You had a great trip and didn't kill anything.... 
Woke up Wednesday morning at 3:00 and said to myself, "A bonsai trip to Utah for turkeys sounds good"...I was already partially packed...So, I was on the road at 3:30 am...Hard to believe that folks get up that early early day to go to work, but traffic in Riverside was already stacking up...Let's go!!!!...Finally clear the basin and hit Vegas, not bad at 7:30 am...Blast thru there and get to St George at around 10:30 am their time...Head to Sportsman's for licensing...Hunting and turkey tag, $185.00....
1st stop is towards Cedar City and a pretty tough 10 mile road (flat tire last year)...Finally get there and the campground/gate is closed...That was the bad news...The good news was, it had been closed since the 22nd and nobody had driven into the area...One mile walk up hill, but a good road...Get into the yellow pines and where I came so close last year, nary a track, feather, or gobble...It was the one spot that I actually had some good action...Time to move on.....
After that, I start driving to just about every place I knew that had water, tanks, ponds, and creeks...Literally, never saw a track...Not good...It is mid day, so I'm not expecting any gobbles, but I did think I would see some sign...Richard (Utahduckhunter) warned me that it was going to be tough...An understatement, so far.....
It's now getting late and I decided to just go to one of the old standby spots back west...Didn't see any sign or hear any gobbles, but did see 2 birds heading to roost...It's 8:45 pm and can't tell what they are (sundown time was 8:50))...OK, it's a start...
Next morning, I get up and go up the canyon from the 2 hens...It wasn't long and I hear the tree yelps...One of them starts yelping super aggressive and I hear my 1st gobble in the distance...The louder she got...The louder he got...Of course, I'm calling in between the two of them...He comes off the mountain to the west of me and goes right to the live hens...That was the end of his gobbling, but while all this was going on, I hear another gobble...He now is responding to my calls...We go back and forth for at least 30 minutes, but he ain't budging from that hillside...Finally, he works his way down towards me, but stops at a fence line...I give him the silent treatment, but the next gobble is back up the hill...I never put a visual on him in the thick junipers...Despite him being as close as 80 yds...Another 30 minutes go by and he heads north...Maybe, gobbling only once or twice at my calls going away...Out that way is a really nice meadow area and my gut feeling was he was going there to strut and call...I pick up and hot foot my way into the edge...As I'm looking for him, he gobbles...I'm thinking he's on the opposite side of the meadow...I call for the 1st time and he gobbles right back...I look and look, but don't see him...So, I'm thinking he's in the sage at least a 150 yds away...I scooch up the creek embankment to sit at a cedar tree over looking the area...As I'm getting my gun up, I am looking right down my gun barrel at him...He apparently was closer than I thought and he has made me...It's about 60 yds and I just can't see a beard...Mexican stand off and he finally turns (still couldn't see a beard) and just walks away...Couldn't tell by his gobble how far he was and eye sight couldn't make out if he was a longbeard....Geeze!...That afternoon, I went back up the same original canyon and at about 5:00 pm a single jake strolled by...Never said a peek...Only about 1/2 mile away from the morning action...So, it could've even been the same bird...I'll never know...Checked another known roost in the evening and there were two birds there as well and put them to bed......
Friday morning I decided to start at the 2nd roost...At 6:00 am, the 1st bird flies down...It appears to be a hen and when the 2nd bird starts tree yelping...It confirms it's two hens and with no gobbles (perfect morning to hear them miles away)...I pick up and haul cheeks back to the the other spot (about 7 miles)...Slip up the canyon and start calling, nothing (6:40 am)...Dozing off a lot, but around 7:30 am, I hear a distant gobble...Time to move...While walking farther back, the coyotes start going off...This creates a single gobble and he's fairly close...I cut the distance and set-up...Soft calling gets nothing, but I can hear him drumming...Meaning, he's close and he probably has a hen...I never hear him again...After a couple hours, I pull the pin...
Josh and Tanner were up as well...So, I meet them at 10:00 am...In a day and half, they had heard 1 distant gobble, saw a few hen tracks at a tank, and saw one longbeard in a field...These kids are mountain goats and had already put in some miles...They also found out that a spot I've hunted (and told them about)...Utah F & G had trapped a 150 birds out of the area and sent them to Colorado...Bummer....
It's mid morning, so I decided to show them some new areas...While doing so, we see 4 jakes crossing a road...Private, but accessible to NF...We keep driving...We stopped at every known water source and never saw a track and obviously, never heard a gobble...Eventually, we make it back to the 4 jakes area and I dropped them off...I continue to scout...I did find some strut marks and gobbler tracks...I set up, but never heard anything...I pick up the boys at 8:30 pm...They saw tracks and watched 6 birds go to roost, but no gobbles...Maybe tomorrow, because they were shooting jakes...
We were camping out in the boonies, but the kids came prepared...They broke out a cool stove for dinner...Bacon cheese burgers, Caesar salad, chips, and Oreos for desert...What could be better?....
The next morning we decided to give my 1st spot a try again...Heard a hen early...Then after a short while, our 1st gobble, then another...Josh (Flydown Custom calls) can call like no other, but never heard another gobble...I had planned to leave at 7:00 am and I left...Sure was fun hunting with the two boys that turned out to be such fine young men...
Despite not getting a tom, it was a great trip...Great local folks, beautiful country, lots of wildlife, and hunted with sons I never had...I guess in the big picture...This is what really matters.......
ps...NOT!....I should've shot that 1st bird and asked questions later..........
