One down in WA
04-15-2006 | 10:09 PM
#1
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One down in WA
Night before and opening day of the 2006 Spring Turkey Season in Spokane, Washington.
So Friday night, my friend and I were going to set up a tent and camp out so we'd already be in the woods for opening morning. About the time we got the tent unrolled, the sky opened up on us. We decided to sleep in the barn. It worked well, actually.
Opening morning, heading up the mountain to a new spot.
The landowner and myself.
Random hen and the tom I took.
So Friday night, my friend and I were going to set up a tent and camp out so we'd already be in the woods for opening morning. About the time we got the tent unrolled, the sky opened up on us. We decided to sleep in the barn. It worked well, actually.
Opening morning, heading up the mountain to a new spot.
The landowner and myself.
Random hen and the tom I took.
04-16-2006 | 05:57 PM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,504
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From: palm bay fl
RE: One down in WA
great pics, congrats on the bird.......i flhuntress and i slept in the back of the truck one night, got pics, lol....then the next , we camped out onthe check station floor...the bext night , i needed a bed, lol........
04-16-2006 | 07:05 PM
#7
Typical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 655
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From: Nicholasville, KY
RE: One down in WA
Congrats! All I got was wet over here on the west side chasing these Easterns. I'll be headed to the Blues for the 1st time later in the season, then hopefully north of you somewhere to get a Merriam's. Heard there was some weird weather over there yesterday.
04-16-2006 | 07:36 PM
#8
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RE: One down in WA
Slee, the weather was horrible yesterday. First thing in the morning it starts to rain, then the rain turns into slush, and then the slush into snow, back to slush, back to rain, and finally around 5:30PM it completely stopped. Until five minutes after I shot my bird, then it began to dump buckets on us. Fortunately we were only 300 yards or so from the truck. Using my slate call was out of the question for most of the day, so all I had was the one diaphragm call I didn't leave in the woods last season.
The story (it's long folks);
As I just said, the morning started out wet, got really wet, and then finally got decent. My friend and I, we'll call him Kentucky just because that's what everyone calls him (He just moved here in December from Kentucky, so with the thick southern accent, the nick name just stuck.) set up about 150 yards from where at least a dozen toms, hens, and jakes had roosted the night before. As the sun rose behind us, those birds lit up like you wouldn't believe. I had never, never heard so many birds in one spot on opening weekend.
Since Kentucky hasn't gone through hunters education (He's only 16, I just turned 18 last weekend) he was just along for the ride, my designated decoy carrier. We had set up probably 45 minutes to an hour before daylight, and froze. By the time we finally started calling, someone had set up on the other side of the roosted birds and were trying to out call us. Anytime I would call, they would call louder. Finally, frustrated, discouraged because the birds had gone mute, and frozen from the snow that had started to fall, we decided to go jump in the truck to warm ourselves up and set up a game plan for the rest of the morning.
We warmed up and I decided that since the birds on our property generally head to a field higher up the mountain when the weather gets nasty, we should head up there. No birds to be found. I knew of a small valley where I can generally find birds if they're not in the field. No dice there, either. Finally around noonwe hear two quick shots and the decision was made, time to break for lunch. As we were headed out of the woods, out comes three hunters; two in full camo, one 11 year old looking girl, one shotgun, and three turkeys. Now, let me fill you folks in on a little bit of information about Washington State turkey hunting regulations; on the east side of the state where we are located, we're allowed two birds from this side of the state per season, but we cannot take two in the same day. We can get one bird, say, today, go out tonight and purchase a second tag, and bag another tomorrow, but not two in one day. Anyhow, all three birds turned out to be Jakes, but I still took down there license plate number and tacked it to the game warden's door down the road after they left. I dislike poachers, a lot.
After lunch we decided to set up practically underneith the roost where all the toms were the previous night. We get in there around 3:00 PM and set out three decoys; two hens and a Jake. About 6:00 we hear a gobble in the distance, and then another, and another. The rain had stopped by now, so I hit the slate call a few times and the toms gobbled again, closer now. There was about 150 yards between us and where the birds were going to come out, and about 75 yards away was a small creek. The two jakes came out and hung up on the creek, obviously expecting the two hens they saw (decoys) to come to them. Soon, they turned tail and left.
I suggested we move down to an old log pile three quarters of the way between where we were and where the birds cam out. The logs were only 10 yards from the creek. Around 6:50 a hen sneaks in from our right, putts a few times, and begans to feed in the clearing across the creek where the two jakes had hung up. Gobble, gobble, gobble. The two jakes must have heard her and were now on their way back. They came down into the clearing, one hung up about 50 yards away and the other came into about 20. He made the mistake of popping head up after I putted a couple times with the diaphragm call, and that's all she wrote for him.
