Avid's Hunt Log

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

4.28.25

The morning of the hunt we got up and loaded into my truck. His friend came along too to help watch birds and give us some more calling options. I had asked the night before how we were going to hunt said birds... every morning they fly down into a brown dirt field and your options where to set up on a far edge from the birds or under there roost... I thought. What I didnt account for was the large collection of old cars that were rusting away in the Utah valley as another option. This happen to be one of two direction these birds liked to travel and at least the last 4 mornings this was the exact way they traveled. It also afforded us great cover that we could kind of mozzy in just in time. The other thing they could do is go the opposite way out to the dairy fields which we would then go run out in front of them. So knowing we were going to set up in the cars I then wondered if we would be calling or have decoys to which my friend told me no decoys at least to start and we'll see if we need to call but I have them patterned pretty good.
We pull in maybe 10min or right as the birds should start to gobble. We sneak in through the maze of farm pins and old equipment and get behind an old GMC turck. This is my buddies favorite rig to hide behind because its parallel to the field edge and has the best windows to look through and see what the birds are doing. The night before we knew which birds where the toms, jakes, or hens and watched each blob eventually fly into the field. While they were popping off we heard another roost that was in the far corner of the field. Good to know. We then proceeded to watch the birds do well about what was expected for them to do. Mill around in the field, jakes fighting each other while the toms showed their stuff. Some birds going to see the other birds and coming back. What appeared to be happening though is the birds were going to work to the dairy field. Then out of nowhere a couple of the birds run back our direction and the one bird leading the way after clearing a large dirt pile obstructing my view was now 35 yards on the other side of the truck. It was a nice long beard. I had ranged multiple items and when he stepped past a old disc rig I readied my gun across the hood of the truck. I know it was a GMC because I had to make sure that I didn't hit the hood ornament sticking off the front. I took my shot and down he fell... much to the pleasure of the jakes that were with him. They immediately started to peck and beat up their fallen bully all to which I am sure he would have been not to pleased about. After a few minutes we walked out to the field to pick up a nice mature 3yo Rio.

Now why this may not be the most glorious of stories my buddy used a tactic that is often lost. He spent multiple mornings (decades) learning exactly what the birds like to do and where the birds like to go where the ambush style of hunting was the way to go off the roost and mind you we were prepared to call etc but it just wasnt needed. The other contributing factor to this hunt is my friend worked with the NWTF and UT F&W for over 30 yrs bringing birds to UT and trap and transplanting them around the state. This particular bird I killed was the kin of a group of Rio's from Amirillo, TX my friend had released 25 years prior. To see them doing so well now this many years later to the point that he traps them from this farm and takes them into public lands was very cool. He stopped counting at 3,029 trapped and transplanted birds. He could have taken me to public land and I hope to go do that with him soon. He actually killed a nice Merriam this morning up on public. I had just told him I was coming to UT to hunt turkeys and this was the hunt and story he wanted to share with me that I will enjoy in its own way. I plan to go back and hunt with him again to hear more of his stories and appreciate the work he has done for UT.

I took the two gentleman out for breakfast and then they needed to go to work. Now, not until my long drive across NV had it crossed my mind that I could be in this situation where I still had 2 days to hunt and CO was "relatively" close. As it was now still only about 8am in the morning I pointed the truck east towards CO on the way stopping to admire more of the beauty of the Rocky west.

The rest of this day and this hunt to be continued.... need to go play dad and get my Soccer team Pictures taken.

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

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[eggshell]

you win the award for best scenery with a gobbler

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

4.28.25 (continued)

