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Thread: The 2022 Turkey Thread!

  1. #51
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Valemount
    Posts
    179

    Re: The 2022 Turkey Thread!

    Nice to see you guys are getting some turkeys.
    A friend and I gave it a try in the east Kootnies for a week.Camped out and had a great time.Saw a lot of elk,mostly cows.Probably about a hundred.Many whitetails and mulies too.Saw 6 bucks in one group.
    We saw a few turkeys but they were smarter than us.I'm new to this turkey hunting but it is great fun.A lot of gobbling in return to our calls but wouldn't come in.I need to learn the proper calling methods no doubt.
    I could hear a gobbler late in the day near dark but couldn't find him.I think he was roosting in a tree.In the morning we could hear him again near camp and tried a setup in a nearby meadow.Lots of gobbling from him but he must of known we were up to no good or did not want to leave his hens.
    Always nice to walk around new country.

  2. #52
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    162

    Re: The 2022 Turkey Thread!

    Well I got out around Trail for the final weekend and had a blast. Didn't know the area at all so felt a little like finding a needle in a hay stack, especially since the Toms didn't seem to be too vocal. Spent a day putting on miles trying to locate some birds, lots of area covered and literally zero gobbles. Saw a couple of hens on the road throughout the day so we knew we were in the right area. Right around the end of the day, we spotted 3 strutting Toms about 200 yards away. Killer eyes these guys have and off they went. We were pretty encouraged, considering our goal on Friday was just to locate the birds and we were successful at that.

    The plan on Saturday was to set up before daybreak in the area that we had spotted the Toms the night before. Easier said than done, as we were hunting with 3 teenage girls. They were troopers and definitely up for the hunt but we didn't make it to our spot until about 20 minutes after first light. As we approached, we let out a hen call and immediately heard Gobbles right where we hoped to set up. Was able to move in for a glance, and saw 4 strutting Toms with hens. Worked at them for a bit over an hour without success. Headed back to camp for a nap, did a little more scouting before heading back to set up for the afternoon sit. As we approached, I could see a fan through some thick brush. Was able to move in, concealed by the brush to about 30 yards and successfully took my first Tom.
    What a great hunt and to be able to do it with good friends and my daughter was icing on the cake!

    Trying to upload photos.

  3. #53
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Posts
    429

    Re: The 2022 Turkey Thread!

    this is a bit late, as season is over and i went out for the opening Easter weekend, but here goes.

    left early on Good Friday. Picked up my wife from her night shift, loaded the dogs and off we went eastbound on highway 3. pretty drive, and after a long day made it to the kootenays. we made camp and as dinner was ready just after dark, the gobbles started. i had been there last year and was super glad to be in the zone right away. it snowed that night a few inches, and with our elevation we got hit pretty good.

    after a short sleep and an extra early pre-dawn wake up call i started to hike out of camp. a rooster crowed, the morning birds sang, and then spring thunder filled the air. i picked out the direction and crept in. i was within 100 yards of the roosting trees. Three, maybe more, gobblers going back and forth. i crept up the hill behind some brush to get in line, and waited. unfortunately i got busted trying to setup in front of my hiding spot, and i watched the last tom pitch off away from me. the rest of my morning i spent chasing gobbles a few kilometers up the valley where i had pushed the birds.

    i then got some elevation and started working my way back to camp. i picked up a subtle hen put and setup for a calling session. no luck drawing in any birds. I did find this giant cedar and a huge rub though. i kept looking for sheds, but none were to be found. I carried on, side-hilling and keeping my elevation. trying my best to stay in the open mature trees and out of the alder choked hell holes and underbrush. i wanted to scope out the area going into the roost trees and hopefully ambush the birds on their way back. another calling session about midway back and nothing. so i went for lunch.

    the cedar tree. mossburg 500 for scale


    after a lovely lunch in camp i headed back up to the roosting tree area. my intention was to sit until dark, either killing a turkey or getting onto their roost tree. so i got up there and waited with a decoy setup and laid down my sexiest hen calls. i was surprised when after about an hour i heard gobbles, but from the opposite direction i was expecting the birds from! they had gained even more elevation and circled around, now coming down and back to my zone. perfect, so i changed my setup a bit and it also moved to more open terrain. and by open i mean lots of space in between the bushes, but mind you still on this stupid 20 degree pitch on the mountain side.

