning up the camp from the weekends activities and making sure we were not leaving a big mess for the Whitear Family to see, we found that we had quite a few of Tye’s special beans left in one of the large pots.  We found a bowl and lid and filled it to the brim, but there were still quite a few beans left…what to do with them?

I told Kris I would take them home and find a bowl or something to put them in and then clean up the pot and bring it all back for the upcoming weekend.  Those beans were too good to just toss out.

So on went the cleaning and that pot of beans were set to the side on a picnic table.  Once the main camp was cleaned up we went to cleaning up our own little camp area around the trailer.  It’s always hard to think of everything you are going to need at home and so we were slow at getting packed up.  Weasel and I were talking about possibly going turkey hunting ourselves during the week and so that tossed in a new dimension to what we needed to take home…camo, decoy, calls, gun, shells etc…more packing…and then there were the things we took for the big camp that were not needed and there was no foreseeable need for them as well, like big camp coolers and EZ ups.  So into the rig those things went to take home and put away.

As we were finishing up our task, in pulled the last of the hunters and so there had to be some Jaw-Jacking about their mornings hunt and then say our good-byes to them.  They won’t be back for this weekends hunt, but they talked like they would probably go out again on their own before the general hunt is over.  Their guide, Newt, (BP Turkey), would also not be coming back up as he has to relieve his helpers back at work.  All three of them will be missed this coming weekend.

Anyway, we finally got our things gathered up, the toys (ATV’s) loaded up on the trailer and it was time to head for home.  It took us a while to get out of the camp as we had to load up the garbage bags for the trip down the mountain etc. and we got all of that loaded.  As we progressed we kept remembering other things we needed and so there were two short trips back to the camp trailer to get those items.  I told Conner, “We might get out of here”.  He laughed.

And so we finally did get down the canyon and the garbage was allowed to be placed in the Sinclair stations garbage cans…thank you manager!

Home, unhooked, unloaded and very much tired from all the activities of the day and the weekend, we settled into a much needed relaxation time…a cold drink in hand.  Stories had to be told to Sherry about the weekend happenings and I had to hear her events as well.  As for me, when supper was finally eaten, I was dead to the world and went on to bed…I think it was about 8 o’clock…out like a light!

Early the next morning I awoke in a sweat…dreaming about raccoons at the camp.  They had gotten into some corn bread we had left over from the big meal on Saturday and had eaten almost all of it and of course scattered corn bread all over the place.  My dream included the pot of beans on the table….we had forgotten to pick it up and take it with us…My dream was three racoons on the table poking around with their little feet and knocking the lid off the bean pan and then trying to crawl into that large pot of brown sugar smelling stuff.  Suddenly the pan falls off the table and onto the cement floor of the covered pavilion….sticky beans and sauce went everywhere…splattering up on other tables and in general making a very big mess.

And then the three little varmints jumped off the table to devour all the beans and  meat chunks and lick as much of the juice up as they could…and like all raccoons, the one that gets the most wins….As they tracked through the mess of sticky sauce they made tracks on everything and once the beans and meat were all but cleaned up they made tracks on top of every table they could get on…I was sweating profusely as I lay in bed seeing this vivid picture that awaited me back at camp.

I lay there for quite some time and then Sherry’s alarm clock went off, signaling time to rise and shine…we arose alright, but my shine wasn’t what it usually is (it’s not very bright anyway, but this morning it wasn’t even a slight glow).  Over coffee I told her about my dream and said, “I have to go up to the camp site and clean it up”.  Besides I had forgotten my camo pant leggins.  I have to have those if Weasel and I go hunting.

So, up there I go with two five gallon buckets,  a large cleaning cloth, snow shovel (?), yes a snow shovel to scoop up the spilled remains…you see, in my mind the spill covers about 10 square feet and is 3 inches deep.  I’m ready for the worst and prepared to spend as much time as needed to clean it all up.  After all I made the promise and it’s my undoing since I forgot to take the pan home in the first place.

I loaded my little dog MaPa’s up and headed for Peterson.  I stopped at the trailer and got my camo pants first off and then over to clean up the pavilion.  As I entered the North doorway into the pavilion I looked toward the table with the pan of beans and I saw…………nothing on the floor…….nothing but bare cement….no bean juice….no raccoon tracks on top of the tables….no big old mess….I sat down on the nearest bench and said a quiet little prayer.

