Turkey

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DOUBLE HEADER

Posted by Wes on 29 May 2009 | Tagged as: Turkey

DOUBLE HEADER
Our hunt started when Gary Keeton gave me a call and asked if I thought we could get a couple of good kills on video for Knight and Hale’s turkey hunting video. I responded by telling him that we could for sure get a couple of good birds on film, so the hunt was on. Gary Keeton, pro staff for Knight and Hale’s Ultimate Hunting, and Kyle Farnsworth who is a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals arrived in our SE Kansas camp late Monday Evening. Tuesday morning we were headed to a roost called the nerple where I had roosted the birds the night before. Just because we had a camera and the birds knew that we needed a good kill on film they obliged us by going the wrong direction - instead of trying to chase them we decided to head to a favorite strutting ground. Most of the hens would have already left their boys behind and as luck would have it we pulled up over a small rise in the truck and there was old mister BIG bird all fanned out and into himself. He saw the truck the same time we saw him and he eased back into the trees. We backed out and grabbed our gear and headed out to the middle of the field where there was a small clump of trees, got setup and let out a couple series of calls and he fired back at us. He gobbled numerous times at our calls but held his ground in the timber. After calling for around ten minutes to our surprise out popped not one but two big toms. They put on a great show for the camera - strutting and gobbling at any noise they heard. We were setup in the only cover we had, which was not much, and mumbled about how out in the open we were as the birds strutted towards us. These two birds didn’t seem to mind and they came right into the Pretty Penny decoy and had no idea that we were there. The tom that Kyle chose to shoot would not come out of full strut no matter what we threw at him. Finally they separated just enough for a shot and with the bird in full strut Kyle stamped game over with a blast from his 12 gauge. When we walked up to Kyle’s bird we found out just how big he was, 1 1/2 inch spurs and a 9 1/2 inch beard! We took some photos and Kyle had to make a mad dash for Kansas City to get ready to be in the rotation for the night’s game.
Gary and I looked for birds the rest of the day, we found several more but the heat and no gobbles got the best of us so we called it a day around 5:30 or so and got our plan for the next morning. We headed out earlier than normal because we wanted to get in tight to the roost, we got in and got setup well before the first crack of light. Once it started getting light enough to see we realized that we were within 50 yards of the birds and then three toms started hammering right on top of us. The first bird that flew down was a hen and she flew right over the decoys and left us wondering if we had set up too tight. Nope the three toms hit the ground 40 yards in front of us and made a dash for the Peeping Tom and the Pretty Penny decoys. Gary waited for the lead bird to put his head up and made a great shot, another great bird with over 1 inch spurs and a 9 1/2 inch beard.
Look for this world class footage on Knight and Hale’s Ultimate Hunting and the Knight and Hale DVD. Thanks Gary and Kyle for a great hunt, and the camera left us with proof.

Scott Engstrom

Brian Locke and his words on waiting a year to hunt a turkey!

Posted by Wes on 12 May 2008 | Tagged as: Turkey

“Worth the wait”

This was a hunt I had literally been waiting a year for. Now I know what you are thinking, who waits a year for a turkey hunt? Well, let me tell you how it all started.

It was March 2007 and I was only a few days from jumping on a military aircraft and spending the next year of my life in the mountains of Afghanistan. Now, I’m an avid turkey hunter and wanted to take my son on a hunt to remember before I departed. I have several quality places to turkey hunt but this time I really wanted to get away and spend some one on one time with Logan. Luckily for us, we found Atkinson Expeditions and the hunt was on. On this trip, Logan didn’t get his turkey but that is only part of the story. We still had a terrific hunt, made some good friends and I had enough memories to carry me for the next few months.

A few days later, I got on that plane and headed some 6000 miles away. I had barely even got my boots dusty when Wes let me know he wanted to bring Logan back for a second attempt at a big ole’ Kansas gobbler. The hunt was on again. This time Logan got his bird and caught a 6 lb large mouth all in the same day….not bad for a 9 year old. You can only imagine the pride I felt when I got the pictures from Wes. But that’s not all…..a month or so later, I received the DVD in the mail of the entire hunt….is that cool or what?

Now to this hunt….Logan and I getting after it again with Wes and Scott. As expected, we were on turkeys from the first morning and we stayed on the birds the entire trip. We had several close calls the first day which kept our adrenaline and spirits high. Back at the cabin, we developed our plan (or scheme of maneuver for us military guys) for the next morning. Logan and Wes set up near a large roost in hopes the turkeys would pitch down and move into range. We decided I would head south just in case the turkeys tried to slip out the back door. No sooner than I got settled, the big tom started gobbling. I knew then I was in a bad set-up and that I needed to move…..the only problem…a hen was roosted only 30 yards to my left-front. I could see her clearly, so there was no reason for me to believe she couldn’t see when or if I decided to move. Luckily for me, the wind was really blowing hard and I decided to put an Army low- crawl on that gobbler. This time I made the right move and the tom came exactly where I wanted him…..big bird down!