I took my time getting over to CO in a sense. Caught up on a couple work calls too. CO wasnt in the plans at all but I had some pins I threw down in '20 the last time I plan to kind of make this loop but was blocked by COVID. An old friend I use to guide with Fly Fishing told me to go to an area that I also had some pins relatively around. So it was one of those I thought this was good eScouting and he just confirmed a starting point. You can see in the above photo that there was some weather in the higher elevations. The trick with this spot I was going to was that it indeed was a turkey mecca but they were protected on this 60k acre ranch that went up the drainage value. The game was to catch them going to public which surrounded the private down low. The problem was that the public was scrub cedars and not the turkeys first choice compared to the ag rich creek bottom they seam to all be hanging out in. I couldnt help myself but to knock on a few doors to see if someone would let me hunt. What was ironic? was every person I talked to that "leased" on said ranch a house or track of land said they wished I could hunt it. One gentleman went as far as to say he would load my truck up with as many as I could take if he could. This same gentleman sent me up the road to a private property that was know for a turkey problem. Talking with this land owner I learned CFW had just trapped 60 birds a month prior off their property and put them on some public across from town. Good to know and keep in mind. I stopped back at another property and this guy was in the same boat of not being able to let me put pointed me to his parents place further up the road. Bingo! We had a land owner that was willing to let me hunt his property and get easier access to the BLM behind it which was less of the cedars and more piney if you will. This seamed promising.
I loaded out of my truck around 5pm and made my way along a skidder he told me was a good place to start though he wasnt sure if there were any around. As I rounded the corner there in the creek bottom was a strutter with several other birds. While making a plan on how to possibly get around on them I watched several cross the creek using a log as a bridge. They seamed to be heading to the next bench so I circled around to hopefully move in on them. The front bird has a good beard and would be the one to make a play on compared to the jakes and hens. This left a strutter and some birds in the bottom. As I was cresting a hump in the road on the bench way sooner than I would have thought there standing in the road was a read head. He had seen me and behind him pops up another red head and another. Now thinking this was the first bird that had the beard I thought about dropping him then and there but also I was only now hunting for maybe 30min and I wanted to be sure he was the Tom or not a jake. I tried to call a little to calm them down which didnt hurt but I never could confirm a beard on the lead bird. They faded up the hill and onto the next bench. I went to the edge to look at the other birds that were still there and decided I would try to circle around on these birds as they would gobble up the hill.
Making a large loop I got up to the top with no luck. I spotted 9 hens in the field below and as I just watched up there and listen eventually those 9 hens became 16 birds. I could not see a beard on any but could see the jake pack. Having watched them walk down to the creek bottom I thought they had gone to roost and marked some trees. I started to peel off the mountain and made it about a third of the way down when I spotted the three jakes on the middle skid road. I sat down. Then over the next 15-20 min all 16 birds came between 8-20yds of me and flew up to their roost... I was pinned. Confident there wasnt a long beard here but not wanting to stir the birds up I waited until it was dark-ish to stand up and peel out. The positive to all this was I could hear a tom back behind me around the hill I was sitting on.
Once to the bottom I set up the runoff creek and old skidder trail from the fire towards about where I thought that tom was and began to hoot. He fired off and triggered another tom even further back. Both were on the BLM and both I had a good idea where about they were. Now it was just going to come down to which roost I wanted to make a play on in the morning.

