Hope I can get one

[Big Fin]

I am not a turkey hunter by any stretch, but given the amount of snow, I am hoping that with my snowmobile and snow shoes, I can find one turkey that is stranded and vulnerable.

I suspect I will get stuck at least once, probably twice. Come home with a variation of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever or Lyme Disease, and it would not be a good trip without one flat tire.

If it rains hard enough, we can probably ruin one camera.

Should be one heck of a turkey hunt. Sleeping in wall tents for a week, with a foot of snow, and hunting public land near the largest city in the state should add a little spice to the mix.

If there is such a thing as extreme turkey hunting, we will be doing it.

The guys at Mystery Ranch have made sure we have enough packs to carry everything we need, from cameras to tripods, to bows, call, decoys, water, and probably enough other gadgets to make the Sportsman's Warehouse inventory clerks green with envy.

I am shooting my bow and Jerry will have the "long tom" loaded with 3" mags and 2 oz. of #5 shot.

Too far out in the boonies to have a wi-fi, so I won't be able to give daily updates, unless I can figure out how to work the Huckleberry device my partners bought me.

Wish me luck. No doubt a turkey hunting rookie like me is going to need it. Hope I arrive home safely in eight days.

 

[shoots-straight]

Good luck, maybe you can get a sponsor that makes snowshoes.

 

[Spitz]

Good luck Fin! I look forward to the pics and video. I'm sure you'l have a good time and may even get the first pic of a turkey being hauled out of the woods on a MR Crewcab.

 

[elk_hunter]

Best of luck, Randy! Can't wait for the stories and pics!

 

[Oak]

Turkey hunting, huh? Well, I guess it beats working. Good luck!

 

[Nut]

Best of luck.



We tried to go out this morning but as soon as we got to the field the pouring rain started. Back inside waiting for a let up.(Had one near home finally)

 

[IdahoBugler]

Good luck Randy. Turkey hunting is a lot of fun. Like calling in elk but a smaller version. You will get excited when they start gobbling and coming into your setup.

The family and I went out last week and had a blast. Had 1 1/2 days to hunt so I took a jake on the last morning.

Good luck and take lots of pics.

IB

 

[Ridge Runner]

Sounds like a fun time. Good luck on the gobbler.

 

[mtmiller]

Good luck Randy. I hope you bring us some documentation of your hunt.

 

[TLC]

good luck Randy. but as usual, this flatlander doesn't get you montana guys. how the hell do you get a flat tire on a snowmobile? REALLY want to see that machine.

 

[Wally Dog]

Text me if you need on the hunt help!!!!
WD

 

[Oak]

Big Fin texts? On his Huckleberry?

 

[TheTone]

I'm sure you'l have a good time and may even get the first pic of a turkey being hauled out of the woods on a MR Crewcab.

I was able to do just that last year. Sure beats the heck out of packing them out just slung over your sholder.

 

[Tom]

Stranded, vulnerable and dumb, it helps to find a dumb one too, those are easier to shoot. Good luck!

 

[Wally Dog]

Fin........
Whilst reading your post again I realize whay a report has not been tendered......8 days turkey hunting! Huh, What, hold on.......did we travel to the bowells of Chihauhau?
I'm not sure that I've heard of an 8 day turkey safari unless it included a premeditated stop at Disney World or the likes.
You really ought have a fistfull of images, video and tales from this fandango!
Cheers,
WD

 

[Big Fin]

Just walked in the door. Kissed the wife, she directed me straight to the shower for a tick check and wipe off a week's worth of dirt and grime.

Not sure how people make this turkey hunting look so easy on TV. I must have been hunting some prehistoric version. These guys can run way too fast, know when to shut up and come in silently, and in the badlands of MT, live in the same areas you would expect to see big horn sheep.

I have a new found respect for turkeys - at least the ones I hunted for the last week.

I will post the day by day from my journal notes.

Hey Del, thanks for taking care of the disaster created by the hackers. I owe you, and I owe you big.

 

[Big Fin]

Day 1:

Shoveled a foot of snow out of the ATV trailer, loaded the ATV, the wall tent, coolers, gas cans, water jugs, and enough supplies to run away from home for the next year.

Threw in the bow and the shotgun. Headed the truck east to Billings where I picked up my long-time friend and fellow escapee from Mexican prison, Jerry Pritchard.

