I've been a huge fan of chasing turkeys for a long time. This year I finally made it out of state to Kansas. The goal was to have a good time, hunt Rios, and hopefully each of us would come home with at least one turkey. I can say....we met our objectives.
We left on Saturday the 14th around 10 pm and drove all night. We arrived on Sunday morning after dodging a few of the nasty Ks storms. We were going to hit a WIHA on the way in. I had been warned about the lack of gravel in the roads but was told that most roads running of the blacktop should be in decent shape. WRONG! The first one we pulled off onto found us maybe 1/4 mile in and it was looking a bit too sloppy for my liking. We start backing out when we started sliding towards the ditch. Needless to say, we waited for it to get light before making any rash decisions. Long story a little shorter, we used a hay bale to get some enough traction to get on the high spot of the road. Lesson learned with just some wasted time.
1st few days were spent trying to figure out what we were doing. New terrain, new turkeys, lots of WIHA's to view, etc. After seeing a few vs the aerials, we honed in a few WIHAs to try to figure them out. I found a spot on a WA that appeared to have quite a few birds. Had 8-9 birds gobbling there the morning I hunted, all within say 250-300 yards or so. I only saw 1 strutter that was getting dragged around the field by a hen. I finally tried sneaking up on him and that didn't pan out so hot.
That same day, I had my thumb inserted somewhere special and had a gobbler walk into the dekes at 6:00 in the pm. He saw me before I saw him. Tried to quick draw him and well....that didn't pan out so hot.
Had a few more 80-100 yard specials. Another evening, I saw a strutter 1/4 mile or so away, so there I went, darn near running his way up the ditches we endearingly called a "coolie". I lost track of him and was darn near back to the truck when he gobbled again. Took after him again. It was real close to roosting time. Got to within 80 yards when I spotted him and he was angling towards me. He gets to within 60 and that all he is going to give me. I figured I could crawl 10 more yards and the grass and raise up and whack him. I do just that, except the whacking part. I look for a few minutes gun drawn and never see him. I figure he moved just off the edge of the hill in the coolie. I figure I'd walk on over to the edge and shoot him. Needless to say, while I was crawling, he flew into roost and I busted him off the roost. That didn't pan out so hot.
Last day, hit a new WIHA closer to home. The one we intended to go to on the way in but got stuck. Well, had a 3 pack tearing it up on the nieghbors place. I sat tight and eventually ended up seeing 8 turkeys (4 gobblers). Tried walking up and shooting them, but that didn't pan out so hot. Exhausted from all the hunting, we decided to call it quits. While at the truck and darn near in the traveling clothes, one gobbles 150 yards away. At this point, I'm just ready to go. My buddy that shot one already starts getting the guns out, camo, etc and says..."You've got to go get him". He says to the other guy, "you better go with him because there may be two". After getting dressed, I head on down the road and get him to gobble with a crow call. There were 2. Hit him with a squawk of the box at the truck and they were already on their way. We slid down a ditch and up the other side to the next field and gave one more call. Oh yeah, they were coming. We planned the whole 1 2 3 thing and then they came it. I could see one plain as day, I apologized for not following through on the synchronized trigger pull and I got settled in and got it done. My buddy hops up, sprints about 5 yards towards the other turkey and lays the smack down on him. What a hard earned double! Yep..ended up being jakes, but I could have cared less. Just makes me want to go back to shoot a gobbler that much more.
Anyway, here's the pictures. I've got some my own personal lessons learned for those that may head out that way if you care to know. I figured this post is long enough already.
Here are some of the ground we hunted.
And the results from the work. I usually don't shoot jakes, but I hunted way too hard not to.
habitatmd
The picture of the Cabin, reminded me of the same type of place we stayed when we went to Kansas last year. Thanks for sharring the pic's and story.
Hootowl
persistence pays off, congrats on the out of state birds, enjoyed your story
Congrats! Those roads can be downright treacherous after a good rain. Happened to me a couple of years ago and had to call my son to get me out of the ditch. Where I hunt if the road is "hard packed and gravelled' usually not problem but I don't go on roads off the beaten track after a good rain.
Great pictures! :drool: Thanks for sharing them!
Black roads are a definite NO-NO after a rain!! White roads are ok!! Yes we also learned the hard way!!
Sounds just like my experience from 2 years ago. Waited out the rain, hit a "dirt road" and ended up in the ditch real bad. My 4wd was useless. Walked to farmer's house about 2 miles away and he barely got us out with his big John Deere. He tore up his ditch and field pretty bad, in the process. Glad ya'll got some birds. Congrats
Congrats on the birds! And I've been stuck on those Kansas roads, also. :D Once that sh#tty mud they got out there packs in your tires, if ain't comin' out until it dries. Spinning 'em is just a waste of gas. I quickly learned to park where the gravel ends and walk the rest of the way if there's rain in the forecast.
Quote from: Hootowl on April 26, 2012, 06:34:36 PM
habitatmd
The picture of the Cabin, reminded me of the same type of place we stayed when we went to Kansas last year. Thanks for sharring the pic's and story.
Hootowl
Same here! They must stick to a pattern. Congrats on a good trip.
Congrats
It took me 3 years to end my KS jinx. Congrats on the bird.
Congrats on your Rios. I've been spanked by the Kansas roads as well, every trip in fact. It never fails every time I go, it rains there the night before. It's like driving on ice. My truck slid off the road sideways while we were parked, year before last.
Here is the rule of thumb. If there is a house on the road your good to go.NO house not good to go.I haven't been stuck yet. :icon_thumright:
Quote from: fallhnt on May 17, 2012, 06:19:15 PM
Here is the rule of thumb. If there is a house on the road your good to go.NO house not good to go.I haven't been stuck yet. :icon_thumright:
What stinks is when the house is 4 miles in, the WIHA 9 miles in and the house is the last house on that road. :-[
Rios ain't Easterns, but they are still turkeys. I don't know what makes someone think they can just walk up and shoot a turkey in the face... ???
The roads are amazing,hard as a rock when dry but will be slick as snot after a rain.That quote about its ok if there is a house on it couldnt be more wrong ,i see my friends that live on these roads stuck after a rainstorm.And without ever seeing these roads its hard to believe how much they fall apart,with only about a 1/4 inch of pee gravel on topsoil.Both of my trucks have goodyear mt /r tires and are still handicapped at times.
A couple of years ago, I was heading home after hunting north-central KS for a couple of days, and decided to check out a WIHA area for future reference. I didn't think much about the road, although I've hunted KS for years and am well aware of how slick they can be. When I pulled off the hardtop, it didn't look too bad, but got progressively worse. Trouble is, there was no place to turn around, and it was uphill back to the highway. I was leaving ruts about 4 inches deep with the Jeep, and could barely keep it going straight. I looked at the map, and saw that 2 miles down, a cross road went a mile north to a highway. That was the longest two miles of my life! Finally hit the cross road, made the turn, and put the hammer down. I could see a house about halfway there, so figured if I could make it there, I'd be OK. Worst part of the whole road until I got there, with ruts 8 inches deep. I had so much mud packed under the wheel wells, I had to stop and clean some out with sticks so I could steer!
I spent about $15 at two different car washes trying to get all the stuff off, and, literally, a month later, dirt was still falling off in my driveway after a rain! Last time I'll EVER make that mistake.
By the way, congratulations on your hunt. My Dad was a quail hunter, and I remember him always saying the hunt isn't over until you pull the vehicle in your driveway. You guys proved that point.
congrats on a great hunt :icon_thumright: