Well guys I finally had time to sit down and write up the story of our 24th. camping/turkey trip 2011. Yep we have been doing it now for 24 years. We started out at 10:00 AM on April 7th and headed toward the National Forest mountains of VA in Craig County. We got there and parked the camper and unhooked it. We preset up the camp for our 3 week stay and went to bed early and finished setting up the camp on Friday, April 8th. We went out on Friday and listened for birds and completed the camp that afternoon. Some of my friends were to arrive before dark to stay with us.
Here are some pictures of our guard dogs. The "Rat Dog" and Kane.
Opening day started at 4:00 AM to a rainy, foggy morning. The fog was so thick that you couldn't see 20 yards in front of you. The fog lifted at about 10:00 AM. Although we all heard birds it was too foggy to find, set up and kill a bird before noon. My buddy, Rubber Ducky, came by the camp with his jake that he called in and killed mid morning.
Sunday, April 10th we had our annual family/friend BBQ cookout. All the guys at the camp provided the BBQ chicken and everyone else attending was to bring a covered dish. This year we had the most people to show up.
We had a total of 24 people there when we said grace before eating. In all we had 32 people show up to eat. We had BBQ chicken, bear stew, turkey nuggets, mac & cheese, cole slaw, baked beans, chips, brownies, lemon cake, cookies, cherry pie and much more.
The kids had time to play in the creek and have a good time riding their battery operated ATV's. We all had time of fellowshipping together. We even made some new friends.
After everyone left the hunters staying at camp made their game plans for Monday's hunt. Monday was to be a better day than Saturday. We all decided to work different areas of the mountain.
We all heard birds on Monday and I was lucky enough to set up and called in 3 jakes. They gobbled good on the roost and gave me a good show so I thought I would tag one to break the ice. I shot this bird within 35 yards with my handload TSS 8 ball 2 oz #8's. The bird weighed about 15 lbs and had a 4" beard. This is a picture of my walk back to the truck before I had to cross the creek.
I had promised my buddy, Pat "Wire Paladin" that I would help him kill his 1st gobbler after I got my bird for the year. We made a plan to get him a bird since he's been unsuccessful since camping with us for the last 4 years. We decided to do a little scouting the afternoon before and seen 2 gobblers cross the logging road heading to 1 of my favorite spots. We decided to let the birds go to roost and head back to the truck in hopes that they would roost on that flat. The next morning we started up the mountain at 4:30 AM and got near that spot by 6:00 AM. The birds started gobbling just before daylight and I told Pat that we needed to get a little closer to set up. We got set up on the birds and it wasn't long before they flew off the roost about 80 yards in front of us. I did a few tree yelps and a fly down with my WarBird turkey slate call made by Jim Ward. The gobblers answered back and I looked at Pat and said get ready they're coming. The birds would stop and gobble and try to outrun each other on the way to our setup. As 1 of the birds approached he got within 40 yds of us and I told Pat to kill him. I didn't even put my gun up because I had promised Pat the 1st kill today. Pat pulled the hammer on his new Remington 870 Super Mag which he named "Hail Fire". His 1st bird was down. The bird weighed 19 1/2 lbs, had a beard that was 9 1/2" and the spurs were almost 1". In all the time I've know Pat this is the most excited that I've ever seen him. While we were looking Pat's bird over and talking we heard a shot on the mountain where my Uncle Richard "Phantom" was supposed to be hunting. We waited a few minutes then got on the radio and asked him if that was him that shot. He said yes that he had killed a nice gobbler. Richards bird weighed 19 lbs, 9" bead and 1" spurs. We decided to pack up and head to the camp. Here's a picture of the 3 of us with our birds. I had put mine on ice so that if the opportunity came that we could get a group picture.
Pat and I decided to team up again for another hunt. We hunted another flat in the area that had been successful in years past. Again at 4:30 AM we started our climb up the mountain and heard 1 bird gobble at daylight. I had called to the bird when he hit the ground and it wasn't long that the big boy showed up at about 65 yds out and was coming in slowly. Pat and I had made an agreement that if the bird was on his side that he would shoot but if the bird was on my side that I would shoot. The bird finally came in at about 30 yds and Pat scored on his 2nd bird. Here is a picture of the bird right after the hunt. The bird weighed 19 lbs, 9 1/2" beard and spurs were a little over 1".
Not bad for his 2nd bird and a little help from his good friend "GOLD HUNTER".
I had decided to hunt a feeder field on the mountain and had my decoys set up in the field. Just before daylight this big coyote walked across the field to the decoys and I shot him at 25 yds with my TSS 8 ball handload. Here is a picture of the coyote. It was a big male.
Here are a few more pictures of our camping trip.
We all had a great time and are looking forward to it next year. Sorry for being so long but it was a lot to tell. We were unable to tell it all but this is the highlights of the trip.
Hope you enjoy my post of the 2011 camping trip and hope you all have a great summer.
Brian
