The joys of finding your kids hunting niche

[Tripitaka]

So, my 9yr old daughter decided last year that she REALLY wanted me to take her turkey hunting. I know 3/5ths of diddly squat about it so last year, together, we set about learning what we could about it.

We learnt that if you want the best shot at turkey in BC, you need to head to Creston so here we are with our decoys, our hours of practice on slate, box and mouth calls, our DVDs and hours of Youtube and a whole bunch of optimism. Sure, it is expensive getting here from the island but judging by the look on her face today as we headed out to do some scouting, it is all worth it. I think I've spawned a turkey hunting monster...she is NUTS for it!

I'll let you know how I get on...if I can find some birds on land that isn't private! Seen a few flocks but all on private stuff, though we only just landed today and there is plenty of time yet. Maybe the island 'speciality gifts' that I brought might tempt someone into granting me some access. :-)

[Rhyno]

Look forward to hearing how your hunt goes, good luck!

[Husky7mm]

The turkeys in Creston dont just live on the crop and private land. Dont be shy to leave the main valley and gain a bit of elevation. Turkey hunting is lots of fun, good luck to you and your daugher.

[okas]

:redface: last time in Creston got a test turkey to eat and one to bring home :razz: was feeling good about the dead coyotes :redface: till i found out they were closed HA HA HA

[Tripitaka]

Been checking out the elevation but it is pretty dry here and the snow pack is almost all gone already so I'm not sure where they would be getting their water from.

I've checked out some tips and some areas that would seem to be promising but I've only seen 6 so far, 4 in someones yard and two that coasted over my campsite at about 150' (yeah, no kidding!) on their glide to a roost tree. Unfortunately, that's in a populated area too! It's early days yet though so still optimistic although I'm starting to take the whole 'Crestons sidewalks are paved with turkeys' with a pinch of salt. ;-)

On the brighter side, yesterday my girl found her first ever shed, a beauty whitetail rack so now she is stoked for that too! She wants to be up before dawn and out until dusk and now, instead of taking a siesta, she wants to be out shed hunting too! I've created a monster but this is one that I know I need to feed, it is a pretty awesome feeling when your kid finally starts putting it all together and actually getting it.

Off out again to shed hunt again (in areas that look like they hold turkey) then we'll hit some promising spots to walk and call later this afternoon for the evening.


http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5770&stc=1

[VLD43]

Looks like fun. Have you thought about contacting the Local CO in that area for some advice. The CO's are usually pretty good about helping people out, or getting them into a general area. With your daughter there, they may be a little more helpful than normal. Worth a try. Best of luck

[RiverOtter]

Not sure about spring, but I hunted near Yaak one fall and had turkeys replying to my bugles, not to mention bumping into them on the side roads regularly; non residential.

[Tripitaka]

Thanks guys! For whatever reason, I hadn't thought about the CO so I'll get on that one. RiverOtter - thanks for that, I'll check that out later this week. I've actually seen more elk so far than turkeys, that's the way it goes, I guess.

[okas]

in and around the hydro station east of town stay low .. call and wait a bit. play low

[TPK]

Not wanting to be a fun sponge but before asking the CO ... remind yourself that it is illegal for someone under 10 years old to hunt. Not that it's enforced, most CO's would turn a blind eye, but there is a big difference between turning a blind eye and actively helping ...

[albravo2]

I'm pretty sure he said she was 10 in his original post;-)

[VLD43]

Not wanting to be a fun sponge but before asking the CO ... remind yourself that it is illegal for someone under 10 years old to hunt. Not that it's enforced, most CO's would turn a blind eye, but there is a big difference between turning a blind eye and actively helping ...

Never thought of that one. Good Point. As they say "The Devil is in the Detail". Thanks for that

[Tripitaka]

TPK - great point but we have it covered. Mum is a CORE and firearms instructor so she is all over my ass on what she can and cannot do. Daughter is 9, 10 in December but she is so ready right now. She could damn near teach the PAL and CORE courses herself. The devil is indeed in the fine print of the wildlife regs concerning what is 'hunting' which is one of the reasons we go out shed hunting. ;-) She absolutely cannot call them in, even though she has practiced her ass off, certainly cannot take the shot but unfortunately there appears to be nothing to stop her pointing out to me that my calls need more practice and that I should be yelping instead of cackling etc. Those of you with daughters know what I mean. :-D I certainly don't regard you as a 'fun sponge', just watching my back is how I read it and I'm grateful for that.