Well, Logan didn’t get his turkey this time. Let’s just say there is at least one gobbler in Kansas that will be smarter and wiser next year and I suspect Logan and I will be after him again.

We’ll soon be planning our next trip….Logan likes Wes so much, I think he is going to start calling him “uncle”.

Brian

Opening Day NE turkeys with Brady

Posted by Wes on 12 May 2008 | Tagged as: Turkey

Ownes blog.jpg It’s opening morning of the Nebraska Turkey Shotgun season. Our guests are 3^rd year repeat customers from Colorado.

The weather leading up to opening day was horrible. A huge snowstorm that covered the Rocky Mountains, Denver and the Eastern plains of Colorado was moving fast towards us in Nebraska! If you’ve ever scouted your birds, knew their patterns then had a storm drop 4-6 inches of snow on you 2 days before your hunt, you know what I was worried about!

Most of the snow had melted by opening morning but the wind and cold temps hadn’t left us yet. As our 3 guests a cameraman and I left the truck I heard a flurry of gobbles in the direction we were heading to. I stopped and looked back at the guys with a huge smile and a sigh of relief.

We slipped in about 200 yards from the roost. Mike and Joe on either side of me. Rick was behind me to the right and the cameraman was directly behind me. We couldn’t set up the decoys out of fear of exposing ourselves to the still roosting gobblers. As the sun slowly rose the birds started their fly-down to an opening not 120 yards from us. We watched and laughed as the Toms strutted their show. There were 4 groups of 3-5 Toms strutting for the next 45 minutes. With quiet purrs and putts from Mike (guest) and myself we had 2 Toms show up moving in from our left. They made a large circle in front of us to our right, while leaving a hen behind. She brought up the rear and made more of a “B-line” to us. The 2 Toms circled around the back of us giving Rick an opportunity to double up. The first Tom wasn’t 15 yards from Rick but the second one hung up behind a tree. The hen was 10 yards in front of us and then it happened! Putt, putt, putt – the skinny was up and she busted one of us. As she walked away the Tom’s pulled away with her. She wasn’t wasting any time but wasn’t running either. I tried to calm them down but they were listening to her body language. The Tom’s were to our right at 25 yards when I told Mike and Joe to get ready to lean up and take them at the same time. (Now here’s the fun part about hunting with these guys. They hunt so much together that I didn’t have time nor did I feel it necessary to tell them which one each of them should shoot – they already knew how to make this play.) I said, “take ‘em now boys” and they leaned up and pulled the trigger almost at the same time. Mike took the one on the left and Joe took the one on the right. As we approached the birds I looked at Joe’s gun and realized he was shooting a 20 gauge Beretta O/U! I stepped it off afterwards at 42 yards!!! What an unbelievable shot.

Not a bad opening morning. 2 Tom’s by 7:15 am and eating breakfast shortly thereafter.

The following afternoon Rick pulled the trigger on a decoying Jake – after we had to wake him up, again! To date every bird Rick has harvested while I was guiding him was after I woke him up. I’m glad he knows how to relax.

To Mike, Joe & Rick: Thanks again for the memories boys we’ll see you again next year.

To Danny Dodge our cameraman: Thank you for being there and capturing this fun hunt on video. I can’t wait to see it on the Pursuit network and have you on future hunts.

Be safe, have fun and preserve our heritage,

Brady Thomas

Kansas has a few less gobbles

Posted by Wes on 13 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Turkey

Mike Couch Ks turkey.JPG See trophy room for beter photo and bearded hen

The first day was extremely tough hunting due to 35 mph winds and the 40 degree temps. We saw alot of birds but just couldn’t get them to work. The second morning looked to hold more of the same. Later in the morning we found the birds down in the thick cedars. Mikes tom decided that he liked our calls and started moving toward us, it was not very long after hearing the birds that we had him insight he worked to within about15 - 20 yrds and gave Mike a clean shot, we celebrated another better than 10 inch beard.

After taking care of the tom we headed back ouy for bird number two. We set up near a roost and just waited the birds out there was about 11 hens 4 of which had beards, and strangely enough two of them were gobbling with the tom. The birds finally worked their way across the field and Mike decided to take one of the of the bearded hens to spice up the taxidermy work. We had to work for those two birds and we put alot of miles on our legs, thanks Mike for the great day and hop to see you another day.

later Scott

Scott gets Taylor a bird for the KS youth season

Posted by Wes on 09 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Turkey

See turkey trophy room

Here is a post from guide Scott Engstrom on our KS location

My two sons Taylor and Brayden went out on the opening morning with a little bit of a late start so we let the birds pick their way out of the field. Once the birds moved away we let them settle into a secluded pasture and we snuck in on the birds. After getting set up we only had to call for about 5 minutes before 6 different birds came running in to about 15 yards. We were hidden well in some short cedars and the birds had no idea that we were there. Taylor made a great shot and the hunt was over. It was Braydens first time to ever go turkey hunting, I am pretty sure that he is hooked now!

