It's 8:30 PM the night before I'm supposed to leave for my annual week of turkey hunting bliss.
I've watched the snow fall all day and now it's blowing 30 and snowing hard. I just got done throwing a few more things in the truck and it feels like winter is back again! Bitter cold!
Anyway...I'm going to do my best to dodge the weather as I head east to Nebraska tomorrow. I have two Nebraska tags and a tag for Iowa that opens on Wednesday.
Srarting points A and B I believe are trashed with this weather. Going somewhere warmer and going to try and keep the snow and muddy roads to a minimum. I say that now, but will recheck the road conditions when I wake up in the morning, and make a decision from there. I'll do my best to keep you all posted throughout my travels, on this thread!
Cheers,
Trent
My view this morning. Highways/interstates are closed all around me. Estimated opening time is noon-2PM so definitely a delayed start to the trip!
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Well if you find one out there he should be easy to spot ;D
Good luck and be safe!
Got to the area I wanted to hunt and immidately found jakes and hens. They were in the main road. Not difficult to spot.
With an hour and a half left until sunset, I stepped out of the truck and in the first spot I got a gobble. I circled around on him a bit, and in the process ran over some jakes, and the. spotted him in an open meadow with hens. I elected to let him go and try to find more gobblers for the morning.
I heard plenty but only one other one on public and he was too far away for me to have a clue where he was. But I've got options in the morning and I get to play the game!
Here's a pic of the Jakes I ran over. They rolled over the top without putting and I wasn't sure what exactly they were at first glance. I had to circle around a bit to see there were no longbeards in the group.
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Go get em!
I just happened to look at the forecast for eastern Wyoming the other day and WHOA !!! :o
But , it looks like it's gonna straighten out for ya.
Them Merriam's don't seem to even notice sucky weather.
Good luck, bro !!!
I skipped heading to Wyoming. Had tags in other places so off I went!
In short, I roosted a turkey right by the main road. I hate doing that and tried to find other birds but could not. There were no other signs of people at the pull off so i hoped I'd get lucky. In and seated a half hour before shooting light. Right at shooting light a guy passed my truck and parks 50 yards further. As he comes in I give him a wave and he turns and leaves. A half hour later someone does the same thing. This person turns and leaves...but evidently not. I move on the turkeys and call the Tom and all his girlfriends into 10 yards but they're so jumbled together I don't have a shot. As they pass I make another maneuver and am able to get him. As the shot rings out, person number 2 jumps up from behind some trees 80 yards away and says "THAT WAS AWESOME TO WATCH!"
It ended up being an older lady, all by herself. She was a local lady who had hunted those turkeys all week but said "I just couldn't get up this morning." I tried not to be too hard on her about the safety associated with coming in on someone else, but I don't think she got it...
Anyway, a terrific hunt and a great white tip to start the trip. Yes, I nearly froze to death this morning. Hands and feet were just clubs without feeling!
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CONGRATS !!!
You are off and running !!!
Much congrats, I'm on a different team, but I enjoy your posts and stories.
I freaking love this. Great story! Congrats on the first of the year!
I was well within my right to kill two birds here, if i so choose, but I like to have as many different experiences as I can. Plus, I'd really like to complete the "poor man's slam" on this trip taking a merriam, rio, and eastern.
So, I pointed my truck south and headed for a spot I'm getting to know pretty well. Upon arrival I went and scouted people and sign of people at access points. Not a lot of, if any, rain all week so people pressure was easy to see in the dirt.
In a place I had never tried there wasn't much for people sign and in the #1 spot nyturkeyduster and myself found a handful of years ago, there were TWO trucks parked. This was well afternoon, so these guys were giving it their all. That's the only place I saw anyone actively hunting so I just figured I would let them have it.
I went back to the area I had been earlier without much people sign and figured I'd go for a long walk. It was two miles of turkeyless, signless country but then the seas parted. I saw two groups of turkeys with strutters out enjoying the late afternoon sun. The pics you see are of a road but the road to get into this public area is private. I had to go up, over and through to get onto this road.
I have a strict one turkey per day policy so they were never in danger, but the further I got into the piece, the more I wondered how dumb that was. I ended up spotting another strutter, put him basically to bed, and enjoyed the 2.5 mile hike out of my new, awesome little spot. I still needed to find a place to camp and eat dinner!
