Made my annual trip to Utah last Friday...After 2 days of scouting, I had a pretty good idea where I wanted to be for the general season opener (Monday, May 4th)...Thanks to OnX, I had pinned exactly where I had bino'd a really good mountain gobbler right after flydown...Made my way up to the area in the dark and waited for grey light and those 1st gobbles...6:10 rolls around and nothing...I start soft calling and still nothing...Now, I'm cranking on the Flydown Custom Call, single sided box, and still nothing...WTF!...By 7:30, I'm getting the picture that this tom had changed locations...Time to drive to Plan B.
Sunday morning while checking out some new areas that I had gotten tip on, I hear a gobble...Driving back roads with the windows down works...After I stop, the longbeard lights up again with a crow call...I finally spot him and he's by himself (good)...Now I'm back and park a good distance away from where I spotted him...I get to the area and start calling...Nothing...Give it 30 minutes and move...I'm now into this walk for about a mile along a creek bottom...Zippo...Ok, it's time for Plan C...I get back to the truck and decide to give it one more box call and wouldn't you know it...I get a hit half way up the mountain...This is cedar & juniper country...So, it's tough to see or hunt...I look at OnX and on the other side of this band of thick junipers is an open sage brush area...I get thru the woods and I see it's pretty tall sage...Another tough element for shooting turkeys from sitting position...I know I can't move any closer...So I set up about 15 yds inside the junipers...I have a good shooting lane in front of me and one good one to my right...I then start in on them...Soft box with squeaky yelps...They go off and seem to be about a 100 yds up and to my left...Every squeak brings a gobble, but no movement...OK, you're getting the silent treatment...15 minutes goes by and they gobble on their own...But this time they're to my right and lower...I switch to the diaphragm...And I get a double gobble...You boys are in trouble!...Next thing I see is the red head thru the sage...The 1st guys breaks into the right side shooting lane and he's hot footing it right at me...At 28 yds, I figured I better let him have the TSS #9's before he got any closer...Gobbler down!... His partner has no idea what just happened and flies, and lands about 5 yds from me...He has idea now...lol
Here's a few pix from the trip...Stefanie and Jacob came over on Thursday and as close as we came, we just couldn't close the deal on a longbeard...Stef definitely found out what "real" turkey hunting was like...4 mile walks, blisters, & public land...lol...Great times.
ps...I hate rattlers!
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Sunday morning while checking out some new areas that I had gotten tip on, I hear a gobble...Driving back roads with the windows down works...After I stop, the longbeard lights up again with a crow call...I finally spot him and he's by himself (good)...Now I'm back and park a good distance away from where I spotted him...I get to the area and start calling...Nothing...Give it 30 minutes and move...I'm now into this walk for about a mile along a creek bottom...Zippo...Ok, it's time for Plan C...I get back to the truck and decide to give it one more box call and wouldn't you know it...I get a hit half way up the mountain...This is cedar & juniper country...So, it's tough to see or hunt...I look at OnX and on the other side of this band of thick junipers is an open sage brush area...I get thru the woods and I see it's pretty tall sage...Another tough element for shooting turkeys from sitting position...I know I can't move any closer...So I set up about 15 yds inside the junipers...I have a good shooting lane in front of me and one good one to my right...I then start in on them...Soft box with squeaky yelps...They go off and seem to be about a 100 yds up and to my left...Every squeak brings a gobble, but no movement...OK, you're getting the silent treatment...15 minutes goes by and they gobble on their own...But this time they're to my right and lower...I switch to the diaphragm...And I get a double gobble...You boys are in trouble!...Next thing I see is the red head thru the sage...The 1st guys breaks into the right side shooting lane and he's hot footing it right at me...At 28 yds, I figured I better let him have the TSS #9's before he got any closer...Gobbler down!... His partner has no idea what just happened and flies, and lands about 5 yds from me...He has idea now...lol
Here's a few pix from the trip...Stefanie and Jacob came over on Thursday and as close as we came, we just couldn't close the deal on a longbeard...Stef definitely found out what "real" turkey hunting was like...4 mile walks, blisters, & public land...lol...Great times.
ps...I hate rattlers!
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