Once I had my senses back, I approached the pan of beans and saw that there was a full 5 gallon jug of water tucked up closely, the raccoons would not have been able to get behind the pan and push it off the table.  The lid was still tightly on the pan as well and the whole scene looked as if the raccoons had not even been on that table…maybe they didn’t visit at all during the night…still full from all the corn bread they had eaten the night before…thank God!

I loaded up the pan and happily drove MaPa’s and myself back to home!

Now there is a story to relate too…don’t make a promise and then not keep it, you could end up with a big old mess on your hands or worse yet have to eat some blue moldy apple pie.

I get that moldy apple pie from a story I heard from a missionary for the LDS church, who said he promised a little old lady he would come visit her and she said she had a pie in the window seal for him when he came…he forgot his promise and when he remembered a couple of weeks later and then went to visit her…she made her promise good by serving him a nice BIG slice of that pie…the pie that had been sitting in the window seal for over two weeks!  He said the mold was nearly an inch thick and as he ate it and said how good it was, he was thinking that penicillin is made from fruit mold and everything would be alright.

Bears Butt

April 30, 2013

The first weekend of the 2013 Youth Turkey Hunt sponsored by the United Wildlife Cooperative Organization was a total success!  I am very glad I was there to experience it.

It’s really hard to decide where to start, so I guess I’ll take a lesson from one of the youth and begin with the beginning!  Good idea huh?

Weasel, Wapiti, Conner and I had a rough start as we had truck problems before even getting as far as Ogden on our way to the camp.  Weasels truck just didn’t want to play that day and so it was a limping trip back to home to modify the hitch and put Wapiti’s Wimp truck to work.  He wimp truck is a brand new big old Ford that has only pulled a 5th wheel trailer and the rest of the time has been cooped up inside.  I felt bad for the truck as it had a job ahead that would require some serious pulling.

Once again on the road, we were about an hour behind where we wanted to be at the camp setting up the tents.  When we arrived at camp there were already people on the site trying to figure out where to put what.  Well, even being an hour behind we still would have had some time to wait for the tents to arrive.  We worked fast and had two tents up in less than an hour.  Those tents are huge!  I didn’t take any pictures of just the tents this weekend, but promise to have a good picture later on.

There is a whole lot to setting up a camp like this, tents, garbage can placement, cooking area decisions, table arrangements…we wanted those kids to come into this event knowing that they were walking into a hunters dream land.  (Before I forget, I really want to thank everyone involved with this event.  No way could it be done without the team effort of all of you!  You know who you are!)  We got it done and then settled in for a relaxing evening.  Tye and Kris provided the entertainment.

It was a very nice evening just to sit around and relax after such a stressful week of preparation.

So, Friday morning came rather quickly and we had lots to do in preparation for the day.  The schedule called for a big hearty breakfast of link sausages, hashbrown spuds, scrambled eggs, pancakes and lots of juice and coffee.  (I asked for hot chocolate too, but that message got away from the chief cook and food purchaser).

Folks started to arrive around 7 a.m. and everyone was excited!  As with anything like this the enthusiasm of one spreads to the next and the next and so on.  The camp was alive with the buzz of the event and everyone was talking “turkey”!  The kids were all grinning from ear to ear and getting to know one another.  It didn’t take long for the camp to unify.  And then in came the DWR….000000, those dreaded “fish cops”…I’m only joking!  They fit in with the rest just like they should.  I suppose it’s because they are “reaching out” to the general hunting people of the state and putting on a “different face”, a face that shows us hunters and fishermen that they are just people with a job to do and these folks wanted to see just what was coming down on this event.  What all goes into it and what will be gained if they support things like this.

I am pretty sure they came away with a positive take on the whole thing and if any of them are reading this I hope I’m not wrong.

The UWC President, Tye Boulter kicked off the event happenings right after we ate our breakfast.

And before breaking up to go pattern their shotguns and hear some reminders of hunter safety from the DWR, Kelly Hicks gave each of the young hunters a “bag of goodies” that were so graciously donated from some of the sponsors of this event.

Browning arms, Winchester, Camofire, Sportsmans Wearhouse and others.  Each kid got a large bag and a couple of the items in the bag were a SOG folding knife with sheath and an easy to use Turkey call (I forget the name, but later on you will learn how precious that was to be in the bag).

The camp came alive with the sounds of turkeys everywhere!  I loved that and the fathers of the kids were beginning to grumble a bit to think about how their homes will sound when the kids get back home. 🙂

The man from the DWR that takes care of Hunters Education in the state gave a brief but very important reminder to the kids about the six or so most important aspects about being responsible as a person carrying a weapon (gun) and being ethical out in the field.