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

4.29.25

I got out of my truck about 1.5 hours before sunrise. Where these birds were there was not a lot of cover per say as it was a burn area from a couple years back. I wanted to give myself a half hour to navigate up near the roost and be seated a good hour before sunrise. Debating hard through the night I elected to go for the middle roost as that gobbler was very load the night before and I was somewhat more certain as to what cluster of trees he was in. I plan to walk up on an old cow trail where I didnt need a head lamp and when I got adjacent to the ridge he was on I would scramble up and set up somewhere on top. I made it about 80% up the hill and as I am looking back towards the valley I make out the outline of two turkeys in a tree via the star light. No moon but something I also learned that caught me off guard is like the birds the night before these birds were roosted in a tree that was lifeless burnt from the fire of the past. Ignoring my knowledge of where I thought the bird was I back tracked to within 100 yards of that roost adjacent where there was a good open clearing. I sat down and got comfortable. As light began to illuminate my surroundings I felt these birds were not the gobbler I was looking for and was reassured of this as he gobbled beyond them a little around the null. In front of me was a jake and a bearded hen. Pinned down I stayed put and gave out a couple tree yelps still. Eventually the jake pitched off down the valley and my heart kind of sank as I thought they must all want to go that way. Instead however the tom came to the ridge I was going to set up on. The hen hopped down from her tree and joined him. I am also somewhat convinced the Tom further back has joined them on this ridge. With no clear move to make I stay still calling here and there but they fade off in the distance. If I had sat where I turned around they would have walked within 20 yds and if I had sat where I wanted to they probably would have stepped on me. Such is the game.
After a good bit I had a fair sense of the direction they were headed to and made an attempt at a big loop around them. I never could get in front of them and eventually they gave it up... letting me know where they were. I did a sweep back to the truck wanting to go by the other roost to understand the lay of the land there for later this evening or the next morning. What I found is something of a turkey highway. From about where I had that roost pinned down the skidder road was nothing but tracks, strut marks, you name it. If the bird roosted there again, this would be my spot in the morning. Heck I might set up here on this evening to cut them off to the roost.
Getting back to the mid skid road I got to a point where I could look over the field below. 8 hens. I sat and debated about my next move when a ninth bird appeared, surely the other hen. Nope, it was a long beard! I could see it from 1/2 of a mile away. New plan was to drop down to the creek and use the high banks to close the distance to them in the field. Working slowly I got to a point where I needed to make up about 100yds but they had come down the field enough and how the bank eroded I was pin. I watched 3 jakes cross the creek back to where I cam from and eventually the hens went that way too. However, now there was two longbeards doing there own thing. I proceeded to push a decoy out and call lightly. They liked that and began to make it my way. They had to go up the field around where a good chunk of the bank had eroded and for whatever reason got smart and faded up to the road and into the cedars across it. I made a break for the fence line and as I got to probably about 60yds one of the horses came over to great me. This caused somewhat of a commotion and I was made. They had the higher ground so I figured the best for me to do was to back out and make a new plan.
I elected to go back to town to get some more water, again check in on work, and even venture maybe over to that public where the trap and transplant went down. I was really burning a little time. I'm terrible at sitting for more than an hour let alone the 3-5hrs I planned for when I got back. Over the last afternoon-evening-morning I had watched all the birds repeatedly cross the creek at the log or near the log. So I figured I go back in around 3pm and just post up there until I would move up to the one roost. Not seeing anything of too much interest I began the journey back up the valley. I was no more than a mile from the area I had been hunting when there 100yds off the road was a tom strutting for his ladies and another tom edging in for what time he could get with them too. Seeing the landowner outside I swung in.
Me: "Hey Boss, how are you doing this afternoon"
L.O.: "I'm no Boss"
Me: "Well you can be my Boss anytime Sir"
L.O.: "I've been a Boss far too long and don't care to be one again"
I got out of my truck and shook his hand.
L.O.: " I suppose you are going to ask if you can hunt turkeys:
Me: Looking down at my boots, over all the camo I was wearing, and back up to the gentleman "Well I wouldn't say I'm dressed for it now am I?"
L.O.: "I have a buddy coming up this afternoon to try to shoot his first turkey so I don't know."
Me: "I drove up here from WA to shoot a turkey...." with a smile
L.O.: "Well then you better go shoot one of them"
I as I got my stuff ready the landowner admired my seriousness for the task at hand. He commented on how serious I was about this looking over my camo, calls, decoys, etc. Its a common theme out west where Elk and Mule deer are prevalent, why would someone try be so serious about turkey? Not to mention when they have as many birds as they have all the time it doesn't seam like a hunt to them. I proceeded to the edge of the buildings that put me about 200yds away. I then crawled down into the creek and ever so slowly edged my way up to where I was no more than 60yds from the birds. I pushed a laydown hen decoy over the edge and prr'd very softly. The subordinate tom seeing an opportunity made a break for the waiting hen. As he approached 30 steps I took my shot and down he went. I very cautiously gathered my bird and backed out to see the L.O.
We exchanged pleasantries for a good 20min. I assured him I had left the big one for his friend to which I then learned he owned the property down the road where I saw a bunch of birds. The one where the son lived that told me to talk to the parents Id been hunting around the night before and that morning. He was happy that I got a bird and he could tell by the smile on my face. We talked politics and religion agreeing on almost everything. Where we really really connected was on the importance of God in our lives and family first. I'm blessed and I know that. I love my wife and my kids but most of all I love God. Getting to opportunity to go on a trip like this, add an extra state, make a new friend or two, and just enjoy the warmth of spring humble me every time.
Now what was somewhat impressive is that I killed this bird within 800yds of a pin I dropped back in '20. I have no doubt I could have played the game a little longer and found a bird on public land too. They were everywhere and up as far as I was in the watershed they were as present on public as private. The hike to get around to the public where they were was the biggest barrier if you could call it one at all.
According to Google I could be back in SE WA in by sunrise.... so the long haul home began. IF I could find a Rio, I could complete my WA Slam and IF I could find a Rio I could put the rest of my season into family and friends. Not saying I wouldn't anyways but it would certainly help me not think about it.