See you in KS, Scott

Last NE hunt of season

Posted by Rachelle on 23 May 2007 | Tagged as: Turkey

Our last Nebraska client of the season was a gentleman by the name of John who arrived at the hotel in Lexington around 4pm, Monday 5/14. We decided to do an afternoon hunt, and then got cut short by threatening weather. I sensed that John was disappointed in not seeing or hearing any turkeys. I promised him that I had the turkeys patterned, and we would have no problem harvesting one in the morning.

Alarm was set for 4 am, but didn’t go off, so I guess after so many mornings hunting turkeys, that I just woke up. It was 4:20, so we hurried up and got dressed and out the door around 4:30am, got set up about 45 minutes to 1 hour before sun up. The wind was blowing 35-40 mph, making it hard to hear. SO after getting no response from the turkeys in the roost, or after flydown, I was beginning to think the tom I had patterned had changed what he was doing.

The decoy was set out in front of us 15 - 18 yards. Finally at sun up the tom gobbled to our left at about 50 yards in the creek bottom and I looked at John standing to my right leaned up against a tree, asked him if he heard the gobble, and he said yes. The tom finally showed himself a few minutes later right where he had been coming out for the last 8 weeks. He was gobbling his fool head off, making his way toward us when all of a sudden he let out 3 putts and disappeared into the tree line. So I turned to John and asked him, did you move, and he replied no. As I turned back to my left John and I caught a flash out of the corner of our eyes and saw a coyote attacking my decoy. The look of surprise on the coyote’s face when he attacked the decoy was, I don’t know what that was or what just happened, but this isn’t good. As the coyote turned tail and bolted off, the decoy lying flat on the ground right in front of us, John and I darn near laughed our heads off, thinking we’d have to reset. However, it wasn’t 30 seconds later that the tom reappeared, this time within 40 yards. Although he was very cautious, I gave a couple of soft purrs, he closed the distance to within 30 yards and I called the shot. John dropped him where he stood!! This tom had an 11″ beard and 1 3/16″ spurs.John shot this bird at 6:20am. After taking some pictures and going into town to have breakfast, we headed to another farm.

At around 8:30 we decided to make a couple of locate calls in the creek bottom, where we got 3 toms to respond. They were about 200 yards in front of us, so we hurried to get set up. I called again and it seemed as though they were coming back to us. I told John to turn his body more to his left. After about 10 minutes I called again; it appeared as though the birds were now moving away from us. Not knowing why, I told John we would sit here for a while longer just in case a bird decided to come our way. I decided about 30 minutes later to make another call, and could tell the birds were definitely moving away from us. We moved.

John and I walked, called and set up countless times, trying to locate those birds, nothing. It grew later in the morning so we went back to the truck to refill our water and get a quick snack, and decided to move on to a third piece of ground to see if we could get lucky. After about 3 hours of walking and calling with no response, we decided to go back to the farm where we had heard the birds, knowing that the birds would be roosting somewhere on the creek bottom.

John and I set up where we could see multiple alfalfa fields. We were hoping to see birds coming back to the trees, so we could move and set up on them if needed. At 4:05 I told John that we should move into the creek bottom and set up. We started into the field and about 50 yards into the field I spotted a hen walking across the field at about 80 yards in front of us. I hit the deck and John followed. I told him there was a hen in front of us. Thinking that she had busted us, I got up on my knees. With binoculars in hand I scanned the field and THERE SHE IS. I told John that we needed to get back into the trees. I had John take the lead just in case there is a tom with her and he can get a shot.

Into the creek bottom we went. Moving to some hay bales, John poked his head up around the bales, and does what I can only describe as a turkey hunting bellyflop back down into the bottom of the trees. As I tried not to laugh out loud I asked him what that was, and he informed me that there was a tom walking about 50-60 yards out in the field. We made a quick run in the creekbed that was a little wet, running about 70 yards in the bottom and came up where the only opening was. While lying flat on our stomachs I raised my head to see the tom at about 45 yards. A couple of minutes go by, I raised my head again and could tell the tom was going to pass right in front of us, so I told John to get on his knees and raise his gun very slowly. I raised up and guessed the tom to be within 30 yards and I told John to shoot when he was ready. After not hearing a shot I asked John if the tom is still coming towards us, he nodded, I told him to shoot and Boom the shot goes off! I stood up to see another successful shot, shook John’s hand and stepped off the distance. The distance was 8 yards.

The time was now 4:25, and John had a smile on his face as big as a kid’s at Christmas. We headed back to the hotel, wondering what it was we were going to do for the next couple of days, as the hunt was for 3 days. John decided that 2 turkeys were enough for him and we left for Denver in the morning.