Jerry is one of the most accomplished turkey hunters I know. He hunts turkeys whenever he can, helping anyone who has a tag. I guess you could say he "Has calls, will travel."

My strategy was that I needed someone who actually knew how to call turkeys if we were going to get this on film. Jerry is the guy and when he arrived at the airport with a small bag of luggage and a large duffel of calls, I knew I was running with good company.

From Billings, we bounced down the roads for another two and a half hours finally arriving at the designated camp location. Obviously, we were not the only ones thinking the third week of MT turkey season would be a good time to be hunting these grounds. A big camp, and from what I could gather, a camp well stocked with adult beverages, was next to us. Such is life in the public grounds.

Once camp was set, the videographers offered to cook dinner while Jerry and I went scouting. I had no idea that scouting for turkeys meant going to the head of every drainage in the county and clucking like a hen, hoping to hear a gobble. After hours of doing so, and receiving not one response, we drug our sorry tails into camp, slightly before the video guys were about ready to launch their search party. Sorry guys, just a lot of places to scout.

The spaghetti was good. Not only do I have the two best camera guys in outdoor TV, but they have refined their camp cooking skills to a high degree.

It was too late to start a fire, and given the temps were supposed to be in the high 20's, I figured why bother. By morning, I am not sure Jerry agreed, coming from much warmer Nevada temps than we were experiencing.

We turned out the lantern just before 11:00PM, completely at a loss of where to start in the morning. Jerry's theory was if we woke at 4:00AM, were in the woods by 4:30, we would hear all the gobbling we would need.

I protested, but set the alarm as instructed.

 

[Delw]

Sounds like a good time Randy when you going to finish and get some pics online.
Please don't post the photos of your wife doing tick checks on you

 

[Spitz]

I'm ready for day two. Thanks for posting.

 

[Big Fin]

Sorry for the delays, but the office was about ready to send out an APB on me, so I was chained to the desk all day.

Day 2:

When the alarm sounded at 3:30 AM, I hit snooze. Jerry, being the turkey junkie, was up and putting on his vest and ready to go before I could wipe the tried dirt from my eyes. This turkey hunting was going to be some long days.

View attachment 7575

After hearing no gobbles the night before, we picked an area that looked pretty difficult to get into, thinking the turkeys would be less pressured there, due to access issues. Well, after a seven mile hike and calling from every ridge and knob, it was determined that the turkeys found it too difficult to go there also. Not one turkey heard or seen.

A return to the vehicle in early afternoon brought a new change in strategy. There was a travel restricted area about ten miles from camp, but it would be nearly impossible to get in there on the public roads.

Those of you who have traveled the mud of Eastern Montana and Wyoming, know what a chance you are taking to travel in wet conditions. Ten miles of gumbo roads, thoroughly soaked by days of rain, told us we were not getting in there with the truck. But, neither was anyone else, so maybe the birds would be less pressured.

It seemed like a good afternoon strategy, so we loaded up the ATV and the side-by-side, and headed down these greasy roads, hoping to not get stuck. It was really bad. No worry about anyone driving in on these roads, even thought they were open to public traffic.

Upon arriving at the designated area, we looked across the huge basin that had the travel restrictions. Why they would log a place to within an inch of its life, and then put on travel restrictions is somewhat of a mystery to me. But, there were some places in those 30 square miles that still held some cover for animals.

As we approached the place we thought would be a good starting point, five turkeys ran across the road in front of us. A good sign. Unfortunately, they ran down into the steepest draw in the forest.....with us in hot pursuit.

We walked the ridges and set up for calling in places it looked like would hold birds. Around 7:00PM, the place erupted with gobbling. Very cool to hear that many birds.

Unfortunately, none of them would come in to the set-up. Lets face it, finding a place to hide two hunters and two videographers and all their gear, was not easy in this sparse cover.

We left that evening, making note of the places where birds seemed to be roosting for the evening. It was an hour drive on the ATVs to get back to camp. We arrived around 9:30, cooked dinner, and hit the cots. It had been a very long day, with no birds to show for it. Not even any footage.

The GPS said we had hiked almost 12 miles that day. My legs agreed. The terrain was no the least bit flat. Lots of incline to get from ridge to ridge. Not sure my desk driving at the office had prepared me very well for this stuff.

At least we had found a place worthy of our time, even though it was an hour ATV ride each direction. Better than wasting time close to camp.

View attachment 7574
(you know it has been wet for many days, when the frogs lay eggs in the ruts of the road.)