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

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[avidnwoutdoorsman]

4.30.25

Now I said my google said that I could make it by sunrise but I can tell you personally I was running somewhere between Empty and on Fumes. I pulled over somewhere in ID and laid my seat back for a quick nap that put me into "huntable" area around 6am. Now the problem was I was going to drive through a bunch of turkey country at gobble-30 that yes it got the best of me and I checked on a few spots to confirm or deny my thoughts and hopes of other places to hunt turkey in NE OR. Still though I got to the town that marked turkey country a little past 6am and as I went up to the first Feel Free to Hunt (FF2H) area and looked over the field what would you know but 3 turkeys out in the middle of the field. I pull over an suit up making a plan on how to get to said birds. As I walk the edge of the field out of site I come upon a hen that I carefully move away and then another hen I carefully move away and finally I get to sub 400yds of these birds. Getting my binos out I dont see any signs of a gobbler. Doing some call checks there are no gobbles to be had. I back out and proceed to the next spot. Now that I am back in my home state there are several places for me to check out. Semi speed hunting my plan is to go to small parcel after small parcel and see if I can strike up an eager bird. It was also in the back of my mind that being sub 4 hours from home I could probably get some brownie points if I made it home for dinner... or at least bed time. Though I could also get in the dog house and just hunt all day and off the roost in the morning.
Next spot... nothing
Next spot... nothing
Next spot... Gobbles!! In fact there are two birds. One at my 1030 at about 600yds and the other at my 130 at about 500yds. I gather my things and boogey down to the tree line. I nestle in to a tree and wait a few minutes. I then begin a varying call sequence but nothing responds. I am almost in the middle of these two birds and from where last heard I should be only a couple-few hundered yards away. After a long bit with no response I decide to move towards the right bird. Trying to work him up I get a bird to gobble even farther off but on private... maybe its him. I circle back to the left bird but nothing. I sit back down near my original spot and call some more. Impatiently I get up and head back to the truck. My mistake was (I think) that after striking the birds I proceeded right at them. When I should have drove off and parked somewhere else then made a strategic play back to where they were. It was an open shot from where my truck was to the tree line. They likely came to see what was up or were closer than I thought and picked me off trying to get to them.
Next spot... nothing
Next spot ... nothing
Next spot... was told the birds had pushed up into the hills very early this year and I should try a gate or two in the hills. Driving back in there I felt the fumes fade and I actually got to the gate, tipped my seat back again and just napped. I was exhausted. When I woke up it was now about noon. I went for a little walk calling here and there but never struck up a bird.
Now it was in the back of my mind to go for plan C which was I could chase a Rio later as we still had a month of season left but I should still be on the lookout on my way home. Taking a bit of a detour here and a detour there I was seeing birds out and about but no where I could hunt. I was passing by my "last hope" if you will when I notice a turkey looking object in the field across the river not far from the road. I back up and confirm its a hen. I stop the truck and let out the most annoying yelp I possibly can. Gobble! Now fortunate for me is this spot forces you to go the long way around as the river is not crossable. So I turn the the truck around and drive around to a parking area where I can access the other side of the river. Over a mile away from the bird I cut the distance so I'm at the peninsula this bird was on. Its only 240 yds across and I'm figuring he's about 400yds away still. I let out a much more intent full series of yelps and he gobbles towards the point. Now I dont want to get busted because if he flies across the river I'm done so I begin the delicate sneak toward his general direction. There is good tall grass and some shrubs that cover is decent. As I've now cut the distance in half my next cluck brings a gobble much closer. He's decided I dont need to come all the way too him. I sit down facing the direction he should come from and a few minutes later I see the top of his fan. Then his head. I cluck to get him to pick up his head and down he falls.
Now I can't begin to tell you the fortunate series of events that got me to this point. I had just killed 5 birds in 5 states in 5 days. Straight line driving from pin to pin was 3000mi. I took this last bird on FF2H land where I had found birds 3 years prior. I haven't shot a bird in SE WA in several years as I had been hunting Rios in a more northern part of the state. I was relieved, filled with grace, a little sad as my season might all be over as the shooter, but grateful for such a crazy good hunt and trip. I loaded up the bird and turned west... oh and I made it home to say prayer with my girls and tuck everyone into bed.
God is good.