CO has emailed with his number so going to give him a call. Between intel that I'm picking up on the ground and the info coming from you guys on here, I feel like I'm in Turkey University, I'm learning as much as I possibly can each day and having to actively take time out each day to translate the info into material that she can process - how it came about, how it relates to everything else, what matters, what doesn't etc. Stuff we take for granted but is beyond a lot of kids but she just sucks this stuff up. I hadn't anticipated it but I'm thinking that she might be planning next years hunt!

Thank you all, from one dad to many; I know you understand what I'm trying to do here.

[riflebuilder]

Good luck hope you get one. I used to drag around my daughter Pheasant hunting and she would give me heck for not shooting a girl bird so she could play with it. She had to settle for roosters...lol. She is now planning on tacking her son hunting in 10 years or so. By the way he already has a 22.

[OutWest]

in and around the hydro station east of town stay low .. call and wait a bit. play low

x2 get up on the hyrdo and gas lines in that country and you will be into the birds. Good luck!

[Tripitaka]

Still trying to figure out where they are, got some telling me go high, some to stay low so I'm checking out both. I think what has surprised me the most is the complete lack of birds on private land. We have plenty of Km under our feet and tires and I'd have expected to have seen dozens of birds but still only just those 6 so far.

Hopefully this rain overnight might have mixed things up a bit and I'm going to scout high and low today as I've mostly stayed low so far. Thanks for the intel guys, I appreciate it.

[Tripitaka]

I just wanted to come back and close out our spring turkey adventure.

We didn't end up getting a bird but thats OK because we learnt a TON of stuff along the way, not least due to the input here and through those of you that kindly took the time to PM me with ideas and info. We had a great week and considered sticking around for a further week but when we had a sit-down and discussed, we figured that we were better off back on the island chasing the bears until the end of the season.

From all the info I gathered, I came to some conclusions:

The street of Creston are not actually paved with turkeys. ;-)
There is a LOT of private land and initially, that was pretty daunting but in the end, we saw more birds on crown land, simply because that was were we focused our attention
The turkey season is out of whack with local conditions. It seems apparent that the gobblers were strutting as early as mid-March so my plan to leave it to settle down for the first couple of weeks was flawed. Arguably, I'd say that the strut was mostly over by the end of the first week of the season and certainly well over by the time I arrived. I think that probably accounts for us not seeing anywhere near as many birds as we anticipated.
All the time and effort put into learning turkey calls wasn't wasted but I didn't anticipate how hard it would be to actually locate the birds. Calling them requires finding them first and I didn't have enough effort invested in that aspect.
It sure is beautiful country between Hope and Creston
I'll be back for another go!

Thanks for the help everyone, we greatly appreciate it!

trippy

[Rhyno]

Too bad you didn't get a bird, but I agree the early spring messed things up this year!

Better luck next year!


I just wanted to come back and close out our spring turkey adventure.

We didn't end up getting a bird but thats OK because we learnt a TON of stuff along the way, not least due to the input here and through those of you that kindly took the time to PM me with ideas and info. We had a great week and considered sticking around for a further week but when we had a sit-down and discussed, we figured that we were better off back on the island chasing the bears until the end of the season.

From all the info I gathered, I came to some conclusions:

The street of Creston are not actually paved with turkeys. ;-)
There is a LOT of private land and initially, that was pretty daunting but in the end, we saw more birds on crown land, simply because that was were we focused our attention
The turkey season is out of whack with local conditions. It seems apparent that the gobblers were strutting as early as mid-March so my plan to leave it to settle down for the first couple of weeks was flawed. Arguably, I'd say that the strut was mostly over by the end of the first week of the season and certainly well over by the time I arrived. I think that probably accounts for us not seeing anywhere near as many birds as we anticipated.
All the time and effort put into learning turkey calls wasn't wasted but I didn't anticipate how hard it would be to actually locate the birds. Calling them requires finding them first and I didn't have enough effort invested in that aspect.
It sure is beautiful country between Hope and Creston
I'll be back for another go!

Thanks for the help everyone, we greatly appreciate it!

trippy

[Norwestalta]

Good stuff Tripitaka. Loved hunting with my kids when they were young and still love hunting with them now that they're in their early twenties. My hunting partner said " if you teach your kids to hunt you won't have to hunt for your kids". He's right but it also keeps them financially poor. Lol