Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

First of all I need to know if it is possible, but I would like to take all 4 species of turkey in the USA with bow in 2 weeks time in the spring. I am willing to use outfitters, fly to wherever needed and ship my meat home between hunts.

Could you guys help me with my itinerary such as, what seasons start the earliest, what options for states/outfitters do I have for each species, What dates are the best for each area and so on.

Thanks!
ArcticBowMan's Hunting Photo's

<font color=red>I should of added the word &quot;I would like to &quot;attempt&quot; to take...&quot;</font id=red>

Edited by - ArcticBowMan on 12/06/2002 20:50:51

RE: Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

Wow! you win a Lottary there Artic<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

I would think if you are going to plan this your going to have to hit a Time and Date that all Subs are open in that 2 week period.
Like Flordia for the Oceola,starts March 2-April 21,,Rio's in TX March 30-May 12,,Easterns in Alabama March 15-April30,,Merriams in Wy in April 1 - May 15 someone like Ryan Tucker can help you. If you can get your foot into the Ford Ranch in TX you will kill the first day I'm sure...BT

RE: Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

You could try Tim Herald. He's got the outfitters, if you can time them right.
http://www.grandslamhunts.com/

RE: Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

Thanks for the info guys, I figured this would have to be a late March- early April ordeal. I was hoping for 3 day hunts, with a travel day in between each hunt. I want to stay on the southern part of the country, and starting east working west. Here's a rough outline of how I think it can be done.

<font color=red>Florida</font id=red> - <font color=navy>Oceola</font id=navy>, arrive night of 23rd, hunt 24, 25 and 26, leaving the night of the 26th for...
<font color=red>Alabama</font id=red> - <font color=navy>Eastern</font id=navy>, arrive night of 26th, hunt 27, 28, 29, leaving the night of the 29th for...
<font color=red>Texas</font id=red> - <font color=navy>Rio</font id=navy>, arrive night of 29th, hunt March 30, 31 and April 1, leaving the night of the 1st for...
<font color=red>New Mexico<img src=icon_smile_question.gif border=0 align=middle></font id=red>, <font color=navy>Merriam</font id=navy>, arrive night of 1st, hunt 2, 3, 4 leaving night of the 4th.

If March 23 was on a Saturday such as it is in 2002, I would be home by the morning of April 5th, which is a Friday.

Boss, as far as the price goes, folks pay up to $4000 for a guided elk hunt. They get one hunt in one area, and hopefully an opportunity at one animal. I am guessing that total costs for guided hunts, tags, travel, tips, etc. would be around $4,500.

Guided hunt $500 average X 4 = $2000
Tags $150 average X 4 = $600
Tips $100 average X 4 = $400
Travel $200 average X 4 = $800
Meat Shipping, taxidermy prep. $100 average X 4 = $400
Extra expenses $300

Am I fooling myself here? <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Thanks for the leads guys!

RE: Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

That's what I love about WA. Get an eastern on the west side, rio in the middle, and a merriam in the east. All that is left would be a quick flight to FL to get the hard one <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

http://www.wanwtf.org

RE: Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

Arctic, Sounds like a plan. I hope you have the stamina!
I think if your looking for guided hunts your probably talking closer to $700 0r $800 for most and closer to $1000 for Oceola's. I may be wrong but I think that’s a ballpark. Your airfare budget might be a little light as well. You may also need a few rental cars? That being said, I'm a little jealous. I've done the slam but I always wanted to try to do the all in one-year thing myself. Good Luck and keep us updated.

Jeff H.

RE: Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

WANWTF, I was unaware that Washington had three of the species! I might have to look into that option as well, if the state law allows a single hunter to take 3 different birds in one spring. Could you give me some more details on it? I'm coming into this with little knowledge on turkey hunting, so any info would be great.

After researching more guides, I have seen 7-800 being more the norm rather than 500 like I had guessed. The turkey hunts I had seen were 350-500, but they were in places where turkeys were crawling up the sides of buildings.

RE: Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

Arctic
I believe the Oceola will cost more than $1000 for the 3 day hunt, probably in the $1500 range. Because of the limited range there are fewer guides so the can charge about what they want. With that said, I am very jealous. It sounds like a great two weeks. I would be interested in the details when it comes together.

RE: Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

ArticBowMan -

Washington allows 3 birds to be taken in a spring season, one of them has to be an eastern (located in western Washington). The season runs from April 15 to May 15, unless you get drawn for an extended season.

Merriams and Rios are plentiful and an almost guarantee - the easterns are the tough bag. There are a lot of them, but getting to them can be difficult, and they are for sure the hardest ones to hunt.

Here is some info if you want to check into it a little more:

Harvest report through 2000 http://www.wanwtf.org/harvest_report.htm
Status and trend report http://www.wanwtf.org/turkey_stats.htm
A distribution map (by subspecies very basic **need Flash**)http://www.wanwtf.org/distribution.htm
Plus some more information at http://www.wanwtf.org

If you are really interested I can get into specifics on what birds are where (which I haven't yet put on the website)

http://www.wanwtf.org

RE: Turkey Grand Slam Itinerary
 

ABM,

Before you set something up with guides, you may want to ask some of your friends on the BBS if they could put you up for 3-5 days during turkey season :)

Unless, of course, money is no option... I've found that my hunting friends in other states are not only some of the best &quot;guides&quot;, but they probably already have a blind or two, will be willing to call for you---and they're excellent hosts at no cost.

If that would be an option, you may be able to extend your hunting for each species out past 3 days.

A primary concern you may want to consider, when going with the bow, is a state's hunting hours. You'll most often have your best luck with the bow in the afternoon (or so I've been told). I know this is true in the NEast during the Fall seasons. Also, if you're paying for a guide, you might as well pay for a full day rather than until only 12 noon.

S&R