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

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[avidnwoutdoorsman]

5.3.25

My daughters had been chomping at the bit to go back out turkey hunting. That was one of the thoughts in the back of my mind hunting earlier in the week, was that if I could knock off my last Washington bird then I would likely focus on my girls and getting them on more turkeys. Not to mention the hunting you do with a kid is a tad more relaxed than when you are solo trying to get things done. Also, its just really fun to take kids out, especially your kids out. Now what I didnt know was that my wife was going to be so willing to let me take them out! When I left the weekend prior she didnt have a voice and on the day of my return E had been mostly sick. I want to say that she even stayed home from school on Friday and yes she ended up in our bed Friday night. Though I got A out of bed in the morning and told her to go give Mom a kiss good bye it became very evident that E was not happy or more sad that she wasnt going to be able to go. I told Mom, heck with it, I'll bring the portable seat and we'll see what happens. Now, I'm not the type of dad that is raising my girls to be "tom boys" or "boyish". We love unicorns and having tea parties but yes, they spend a lot of time with me outside. Scouting for turkeys, chasing pheasants, hunting big game, fishing, camping... all the things our kids should be doing. Getting outside. Skipping rocks on the river, climbing slash piles that are a pretend campsite, digging in the garden, picking black berries in the neighborhood or huckleberries in the mountains... I fully support my girls in being girls with dolls, gymnastics, and dress up, but I also fully encourage them to come outside and do outside things with me. So far, I am very blessed, that they love to go outside. On our first turkey scouting trip this season A asked "when is Bear hunting?" because she wants to go out and find a bear with me.
Anyways we hit the road at about 1:30am or there about. The property we were going to has a some good oaks that the birds in the area like to roost on. Its only about a 5 acre property and the top half is where they like to roost. I wanted to get in early enough that I could go set up the blind, chairs, tripod, and decoys while still pitch black out and then bring the girls up quitely a half hour before dawn. The ground is a golf course. I think the LO mows it even. We did have to take one pit stop on the way so E could relieve herself but we made good time and I got everything set up just as planned. Now consideration 2 was that the birds like to roost in a big oak at the top top or another big oak above the house. Last year we set up on the oak near the house but my intel said the birds like the top of the property and that was even where they were to be roosted.
As light begins to shine a gobble rings out in the oak near the house... shoots maybe we should have set up there. Another group of jakes light up 200 yds out front, and another Tom back on the powerlines and another by the creek and another. In total I counted over a half dozen roost with 2-3 birds in all of them within a half mile. E was dead asleep in her chair looking like she was about to snap her neck if she leaned it back any further. The shooter, A, was up, alert, and ready. Just before sun up the Tom down the hill pitched down towards us to where I could see about half of him. He was less than 40 yds, gobbling and strutting away. Problem was I had put E in that corner of the blind. So I would have to wake her up and shuffle the blind windows to try to get A set up. I elected to wait and see if the bird would make his way up into our setup as is. After several minutes of gobbling and strutting he faded off. Now I'll mention my decoy spread because it was strategic and elaborate to an extent. Out 10 yds from the blind was a strutting jake decoy facing away with a laydown hen in front. To the right of that a few yards was a 1/4 strut jake facing down the hill to the right. Beyond the jake was an upright hen in the trees with the acorns. I know this bird had to see some of these decoys but where he was maybe he didnt. He faded off and down below the house and to the right.