To be continued...
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Nice work! Congrats!
Glad that hunt went so well. People are crazy these days, but at least she enjoyed the show and you had a great hunt. Congrats, Pok, and good luck on the rest of your trip/trips.
I set the alarm for 4:30 AM but due to camping restrictions I had a little bit of a drive. The plan was to be walking by 5:30 and I just missed it. I knew I was running a touch late for the 3 mile hike, and i was. I stopped to de sweat a bit and the turkeys were gobbling.
I knew he had hens from the night before, but due to open country and being a bit late, I couldn't get real close.
After listening to him gobble going away for a bit, I circled around him and spotted a hen heading back my way. I dove into some brush, the hen and I got in a shouting match, and commenced to call that turkey into range. I don't know how close he got as he wouldn't turn the corner of a dense patch of cedars. The constant drumming was deafening and he gobbled every 10-30 seconds. As quick as he came, he ran back to his hens.
I could not believe he didn't turn the corner. I was disappointed he didn't, but still giddy with excitement. He put 500 yards between us quickly and I had to hustle to catch up. We played the game of gobble and run off for a bit.
Finally, I spotted him strutting in the same, long, wide open bottom he had been in all day, just 3/4 of a mile from where this all began. With another corner and patch of cedars, I cut to him and called excitedly. He broke strut and was on a string walking and gobbling every 15 seconds.
He came to 15 yards and was right on the other side of another dense stand of cedars I had ducked behind. I could've leaned out and killed him, but knew he was dead to rights and I wanted great video. Again, he turned and walked off, somehow without me getting everything together.
That time I was a little bit dejected. I had him, and I let him walk off due to wanting to "more."
Oh well, the morning is young and I watched him and his hens round another corner. I sprinted up there and as soon as I did, the hens fed out in front of me but out there a ways. He followed but was out there 60-80 yards the whole time. Strutting, gobbling, drumming...just putting on a show I was happy to watch. I was in no position to call so I just sat there smiling. They went around the corner again and I thought "ahhh just let him go. That's it."
I no sooner said that and the hens came back around the corner but angling to me. The big guy followed, and when he got to 35 yards I yelped to stick his head up, and he gobbled for the last time.
A beautiful Rio (or mostly Rio) gobbler.
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:icon_thumright: :icon_thumright: Congrats Trent! ...Great stories and pics...
Congrats!!!
Mucho congrats, man !!!
Well done.
After killing the Rio I headed slightly east, cutting off some of the driving distance to Iowa (my next hunting location). I had a couple days to burn before that tag opened and so I wanted to scout people and turkeys at another Nebraska location. Plus...it's a great place to camp and I hunt there often, including last year. I just have learned to love the place and wanted to visit. I wrestled with the thought that my time might be better spent learning a BRAND new area. But decided to just relax and do what I wanted to do and what made me feel best, so that's what I did.
That evening I tried to roost turkeys to no evail, but the next morning I hit a spot with no people tracks and lots of gobbling turkeys. I was back to the truck right after sunrise, and quickly on the road to Iowa.
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Upon arriving in Iowa at about 10:00 AM on the 21st, the weather was gorgeous. I drove around, prospected into some spots, found camping spots, scouted people, etc. but i did not hear or see a turkey on public or private until late afternoon. On a walk I was able to locate three different gobblers and then of course blew the loudest one out of the tree on my way back. I thought he was across the valley. He was not.
I still had one full day to scout so I woke up early and went to where I killed my turkey a couple years back. I was serenaded quite nicely by no less than 4 gobblers so I quickly left.
Mid day I was in contact with me landowner buddy. He had, of course, offered up his land to hunt on, but I'm so dumb I wanted to try public for a couple days instead. He did say "well you should at least go fish my pond. It should be getting good and could use thinned out a bit!" Aye aye captain!
I met up with him after fishing and salted the rest of the afternoon away BSing.
That evening I was going to go to "plan b" spot to listen but as I pulled up I saw another guy hustling in. Turning around and back to where I was that morning to finalize my plan. I'm glad I did, as the turkeys didn't roost in the same spot, but instead had all moved one valley over, and more onto public. Perfect! I even had a gobbler fly up 50 yards from me and luckily was by a knife ridge so I was able to bail off the other side and go way around him on my way back.