As you can see every one of the young hunters were glued and focused on what was being said…heck, for that matter so were all the adults!  All of the kids knew the answer to every question that was asked.  I loved it!

So, as they went to pattern their shotguns, we camp people had to clean up the breakfast mess and get ready to put on our “Spotters Hats”.  We didn’t want to miss that!  Our “boss” made it known to us that we had to be back by 1 p.m. in order to prepare for the evening meal that was to happen at 3:30 or 4 p.m.  Some of Tye’s Chili!  MMMMMMM!

Wapiti, Weasel, Conner and I were asked if we would let a couple of the DWR personnel accompany us on this spotters excursion and of course we would love to have them join us!

How would you like to have a job like that, where you are outside enjoying events like these and get paid for it?  Not only that, but you are meeting people like Wapiti Dung and the Weasel….treasures that can only be matched somewhere outside this world.

The kids were all so very anxious to get out of the camp and into the woods to hunt turkeys.  Most of them had hunted some kind of animal before and some had even been turkey hunting and even bagged a bird, so to be taking sooooo much time in camp was just bugging the heck out of them.  We forced them to take a sandwich and some goodies and then they were paired up with their guides.

This pair is Chief Guide, Darin Gardner and his youth hunter, Jacob Connover.  It looks as if Jacob is very ready to head out!  LET’S GO!

You can see that this country has some very steep terrain, but the kids were so ready, I doubt they even knew it was anything but a flat stroll through the woods, at least on this first step of the hunting weekend.  By the end of it, they would have a different perspective, but even at that, I heard ZERO complaints from any of them.

So, us spotters sat high on the hill and looked under each bush and on top of every rock for signs of turkeys.  And when we found one, we would radio or cell call the guide and let him know where the birds were in relation to their position.  The guides would then make a plan and try and get in close to the birds without being seen or heard and set up an ambush.  Did that always work?  No, but the kids sure got a lesson on how it was done.  We on the other hand had to just sit and watch as things unfolded down below.  It was a very fun experience for all of us!

There are a lot of bushes and rocks to look at and more eyes are better.  Some people have a natural ability to discern between a real bird and a log that looks like a bird.  I found a lot of  “almost” birds.

Our time came quickly to an end as we had to get back to the camp to prepare the supper meal.  And as we drove into camp, there sat one of the young hunters swinging his legs off the tailgate of the truck.  His dad sat right along side of him and to say he was proud of his son, would be an understatement.

This young hunter is only 10 years old, but to hear his story and watch his actions when he tells it you would never guess his age.

A right of passage and I was there to witness it all!  I just loved it!

But that was not the only success story that came that evening.  We were busy with the supper when someone came and told us there was a second bird taken and so everything else was on hold while we went and found the lucky hunter.

Jessyca!  With a young tom called a “jake” in the world of turkey hunting and jake birds have tail fans that have taller feathers in the middle and shorter feathers off each side of the middle.  This is a classic jake fan and a wonderful pose by the team that made it happen!

Congratulations to both of these young hunters!  How can it get any better than this?

Well, I’ll tell you it can!  A successful hunt does not have to end with a trophy to hang on the wall.  Success can be measured in a whole lot of ways…time spent with your dad, son, daughter or friends…just being outside seeing nature…the challenge that comes with hunting or fishing and your attempts to succeed at what you are doing and learning by your mistakes…the thrill of being so close to your quarry you can hear it breathing and not being able to take that shot…the fun of the camp and the heckling that goes with this sort of event.  We had it all this past weekend.  We met new friends.  Became better acquainted with some we already knew and hopefully shared some of our own experiences with others that they may use in a positive way.

We saw coyotes, deer, elk, moose (uni-corns), foxes, geese, hawks of various types, turkey buzzards, sandhill cranes and our goal bird, turkeys!

Our nights included a camp fire and listening to each of the kids tell their story of their days events.  The first night they were a bit reluctant to tell their story, but the second night found one of them as ready as ready to share what she had experienced.  Can it get any better than that?

You can see by the smiles that these young hunters and their parents were having a very good time.  Lasting memories for sure.

But there is more to this!

So, 10 year old Jacob bagged his bird on Friday afternoon.  He wasn’t finished with the hunt!  He still had a full weekend ahead and was going to make the most of it.  I suggested that he might want to go out in the morning and help us do some spotting and that he could help another young hunter get a bird of his or her own.