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Woke up Wednesday morning at 3:00 and said to myself, "A bonsai trip to Utah for turkeys sounds good"...I was already partially packed...So, I was on the road at 3:30 am...Hard to believe that folks get up that early early day to go to work, but traffic in Riverside was already stacking up...Let's go!!!!...Finally clear the basin and hit Vegas, not bad at 7:30 am...Blast thru there and get to St George at around 10:30 am their time...Head to Sportsman's for licensing...Hunting and turkey tag, $185.00....
1st stop is towards Cedar City and a pretty tough 10 mile road (flat tire last year)...Finally get there and the campground/gate is closed...That was the bad news...The good news was, it had been closed since the 22nd and nobody had driven into the area...One mile walk up hill, but a good road...Get into the yellow pines and where I came so close last year, nary a track, feather, or gobble...It was the one spot that I actually had some good action...Time to move on.....
After that, I start driving to just about every place I knew that had water, tanks, ponds, and creeks...Literally, never saw a track...Not good...It is mid day, so I'm not expecting any gobbles, but I did think I would see some sign...Richard (Utahduckhunter) warned me that it was going to be tough...An understatement, so far.....
It's now getting late and I decided to just go to one of the old standby spots back west...Didn't see any sign or hear any gobbles, but did see 2 birds heading to roost...It's 8:45 pm and can't tell what they are (sundown time was 8:50))...OK, it's a start...
Next morning, I get up and go up the canyon from the 2 hens...It wasn't long and I hear the tree yelps...One of them starts yelping super aggressive and I hear my 1st gobble in the distance...The louder she got...The louder he got...Of course, I'm calling in between the two of them...He comes off the mountain to the west of me and goes right to the live hens...That was the end of his gobbling, but while all this was going on, I hear another gobble...He now is responding to my calls...We go back and forth for at least 30 minutes, but he ain't budging from that hillside...Finally, he works his way down towards me, but stops at a fence line...I give him the silent treatment, but the next gobble is back up the hill...I never put a visual on him in the thick junipers...Despite him being as close as 80 yds...Another 30 minutes go by and he heads north...Maybe, gobbling only once or twice at my calls going away...Out that way is a really nice meadow area and my gut feeling was he was going there to strut and call...I pick up and hot foot my way into the edge...As I'm looking for him, he gobbles...I'm thinking he's on the opposite side of the meadow...I call for the 1st time and he gobbles right back...I look and look, but don't see him...So, I'm thinking he's in the sage at least a 150 yds away...I scooch up the creek embankment to sit at a cedar tree over looking the area...As I'm getting my gun up, I am looking right down my gun barrel at him...He apparently was closer than I thought and he has made me...It's about 60 yds and I just can't see a beard...Mexican stand off and he finally turns (still couldn't see a beard) and just walks away...Couldn't tell by his gobble how far he was and eye sight couldn't make out if he was a longbeard....Geeze!...That afternoon, I went back up the same original canyon and at about 5:00 pm a single jake strolled by...Never said a peek...Only about 1/2 mile away from the morning action...So, it could've even been the same bird...I'll never know...Checked another known roost in the evening and there were two birds there as well and put them to bed......
Friday morning I decided to start at the 2nd roost...At 6:00 am, the 1st bird flies down...It appears to be a hen and when the 2nd bird starts tree yelping...It confirms it's two hens and with no gobbles (perfect morning to hear them miles away)...I pick up and haul cheeks back to the the other spot (about 7 miles)...Slip up the canyon and start calling, nothing (6:40 am)...Dozing off a lot, but around 7:30 am, I hear a distant gobble...Time to move...While walking farther back, the coyotes start going off...This creates a single gobble and he's fairly close...I cut the distance and set-up...Soft calling gets nothing, but I can hear him drumming...Meaning, he's close and he probably has a hen...I never hear him again...After a couple hours, I pull the pin...
Josh and Tanner were up as well...So, I meet them at 10:00 am...In a day and half, they had heard 1 distant gobble, saw a few hen tracks at a tank, and saw one longbeard in a field...These kids are mountain goats and had already put in some miles...They also found out that a spot I've hunted (and told them about)...Utah F & G had trapped a 150 birds out of the area and sent them to Colorado...Bummer....
It's mid morning, so I decided to show them some new areas...While doing so, we see 4 jakes crossing a road...Private, but accessible to NF...We keep driving...We stopped at every known water source and never saw a track and obviously, never heard a gobble...Eventually, we make it back to the 4 jakes area and I dropped them off...I continue to scout...I did find some strut marks and gobbler tracks...I set up, but never heard anything...I pick up the boys at 8:30 pm...They saw tracks and watched 6 birds go to roost, but no gobbles...Maybe tomorrow, because they were shooting jakes...
We were camping out in the boonies, but the kids came prepared...They broke out a cool stove for dinner...Bacon cheese burgers, Caesar salad, chips, and Oreos for desert...What could be better?....
The next morning we decided to give my 1st spot a try again...Heard a hen early...Then after a short while, our 1st gobble, then another...Josh (Flydown Custom calls) can call like no other, but never heard another gobble...I had planned to leave at 7:00 am and I left...Sure was fun hunting with the two boys that turned out to be such fine young men...
Despite not getting a tom, it was a great trip...Great local folks, beautiful country, lots of wildlife, and hunted with sons I never had...I guess in the big picture...This is what really matters.......
ps...NOT!....I should've shot that 1st bird and asked questions later..........
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