Public Land Utah Turkey at 8000 feet - video

[POk3s]

Youtube finally let me upload the Utah turkey hunt I endured with my good buddy Channing.  Perseverance is the only reason a bird died. A tough hunt with lots of laughs and few encounters. This video is a half hour long and encompasses 4 days. So grab a beer (or a 6 pack if you drink like me) and enjoy it. I think this video progressively gets funnier but I may be biased.

Also, if you don't want to watch the whole thing (don't know why you wouldn't) then fast forward to about 5 minutes left for a good belly laugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW0wvNeCrgQ

[JMalin]

Great video.  It's strange to hear so many birds the previous years and only find two gobbling birds this year.  Reminds me of my first year hunting New Mexico (2016).  I was in more birds than you were, but none of them played nicely and I ate both tags.

[POk3s]

Thanks man. Yea I still don't know if I just got lucky or If the population was that much higher. There were more roads closed also which may have helped me. But they were closed last year and it was about the same as this year.

The first year I found 4 gobblers within a half mile. Screwed up the single and then ran into 4 toms with a gob of hens. I called the hens in once and the gobblers stayed back and strutted. I then got real aggressive and called a couple of the hens past me and one ugly bird followed. He had a screwed up tail fan that either got all pulled out a month before and was regrowing or he had some kind of disease. I thought I had it good!

[JMalin]

No doubt that was a Merriam gobbling on the roost by the way.  I found luck this year in the foothills so to speak.  Areas you think wouldn't hold birds.  As long as there are a few ponderosas around (and water) there will be birds.  I'd scout some new areas next season off the beaten path that receive less pressure.

[POk3s]

I agree with you. However he had a brown tail fan hahahahahaha. The one I killed sounded deeper but had a white fan. Hahahahahahaha! Just flat out hybrids. I'm going to call Utah DWR and see what they have to say....just because.

I would....but it's impossible. The birds "migrate" down to 6000-6500 feet of elevation and move back up following the snow line. I will definitely be listening for gobbles in the snow next year though. Especially if the roads are open again like this year. The area I hunted is under as much as 4 feet of snow until March. Depends on the year obviously.

[SD_smith]

Awesome video man! Like how you're using the walk away and call trick too haha paying a little homage to The Hunting Public? Both times recently I thought it would work I was by myself. Birds on the SD side of Black Hills have been skittish almost all season, but the first couple weekends you couldn't find a road without a truck on it hardly. More hunters out here this year than I've ever seen and this was probably the worst year ever to come out early for. 3 weeks in a row with recent snow then. I've been trying to film hunts this year, but I don't ever record any commentary like you so I figured after watching this I should. Makes it much more interesting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[POk3s]

Thanks Smith! I actually started using the "slingshot" elk hunting, but it obviously works great for turkeys too...well it should have anyway hahaha. I didn't do much talking on my Montana hunts I filmed but it's so hard to show what's going on without explaining it at times. I've always been a fan of "less talking and more showing me". But it's flat out difficult and impossible at times.

There was almost no one on the Wyoming side the first weekend. made it nice! But I didn't enjoy it much killing mine right off the roost on opening morning. One year I'm going to hit South Dakota.

[GobbleNut]

Regarding the discussion about whether those birds are truly Merriam's turkeys or hybrids, your concerns are well-founded.  Although I have personally never hunted in that region, I have seen (in-hand inspection) enough birds taken from there to say for sure that there are a lot of turkeys killed in that region that are called Merriam's, but are clearly hybrids. 

I agree with JMalin though, the bird you recorded on the roost sounded like a Merriam's gobbler. 

[POk3s]

I think the bottom line is, if these birds came from Nebraska then they are all kinds of screwed up genetically hahahahahaha.

The one on the limb sounded merriam but had a brown/tan/whatever you want to call it tail fan. The one I shot had a deeper gobble but a white tail fan. Side note- I killed a "true merriam" this year in the Pine Ridge region of Nebraska and it has the darkest tail fan of all the birds I killed all year. I don't know that there's a "pure bred" turkey in the entire state of Nebraska! Hahahaha

[daddyduke]

Great video! Thanks for sharing.

[POk3s]

Thank you Duke!

[renegade19]