As I was preparing to get the coffee and hot chocolate (Yes Kris came through) ready for the hunters before they were going to be woke up, here came Jacob ready to help out, it was 4:30 a.m.!  He wanted to do something while his dad was waking up.  So, I put him to work putting chocolate into a cup…when he was done putting in just the right amount, I poured in some hot water and had him stir it.  Then asked him to sit down and test it to make sure it was chocolaty enough for all the kids.

It was his job then to tell the others just how many scoops they needed to put in their cups to make it good.  Good job Jacob!  But was that enough for him…nope!  He wanted to join us as spotters and we wanted him to do just that.  His dad decided he needed to drive the two of them and not go in our car…that’s ok…we all ended up on the hill and tried our best to find those wary birds.  Trish, with the DWR even came up on Saturday morning to join us.

You can’t tell me Jacob doesn’t want to spot a bird!

Strategies of all kinds were being talked about each morning as the guides discussed their plans for the day.

They had to take into consideration the age, size and physical shape of both the young hunters and their fathers.  You and I might be able to head off and cover a half mile distance in a half hour or less, but what about that person with legs only half as long as yours?  These guides really had a lot to do to try and get their hunter on a bird and it wasn’t an easy job.  Thanks guys!  You all did really well and I must say, I think every hunter had at least one chance at taking a bird and some even shot several times without tagging out.  Maybe this coming weekend?

But again, that was NOT all that went on this weekend!  We had ourselves a big old party!

We had a band!

Darin Gardner gave us a demonstration on the “hows and whats” you need to know about turkey hunting.

And even a multiple time winner of turkey calling came in and demonstrated the techniques of calling turkeys, Matt Leonard!  Does it get any better than that?

Yes it does!  But not by much!

Bonding…..

Friendships….

Oh, I almost forgot something…at the first of this story I mentioned the bag of goodies the Kelly gave to each of the hunters…the one item was an easy to use turkey call.

It was late for a morning hunt when Kelly came rushing down to grab up some lunch sacks full of food, a couple cups of coffee and some hot chocolate for his hunter.  He had instructed them to “GET IN THE TRUCK!  WE ARE LATE”!!!  It was nearing daylight at this time and it’s usually a very important thing to be in the spot you want to be long before daylight….well….this time they were behind schedule a LONG ways!

A couple of hours later, here we spotters are, over looking the valley where Kelly and his hunter is hunting.  Many cell phone calls had been made about the turkeys and their locations and Kelly was trying his best to get ahead of the birds.  Tye asked him about setting up and calling and his response was, “I was running late and I grabbed someone elses backpack by mistake.  All my calls are in my backpack back at camp”!!!  Now that is just not something a guide likes to have happen and often times just a little noise like a female turkey and the gobbler will turn and come running to the hunter.  Now it seems like all that can be done is to get ahead of the bird and try and be on the same trail as him when he comes past.

One of the spotters said, “What about the hunter.  Does he have the turkey call that was given to him yesterday”?  A call was made down to Kelly and sure enough…the young hunter was prepared!

When asked up on the spotting hill of Jacob, “Jacob, what is one of the most important things you have gotten from this hunt so far”?  Jacob was pretty quick to say, “One thing is, I sure wouldn’t go off without my call”!!!!!

Again, what a wonderful weekend and like Weasel said yesterday when we got home…”And just think…We still have another one ahead”!!!!  Yes!  It does get better!

Bears Butt

April 29, 2013

The final hour!  Emails are being sent here and there at alarming rates.  Last minute details are worked out and logistics are being handled by whatever means one is feeling needs to be reconned with at the time.

People who have been on the “I’ll be there list” are dropping off because of conflicts, others are being called to last minute meetings and have to make adjustments and reschedule times and work schedules.

Is this all normal?  It very much is.  A big camp like this one is and the number of people involved requires a whole lot of planning and patience to get it completed.

Liability waivers need to be printed and signed to keep the sponsors out of any sticky situation that may arise.  Whenever you get a diverse group of people, both young and old together you can expect the unexpected.  Everyone is trying their best to make sure no harm happens to anyone and that everyone is having the time of their life, but you just never know.  Mix in some guns and ammo and it even gets more complicated.

BUT…that is the “what if ” ….the reality of the whole thing is WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A VERY FUN TIME!!!!  The final list of meals and incidentals is complete!  The shopping list is done as well.  Assignments to bring items needed is done and it’s time to head for camp!