He was my smallest bird, but being opening weekend and still wanted to take one with my bow, I decided to take the shot. He only had a 3-inch beard and remarkably no spurs whatsoever. He weighed roughly 15 - 18 lbs. The landowner who is 84 years old, was more excited about my bagging a bird on opening day than I was, I think.
It was a great hunt, and Kentucky got to see his first turkey taken in Washington. We'll definitely be back out next weekend, looking for a longbeard.
The story (it's long folks);
As I just said, the morning started out wet, got really wet, and then finally got decent. My friend and I, we'll call him Kentucky just because that's what everyone calls him (He just moved here in December from Kentucky, so with the thick southern accent, the nick name just stuck.) set up about 150 yards from where at least a dozen toms, hens, and jakes had roosted the night before. As the sun rose behind us, those birds lit up like you wouldn't believe. I had never, never heard so many birds in one spot on opening weekend.
Since Kentucky hasn't gone through hunters education (He's only 16, I just turned 18 last weekend) he was just along for the ride, my designated decoy carrier. We had set up probably 45 minutes to an hour before daylight, and froze. By the time we finally started calling, someone had set up on the other side of the roosted birds and were trying to out call us. Anytime I would call, they would call louder. Finally, frustrated, discouraged because the birds had gone mute, and frozen from the snow that had started to fall, we decided to go jump in the truck to warm ourselves up and set up a game plan for the rest of the morning.
We warmed up and I decided that since the birds on our property generally head to a field higher up the mountain when the weather gets nasty, we should head up there. No birds to be found. I knew of a small valley where I can generally find birds if they're not in the field. No dice there, either. Finally around noonwe hear two quick shots and the decision was made, time to break for lunch. As we were headed out of the woods, out comes three hunters; two in full camo, one 11 year old looking girl, one shotgun, and three turkeys. Now, let me fill you folks in on a little bit of information about Washington State turkey hunting regulations; on the east side of the state where we are located, we're allowed two birds from this side of the state per season, but we cannot take two in the same day. We can get one bird, say, today, go out tonight and purchase a second tag, and bag another tomorrow, but not two in one day. Anyhow, all three birds turned out to be Jakes, but I still took down there license plate number and tacked it to the game warden's door down the road after they left. I dislike poachers, a lot.
After lunch we decided to set up practically underneith the roost where all the toms were the previous night. We get in there around 3:00 PM and set out three decoys; two hens and a Jake. About 6:00 we hear a gobble in the distance, and then another, and another. The rain had stopped by now, so I hit the slate call a few times and the toms gobbled again, closer now. There was about 150 yards between us and where the birds were going to come out, and about 75 yards away was a small creek. The two jakes came out and hung up on the creek, obviously expecting the two hens they saw (decoys) to come to them. Soon, they turned tail and left.
I suggested we move down to an old log pile three quarters of the way between where we were and where the birds cam out. The logs were only 10 yards from the creek. Around 6:50 a hen sneaks in from our right, putts a few times, and begans to feed in the clearing across the creek where the two jakes had hung up. Gobble, gobble, gobble. The two jakes must have heard her and were now on their way back. They came down into the clearing, one hung up about 50 yards away and the other came into about 20. He made the mistake of popping head up after I putted a couple times with the diaphragm call, and that's all she wrote for him.
He was my smallest bird, but being opening weekend and still wanted to take one with my bow, I decided to take the shot. He only had a 3-inch beard and remarkably no spurs whatsoever. He weighed roughly 15 - 18 lbs. The landowner who is 84 years old, was more excited about my bagging a bird on opening day than I was, I think.
It was a great hunt, and Kentucky got to see his first turkey taken in Washington. We'll definitely be back out next weekend, looking for a longbeard.
04-16-2006 | 07:38 PM
#9
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RE: One down in WA
I forgot, good luck to all those of you who still haven't gotten your turkey this season. I know it's just begun, so I look forward to reading all of your stories and seeing all of your pictures.
Slee, if I was more confident in the amount of birds on our property at this point, and with fewer hunters than we have right now, I would offer to set you up on a Merriam here on Mica peak. Two weekends before the season, I watched four big toms strutting around in a field on the property. Not a single one had a beard less than 7-inches. Good luck to you, wherever you end up hunting.
Slee, if I was more confident in the amount of birds on our property at this point, and with fewer hunters than we have right now, I would offer to set you up on a Merriam here on Mica peak. Two weekends before the season, I watched four big toms strutting around in a field on the property. Not a single one had a beard less than 7-inches. Good luck to you, wherever you end up hunting.
