Bagged a TOM!!!!

[mark]

well heres the story guys. i didnt even think of goin till a week ago, ran it by my huntin bud and only on wed he told me hed come. I never dun it before and had no clue where to start. So i re-read all huntwriters posts and advice, and somebody said christian valley had lots of turkeys, so we loaded up and off we went. only been to christian valley a few times chasing deer but i knew a nice place to camp near a feild and a creek that was low diown to the valley bottom and figured that would be a good place to start. We saw some other guys driving around where i was goin to camp, they were looking for turks too, but hadnt seen any! Nevill from double E hunting camp told us hed seen alot in the area last fall so after hours of driving around the valley we decided to pitch camp in my spot. after we set up we decided to head up the road again for another look, and we see 2 hens in a lil meadow only 200 yards from camp. We hiked a lil old road up the ridge and walked upon another 2 hens. Now were excited about opening morn. and yes i had turkey dreams. Sat morn. we worked the areas we saw the hens, no gobbles, cought up to the same 2 hens on the ridge top but no males :x We called, waited, hiked high and low and every where, we searche the bottom of every tree that looked like it might be a good roosting tree but overall saw very little sign. At lunch the CO pulled into camp and informed us that some guys in a truck shot a big tom 200 yards down the road from our camp first thing in the morn. :frown: Now discouraged we go for an afternoon drive and did see a couple single hens, but no males. More hiking and more calling but nothing! We went to bed very exousted last night, kinda bummed, and had no game plan for the morn. I had the best sleep i can ever remmember and woke up to a dream (or so i thought) I actually got woke up by gobbles!!! not joking or dreamin! after a moment of disbelieve and another gobble i wake buddy and tell him! He says yer dreamin, (as this has happenned before elk hunting) im like dude listen! he hears it plain as day but cant believe it and says ya right its cold im sleeping. i scrammble into my cloths and go outside. Wow an inch of snow fell over night and its winter wonderland, so much for our camo!the tom is going nuts and only about 250 yards from our camp. by now buddy is getting dressed and says wait for me. We load up and move about 50 yards towards the gobbler. Hes way up on a ridge and maybe in a tree we think so we each hide behind a lil patch of fir regen. I start a few chirps with my box call. the tom goes nuts gobbling, so i just give a few more clucks. i think he flew down from the ridge because in seconds the gobbles came from my left only 50 yards. now buddy is about ten yards on my right so he cant shoot. i get ready for the tom to emerge from where i heard him last and i hear BOOM, BOOM look to my right and the turkey is only ten yards in front of us not wounded running hard to my left. Hes so close i just point and shoot, miss, buddy misses again (now empty) so i take aim and drill him on the run at about 10 yards. blow out his lower back and hes down!!!! YIPPEEE, HEE HAW!! Only 60 yards from our camp! Weve only been awake for 5 min. and yes we slept in as it was light out. at camp we got about a min of video before the batt. died, and not one pice with the digital as that batt died also. so the pics were taken hours later here in kelowna! There in the gallery guys, if a mod could maybe post a pic or 2 here it would be appreciated as i never can do it! :-D

[slyfox]

Awesome mark condgrats on a nice turkey what shot size did you use.

[alremkin]

Congratulations on getting a turkey. My only comment is that with a name like " Hunting BC Champ" it should be assumed you'd bag a turkey. Actually to show that much excitment, you should be able to say, " We got two." Lol, when you're the champ these type of things are expected.

I haven't checked lately, but I remember turkeys were limited entry is that still the case?

Good write-up and story I found the pics in the gallery.

[derek p]

Hey Mark, great story, a little surprised that a deer hunter could sleep
in :shock:. It sound like you picked the perfect spot for camping..reading your story makes me think I should be trying this and not bear hunting so early. Good Job.:p

[mark]

thanks alremkin, my god i didnt put that quote in my avtar, i never even noticed it before, one of the mods must be messing with me! im by no means a champ, although i do alright! turkeys are open now for a month in certain regions!

[huntwriter]

Gongratulations Mark on your Tom. Sleeping in was the right thing to do, if the weather is wet, windy and a bit cool turkeys sleep in too. Also working from the top of a ridge to the bottom is good. Again congratulations. Now I will go to your gallery and look at the tom.

[slyfox]

Shit you got it with a 300 man next time call me ill let you use a shot gun you hit him on the run with a rifle thats inpressive but you probley scared every other turkey in the area back to alberta Lol!!

[mark]

by the way guys, we didnt sleep in much i was maybe light for 15 min. and by the way derek we saw absolutely no sign of any bears at all out there.

[000buck]

congrats on the butterball!!!!!!! wish I could get the time to get out there for that kind of hunt..........:|

[mrdoog]

Congrats!
Very cool write-up!