    this was now the highlight of the trip - i called in a tom to shooting distance. problem was i could not see him. he was on the other side of the bushes and slightly above me. but it was really cool, and i almost had him but then the other toms showed up, and some hens. it was a full on turkey party. it was amazing to hear all of the different turkey sounds they make naturally. much better than some hack on youtube squeaking out calls without context. very cool. now in hindsight i probably should have been way more aggressive at this point, stood up and tried for a shot. but all my turkey hunting knowledge is from my buddies back east, and i was applying their strategy of utmost patience.

    well i followed the birds for the evening into the sunset. not many calls from me, but i was able to track them and find the roosting zone again. just at dusk i let out a little chirp and maybe 30 yards away i saw this ugly white turkey head poke up. i was behind a bush but i froze solid. i then watched 5 other birds all walk into that little gap, stick their head up, look right at me, and walk off. should have shot one of them too.



    put those birds to bed, confirmed the roost zone on my dark hike out by listening to their gobbles, and then back to camp for a short rest. without the inclement weather like the last evening, i cooked up a campfire dinner for us. ribeye, veggie packs, and sweet potato. it was excellent.

    morning came quickly, but i was ready. i started hiking before dawn but got trapped in some thick nasty shit, and without good moonlight and only a headlamp it was very hard to navigate. so i had to backtrack and add about a kilometer to my hike to go around and up the other side of the ridge. partway up as the sun was rising i heard the first gobbles. i was a bit behind because of my detour and just kicked it into high gear. it turns out those turkeys had gone to a higher elevation than i thought, and i gained about 250m just to get even with them. i chose not to call until i could get right in the zone. with light coming quickly and the birds not hanging around in the roost forever i decided to setup but there was a small draw in between me and the birds. they could easily come over the top edge of it or fly over it from the roost, but i didn't have time to hike higher and around to them. my calls were met with gobbles and then i gave them some time.

    my last stand. the toms were roosted across the draw from me, with some nasty shit in between.


    unfortunately right before they flew down this hen starts yelping away right under them. what a bitch! so i started mimicking her and trying to make the toms come my way instead. she was having none of it, and it was a pretty fun interaction. nothing beats the real thing in the end and the toms flew down and started working uphill and dead away from me. dang it. i would have chased them down, but this was the end of my allotted hunting time. the trip was far from over, but this section was. i did take great pleasure in looking down the hill 300m elevation at all the road hunters driving by 20 minutes after the gobbles stopped though, not knowing what they had missed.

    made it back to camp for a late breakfast and then we packed up. from here the trip turned into a wonderful exploration of the west koots: we made it to nelson for lunch, then nakusp for dinner. we stayed at a lovely B&B just outside of the town and then carried on our way easter monday towards the Okanogan. Took highway 6 west, crossed at Farquier, and made it to Vernon mid afternoon. We have friends in Kelowna, so met them for dinner down there and stayed the night. Tuesday was back home to the lower mainland.

    in summary, this was such a great turkey hunt for me. having only been out last year and it sucked, this played out really well. it had all the right makings with responsive birds, roosting trees i saw, seeing actual turkeys, and enjoying some fun interactions while calling. i learned a lot about these merriams and will apply that next year. it really felt a lot more like a mule deer or elk hunt with all the mountain hiking, but was definitely a blast. i know i would have got one had i stayed a bit longer, but it was a nice vacation and exciting to bring my family with too.

    this looked like a killer whitetail spot, saw tons of them, so i may be back in the fall. perhaps i will get lucky and see a turkey at the same time.

    until next spring...

  4. #54
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    1,902

    Re: The 2022 Turkey Thread!

    Sounds like a nice trip, glad you posted up the story, tfs
    Glad to say I have hunted Northern BC

    Simon Fraser had pretty good judgement on what he found in BC

  5. #55
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Top of the 395
    Posts
    1,691

    Re: The 2022 Turkey Thread!

    Sounds like you had a great trip ULC. It’s pretty country for sure. Next time you should try the ferry over to Galena Bay and drive out through Revelstoke if you haven’t gone that way before. It’s really nice through that area.
    If we’re not supposed to eat animals, how come they’re made out of meat?

    BHA, BCWF, CCFR, PETA, Lever Action Addict.

  6. #56
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Posts
    6,437

    Re: The 2022 Turkey Thread!

    WATCH: Wild turkey faces off against Canadian pol…: https://youtu.be/Bl45dugTZDE

  7. #57
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Top of the 395
    Posts
    1,691

    Re: The 2022 Turkey Thread!

    The birds are starting to show themselves. Haven’t seen any for months, but today saw a couple of big groups wandering the streets near me.
    If we’re not supposed to eat animals, how come they’re made out of meat?

    BHA, BCWF, CCFR, PETA, Lever Action Addict.

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