I have to say at this time, that the guys in charge of the UWC really care about these events and want to make certain that no ill comes from it and that everyone has the best time enjoying it as is possible!  We volunteers are there to do everything in out power to help accomplish this as well!  Not to say we will be having a time of our lives at the same time!

You should consider volunteering for this next year, and trust me, it will be held next year!

A correction from yesterdays post…I said we had a pair of twin girls coming to the event, I was emailed this morning that a typo had been made on the list of winners and the wrong age was printed.  The two girls are sisters, but one is 2 years older than the other!

OK! Scratch having to look for a new posting from the Bears Butt for the next few days.  Maybe you can get something done around the house or yard now.

Bears Butt

April 25, 2013

This is the beginning of the camping portion of the Youth Turkey Hunt for Wapiti and I…In just a few minutes he will arrive at my house with his small trailer loaded with firewood.  We will load up some of the items needed for the camp and head up to the Whitear Pavilion in Peterson and unload.

The Whitear place is a really nice family camping area with a large building equipped with a basketball court, cooking facilities, showers for about 6 people at a time, sleeping places and a balcony that overlooks the basketball court.  Outside is a covered patio, a very large grassy area, firepit and 3 cabins that will sleep 2 in each.

The Whitear family was one of the founding families of the Peterson community and last year we were proud to meet the oldest living member of that family.  He was pulling weeds at the site and we talked for about an hour with him.  I can’t recall his name but he sure had a lot to tell us.  A wonderful man with lots to say.  He asked us if we were part of a religious father/son group and when he found out we were not, he was glad…he said “They are the worst”!  “They scar up the trees and tear things apart!  Not a good group at all”!  We promised him we would take care of the place.

Anyway, I found out he has since passed on…my blessing and prayer to him….

We are so pleased to have this area as our camp headquarters this year and they are allowing us to leave our things on the site between weekends.  It’s not secure, but it’s pretty safe, as someone with ill dealings would have to cross 1/4 mile of private property to get to the site and it’s all open fields.

So, we are going to take up a bunch of fire wood and some big tables and then off to the Bountiful area to pick up and deliver a very big eight burner bbq stove.

————————

I didn’t get the chance to post this up, so here is what happened today.  Everything said above was done and delivered.  We met Rod Whitear while we were there and told him we had just dropped off a load of firewood as we didn’t want to use theirs…He said that was very thoughtful of us and thanked us for that…It’s the least we could do.  So with firewood and tables delivered…oh I almost forgot…as we were making our way from the highway over to the pavilion area I saw a turkey up on the hill above the camp.  We stopped and looked at it for a minute…one turkey!  This is going to be a great hunt!

Then off to Bountiful to meet with the President of the United Wildlife Cooperative to pick up the big cooker.  It’s so big you tow it with a car!  Camp Chef has nothing on this bad boy!  Tye was quick to have us take some cots and a big table up with us as well as a big grill.  Why not?  We were going that way anyway!

On our way back up to Peterson I looked across the way and there were two hen and a big old tom turkey all fanned out and strutting his stuff!  Boy it’s going to be a Great Hunt!

We dropped off the cooker and other items and headed home for some farm duties.  On the way home I saw an email from Kris Marble with the names of the lucky winners listed!  I read the names…2 boys and 4 girls!  And 2 of the girls are twins!  HOW ABOUT THAT?  This will really be a fun time!

It does bring in a new dimension to the sleeping arrangement situation and I’ll let the powers of the UWC decide how that will work out.  I would put the twins and their dad in the big house and two of the others one in each of the cabins.  Then one of the boys could sleep in the other cabin and the last one in a wall tent.  Who knows how it will play out.

So, there you have it!  It’s going to be a fun time!

Bears Butt

April 24, 3013

Let’s make us a wing bone turkey call.

I’ll have to admit I have only made a couple of these things and they are very easy to make.  I also believe that with all the calls that are on the market being used on the turkey’s out in the field, by the turkey’s out in the field, that something just a bit different than they are used to hearing just might turn the tide in your favor…who knows for sure.

To begin with you have to have a turkey wing.  I have read on the internet that domestic turkey wings don’t work…hmmmmm….I tend to think that a turkey is a turkey is a turkey and that the domestic wing bone will just have to do.  So, next Thanksgiving, don’t throw those wing bones away…make a call like this.