Not being picky as I was hunting with my kids we stayed tight. E took A's chair and made it face hers so she could put her feet up and go back to sleep. A sat on the ground with me an eventually snuggled in half a sleep. I kept at it. Clucking, prrring, scratching, yelping in various sequences spaced out appropriately to not be calling too much but hoping to get someones attention. At one point it seamed like the hens and jakes were coming but they never really showed up. Then about an hour later behind and above us at about our 8 o clock a gobble ripped out. Then a little closer he ripped out again. I called and again he responded. A and I peered over and there he was just cresting the hill in the powerlines/road/neighbors. A little more calling he responded with a few more steps and a gobble. Eventually you could see he was committed. I stood A up and got her ready on the gun... this of course woke E up who we have to tell to be quite as she is somewhat startled. As I am getting A all lined up and comfortable I hear that oh so sweet noise of a spit drum behind our blind. I turn to see the one bird coming still over my left shoulder... he didn't do that... and as I turn to my right here is another long beard on a jog to my jake decoy. He does a flying karate kick which gets the left bird to run and get his strokes in and all chaos breaks out for the next couple minutes. My jake is well beaten into the ground, I think they took a passing swipe at the hen, and now were messing with my strutter, which was perfect as this was a straight shot for A. She gets lined up, I tell her she can pull the trigger when she is ready, CLICK! Are you kidding me! I know I loaded it. I tell A to reset the hammer again thinking that maybe it get didnt pull back all the way, pulled back correctly, or the safety blocked it or something. She lines up her shot again, CLICK. Oh, she is aiming at the bird standing and heckling the bird that is laying on my laydown hen. Chaos out of the blind, chaos in the blind. Screw it, we eject the shell, reload and she lines up for a third time. She puts the bead on the bird and drops him stone dead.
Now when we took that bathroom stop on the way up I had prepped the girls that there would be a chance that a couple birds would come in. That if A shot a bird we needed to be quite and slowly switch E over to the gun. My girls remembered this and were actually super focused on it. A waives E over, another shell is loaded in the gun, E lines up her shot which is a little trickier as the second bird is whopping up A's bird. Though A's bird stops rolling for a moment and the second bird is kind of hoovering over when boom. Down goes bird number 2!
To say I was over the moon would be an understatement. I would have traded my whole season for this morning. E being a trooper to come hunt. A, patiently waiting as a bird was there but then not. Having a heck of a show in the decoys. I was speechless. Actually out of breath. The video I took of the girls walking out to their birds, I am panting like a hot dog. Wife laughed at me.
After a couple photos and there not seaming to be any birds currently around (I let out a good loud shock yelp or two). I told the girls we better get to packing so we could go see Mom and make her happy because we could probably be home by lunch. The girls instantly took off to the playset when I had to ask them to at least pack their chairs down the hill to the truck. They made it to the swing set were they spent at least the first trip playing there. I had a total of 3... maybe 4 trips to make. I wasnt in too much of a rush and was sharing the moment with Mom and friends. Almost a good hour later when we were finally packed up I was shutting the bed cover to my truck when a gobble rang out up above. I knew almost exactly where this bird was and there was a chance I could cut him off or bring him too. I gathered one girl off the fence lined and took them both to the front yard. They had my binos and were having a lot of fun. I told them to keep it down a little and that I was going to try to go get the bird up the hill. If they needed me bad to holler and they could watch me too. The bird obviously didnt mind all that we were already doing. I unpacked their .410 and a strutter decoy and ran up the hill. Getting to about where the hill would crest I gave out a soft yelp and bingo he was right where I thought him to be. I inched out a little further and set the decoy down and backed up a bit. Soon I could see his head and he wasnt excited about the decoy. He came running in and I dropped him at 20 steps. When I got up he was laying right where the girls birds had fallen too. I was just set up opposite. So I dont know if I shock gobbled him or he was coming to that sweet calling he heard go quite or what.
However, I was elated as now my girls and I had all got a bird together on the same day. My 8th bird of the season, E's 2nd bird and A's first bird. It was all smiles and laughs and naps the whole way home. I let the girls get a hashbrown from McD's and eventually Cheetos at another bathroom break.
I know for sure we will get our Memorial weekend... see if we can get out before then too. Until then good luck to the rest of you as you work through these May birds.