I knew what tree he was in, so I planned to be set up about 150 yards from him in the morning. The woods were just too loud to get any closer.
I camped as close as I could to that turkey/those turkeys and set the alarm for 4:30 to make sure I was easily visible to any passerbys 😃
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Congrats on the hammer you just posted!!!
That guy is a nightmare to longbearded gobblers!
I like hunting more than I like killing so usually, I dont usually feel the NEED to fill a tag in one day. That's just simply how it's worked lately...
But for this tag the weather turned real crummy...like something I've never seen before kind of crummy. Anywhere from 1.5-2.5" of rain forecasted for the next day and a half. I had already spent the better part of 2 days here scouting around, fishing, etc. so living out of my truck for another 2+ days in crappy weather just didn't sound appealing in the slightest.
I made my mind up that I was going to be aggressive, but not too aggressive that I blow this thing up. There were multiple gobblers. Aggressive but smart.
I walked in the first morning, I found my place on the ground, in the dark, and waited. After a short while I had no less than 5 gobblers in front of me. Again I said to myself "smart but aggressive." I didn't say a word until flydown, or almost flydown. Some turkeys I thought were down so I have a few soft yelps. I was set up where the turkey from the night before flew up, in a little hole. I thought he'd naturally fly down there but he did not. He chose a side ridge and all gobbles seemed to be congregating at a knob to my left, or southeast.
With the rising sun I thought "I'm going to go all the way around these turkeys and come up the ridge with the sun at my back. A steep SOB, but I made it fine. I actually blew out two hens but didn't see or hear any gobbling.
Just before I crested the top, a bird gobbled on his own! Perfect! I found a great hide and in a great position and started on him. He answered everything I threw at him for about 3 quick rounds of excited yelps. I shut it down to see what his next move would be. I sat there for maybe a minute when I heard "chk chk chk chk.....chkchkchk chk" from my hard right. Another gobbler had come in silent. He was RUNNING in and I could see his beard swinging as he did. He seemed like he was going to pass out of range, so when he went behind a wall of cedars, I gave a few yelps.
I could tell his angle changed a bit and I got ready...telling myself all the things I needed to tell myself at crunch time. He stopped in a lane and half raised his head. That was enough for me and my 5 shot hit its mark. EXTREMELY grateful to have a successful hunt before the floods started. A hammer of a bird st nearly 24 lbs, spurs just over an inch, and a beard over 11" when stretched out properly.
I hung out with my bird for a while, taking pics and listening to the initial loud mouthed gobbler continue from the spot he never left.
I headed home with a full heart...and lots of turkey meat!!
That concludes my "poor man's slam" trip, taking a merriams, rio and eastern all on the same trip. Thank you guys for following along and reading my long winded ramblings
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You are ROCKIN' it !!!
CONGRATS all the way around !!!
Congrats POk3, Awesome storys to go along with your great pictures!! Safe travels home and thanks for sharing.
This thread is so awesome!! I love these stories. One of these I'm going to take a month off work and just travel from state to state. Great stories, and Great gobblers, POk. Congratulations.
Quote from: a_jabbo on April 30, 2025, 10:26:06 PMThis thread is so awesome!! I love these stories. One of these I'm going to take a month off work and just travel from state to state. Great stories, and Great gobblers, POk. Congratulations.
Thank you! I'm glad you and others enjoy it! I like documenting this stuff and have always liked reading peoples day by day adventures.
I would highly recommend taking a week+ off and just going. I would also recommend doing that sooner than later as more and more states become tougher to get tags!
Quote from: POk3s on May 02, 2025, 09:24:32 AMQuote from: a_jabbo on April 30, 2025, 10:26:06 PMThis thread is so awesome!! I love these stories. One of these I'm going to take a month off work and just travel from state to state. Great stories, and Great gobblers, POk. Congratulations.
Thank you! I'm glad you and others enjoy it! I like documenting this stuff and have always liked reading peoples day by day adventures.
I would highly recommend taking a week+ off and just going. I would also recommend doing that sooner than later as more and more states become tougher to get tags!
That's the plan. Working on getting some trips planned in the near future.