Sherry and I cooked up a smallish (14 pound) turkey a few weeks ago and I saved the wing bones just for this story.  I rinsed them off and let them dry on the counter until today.

Try not to get the rights mixed with the lefts, you probably could still get the job done, but I’m not sure about that.  I think that the first people who ever made these calls each had a whole wing in their lap…let’s just go with that theory.

The bones need to be pretty clean and so I like to boil them for about 10 minutes.  Boiling makes the job of stripping the cartilage and excess meat off a lot easier.  These bones have been boiled and are ready to go.  I will leave one set as an example of what we started with and you will see the transformation into a wing bone turkey call as we go along.

As you can see from the picture above, the knob ends are not cleaned too well, that is because we are going to cut them off and toss them away, there is no need to spend time cleaning those ends.  We have better things to do with our time.

Where to make the cuts is up to you but let me warn you, it’s better to have the parts too long than too short, even though you will still be able to make a pretty decent call, I think longer is better at this point and we will make adjustments later on.  The key here is to get those ends cut off so we can clean out the marrow that is inside the bones.

To accomplish the cleaning out task use a stiff wire to push through the inside of the bones.  Look closely at the smallest of the bones, the wire I had to use on that bone was quite small.  Bigger turkeys have bigger wing bones…and bigger wing bone calls have a deeper sound when you use them.  So, clean out those bones.  Get as much of the stuff out of them as you can.  A hollow tube is the goal here.  Rinse them out when you think you have all the marrow out of them and let them dry.

The largest of the three bones has some rather tough bone like material criss crossing through the ends and that needs to be worked out.  I take my wire and press it sideways to break the material out.  You could use a pocket knife or awl to do the same thing.  Make sure they are hollow tubes when you are done.

Now take your pocket knife and ream out the ends of the bones.  Don’t forget the smallest bone as well and be careful with that one so as not to split it.  When that is done, it’s time to use some sandpaper and smooth off any rough edges that were a result of the sawing off of the ends.

Nice and smooth.  I like to round off the outer edges while I’m doing this.  It makes for a nicer looking finished product.

Ok, now is the time we begin fitting the pieces together.  The largest end of the smallest diameter bone will fit inside the smaller end of the middle sized bone, the opposite end of the middle sized bone fits inside the smallest end of the largest bone.

In the picture above, the middle bone will have to be cut off some more in order to fit inside the larger bone.  How much needs to be cut off?  I like to look closely with both bones side by side until I can see a point on the one needing to be cut that almost exactly matches in diameter.

Once you are happy about the cut, sand and smooth it and don’t forget to ream it out a bit.  Now press fit the parts together.

It looks pretty neat at this point and is perfectly capable of being used, however it will fall apart if you are not careful, so let’s glue it together.  In an emergency situation you could tape it, or lash it together with leather, string or what have you.  Even using grass or leaves as compression joints would work.  Just wrap the grass or leaves around the end of the one being pressed into the other.  Push hard and there you go…turkey hunting!

I like to use Gorilla Glue as it forms a tight seal around the joints, it’s water proof and just plain is stronger than the bones themselves.

Keep in mind a little Gorilla Glue goes a long way.  Just some small dabs will do.

Now you have to wait until the glue dries enough that you can work with it and not get sticky old glue on everything.  Once it’s dry, you can paint it, scrimshaw on it, add a strap or just stick it in you pocket and head on out.

I have added a leather strap to the one I use in the field.  It just hangs around my neck and is ready when I need it.

The one I use came from a 24 pound domestic turkey…of course the died in the wool turkey hunters who make their own wing bone turkey calls say it doesn’t work..to me it sounds just fine.

OK, so there you have it.  Simple tools (opps I forgot my pocket knife and the glue) to do a simple job and create a very nice sounding turkey call, one you can call your own creation.

So, how do you make a sound using this little devise?  The sounds you are trying to emulate (big word for “sound like”) are those of hen turkeys or young turkeys and the internet is filled with folks making those sounds.  But the bottom line to using this call is to place your lips on the smallest end, cup the larger end in your hand and sort of “kiss” the end.  Some people say you are to make a sound similar to getting your dogs attention.

This is a video that I find very interesting and makes the sounds you will most likely be using in the field.  This guy’s name is Curtis Terrell, and he adds another dimension to turkey calls by his cow horn call.  Really a cool idea:

Enjoy and I hope you get your bird!

Bears Butt

April 21, 2013