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

Girls Hooks

My hook


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[JeffC]

Congratulations on a great season with great stories and pictures, best thing as you said, memories with your kids!!

[YoungGobbler]

4.28.25

The morning of the hunt we got up and loaded into my truck. His friend came along too to help watch birds and give us some more calling options. I had asked the night before how we were going to hunt said birds... every morning they fly down into a brown dirt field and your options where to set up on a far edge from the birds or under there roost... I thought. What I didnt account for was the large collection of old cars that were rusting away in the Utah valley as another option. This happen to be one of two direction these birds liked to travel and at least the last 4 mornings this was the exact way they traveled. It also afforded us great cover that we could kind of mozzy in just in time. The other thing they could do is go the opposite way out to the dairy fields which we would then go run out in front of them. So knowing we were going to set up in the cars I then wondered if we would be calling or have decoys to which my friend told me no decoys at least to start and we'll see if we need to call but I have them patterned pretty good.
We pull in maybe 10min or right as the birds should start to gobble. We sneak in through the maze of farm pins and old equipment and get behind an old GMC turck. This is my buddies favorite rig to hide behind because its parallel to the field edge and has the best windows to look through and see what the birds are doing. The night before we knew which birds where the toms, jakes, or hens and watched each blob eventually fly into the field. While they were popping off we heard another roost that was in the far corner of the field. Good to know. We then proceeded to watch the birds do well about what was expected for them to do. Mill around in the field, jakes fighting each other while the toms showed their stuff. Some birds going to see the other birds and coming back. What appeared to be happening though is the birds were going to work to the dairy field. Then out of nowhere a couple of the birds run back our direction and the one bird leading the way after clearing a large dirt pile obstructing my view was now 35 yards on the other side of the truck. It was a nice long beard. I had ranged multiple items and when he stepped past a old disc rig I readied my gun across the hood of the truck. I know it was a GMC because I had to make sure that I didn't hit the hood ornament sticking off the front. I took my shot and down he fell... much to the pleasure of the jakes that were with him. They immediately started to peck and beat up their fallen bully all to which I am sure he would have been not to pleased about. After a few minutes we walked out to the field to pick up a nice mature 3yo Rio.

Now why this may not be the most glorious of stories my buddy used a tactic that is often lost. He spent multiple mornings (decades) learning exactly what the birds like to do and where the birds like to go where the ambush style of hunting was the way to go off the roost and mind you we were prepared to call etc but it just wasnt needed. The other contributing factor to this hunt is my friend worked with the NWTF and UT F&W for over 30 yrs bringing birds to UT and trap and transplanting them around the state. This particular bird I killed was the kin of a group of Rio's from Amirillo, TX my friend had released 25 years prior. To see them doing so well now this many years later to the point that he traps them from this farm and takes them into public lands was very cool. He stopped counting at 3,029 trapped and transplanted birds. He could have taken me to public land and I hope to go do that with him soon. He actually killed a nice Merriam this morning up on public. I had just told him I was coming to UT to hunt turkeys and this was the hunt and story he wanted to share with me that I will enjoy in its own way. I plan to go back and hunt with him again to hear more of his stories and appreciate the work he has done for UT.

I took the two gentleman out for breakfast and then they needed to go to work. Now, not until my long drive across NV had it crossed my mind that I could be in this situation where I still had 2 days to hunt and CO was "relatively" close. As it was now still only about 8am in the morning I pointed the truck east towards CO on the way stopping to admire more of the beauty of the Rocky west.

The rest of this day and this hunt to be continued.... need to go play dad and get my Soccer team Pictures taken.

A nice ambush hunt is a good hunt in my books...