[Ronforca]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/IMG_1538.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=2511&size=big&cat=recent&limit=recent)

[Ronforca]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/IMG_1534.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=2510&size=big&cat=recent&limit=recent)http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/IMG_1534.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=2510&size=big&cat=recent&limit=recent)this good enough there Mark

[quadrakid]

great story, bring on the turkeys! sounds like a good reason for a spring road trip.

[Dano]

Excellent!
I'ld love to get up there to hunt these birds too but I doubt it for this year (I start my second year of Millwright school next week...).
My buddy wants to hunt bear up by Merrit next month, maybe I can talk him into a combo bear/turkey hunt up that way!

[mark]

ya just joking about the .300 thing thought it would get a rise out of some, 12 gauge 3inch mag BB's

[ex bc guide]

Great Turkey! congrats
Mike

[CanAm500]

Sweet turkey, you should eat it for easter dinner!!!

[huntwriter]

ya just joking about the .300 thing thought it would get a rise out of some, 12 gauge 3inch mag BB's

I thought that was a funny looking .300 mag in the pictures.:wink:

[bsa30-06]

mark you should save the 300 for the real predators, like the squirells.Congrats nice lookin bird let us now how it taste.

[marcus44]

Way to go Mark, nice lookin bird

I also go out this morning just in the kelowna area in search of the elusive gobblers.... Found a nice old skid trail to walk down and off I went... hadnt gotten 20 yrds from the truck when I jumped 2 whiteys, good start... continuing down the road, I hear the chirping and cluckin of a hen off in the distance, so I bedded down in the snow and gave her a reply, then I hear the beating of feathers in the woods, Tom must be close, waited and called matching the calls of the hen in the distance, till finally nothing... So I start back down the road after a 30 min calling match to no avail... got maybe another 200 yrds down the road and again back to the hen calls with tom beatting his feathers in the bush, same thing, but he didnt want to come out to see me. This continued on for a while, but no tom to come out. A good start to my first time out Turkey hunting. Didnt end up seeing any birds though, saw 14 deer, 1 grouse and a very large moose track (pics to come, once I finish the roll). Cant wait to get out again and give it another try.

[cowboy-up69]

Good job Mark! Cant wait to get out and bag one of them suckers with my bow!

[mark]

marcus , you found turks in k-town, thats a victory in itself, as ive never seen any here. cowboy. if you use a bow id reccomend using a decoy to distract and stop the turkey, cuz the one i called in was doing the road runner and had no plans of stopping. i brought a bow with me as well but figured it would be rather hard for my first bird. they wernt as common or stupid as i had hoped!

[Elkhound]

NIce job Mark, I would like to try this turkey hunting some time. Hmmmmmm, turkey

[marcus44]

marcus , you found turks in k-town, thats a victory in itself, as ive never seen any here. cowboy. if you use a bow id reccomend using a decoy to distract and stop the turkey, cuz the one i called in was doing the road runner and had no plans of stopping. i brought a bow with me as well but figured it would be rather hard for my first bird. they wernt as common or stupid as i had hoped!

I have actually run into them in a few spots now right close to k-town... a nice 20-30 min drive from home. Just hopefully I can actually get one, thats the big trick...

[johnes50]

Nice bird Mark. Not bad for your first time out and they go good with stuffing, mashed potatos, and gravy. I wish there were a few on the Island besides my neighbors.:grin: John

[mark]

hey guys i cooked him up last night, was excellent, just like moms work, maybe a little dry but probably my fault cuz a lil overcooking. He was taste with no wild taste, not tough or chewy. smothered it with gravey and cranberries, made mashed spuds and stuffing! mmmmmmmmmm

[gaza211]

Congrats Mark!
Good to see there is some opportunity out there.

[huntwriter]

Good job Mark! Cant wait to get out and bag one of them suckers with my bow!
The most important item for hunting turkeys with a bow is a ground blind. A turkeys eyesight is comparable to a 8 power binocular, they can see you moving your eyeball from 100 yards away. Use a bow with low poundage that lets you hold it at full draw for up to 10 minutes. Use blunt broadheads and add some kind of stopper on the arrow shaft right behind the broadhead. You do not want a pass through shot on a turkey. The arrow should stay in the bird, otherwise he will fly away and you will never find it again. Do not take shots any further than 20 to 25 yards. Wait until the turkey turns his back on you in full strut that way he cannot see you releasing the arrow. Aim right for his anus (Texas Bullseye.)

Good luck.

[mark]

so has anyone else from HBC bagged a turkey this year or am i the only one so far?

[Dano]

My dad and his buddy went up by Cranbrook and dad's buddy shot one about 12#. They were up around the skookumchuck river someplace.
They said not too many active quite yet.
I think my dad is doing a story on it for B.C. Outdoors so I'll post when he lets me know it'll be published (he writes the "Weighing In" column for the magazine.
Dano