Coldest turkey hunt

[POk3s]

You guys are too quiet. Need some chatter as I await April 21st

Reading MossyGuy's story about his "cold" turkey hunt got my thinking about my cold turkey hunts and then of course wondering about yours? We all prefer it sunny and warm but that doesn't always happen.

Now as for me, I KNOW the thermometer read 10 degrees when I parked the truck. I was lucky I killed hills shortly after flydown and was also lucky I brought all the winter gear.




I can't remember if the second morning was actually colder or if the turkey acted different. I sat under him forever with freezing feet making it a miserable sit. The gobbler just sat up there with his head tucked down, barely protruding from his body. Then, some dudes parked right by my truck, walked my exact path, and blew him off the tree. I relocated and killed a different gobbler mid morning after it had warmed up some.

[GobbleNut]

Us western guys that hunt the high mountain country just have to accept that we will be COLD most mornings.     Can't say that I know what the coldest has been, but it is a regular occurrence here that we will wake up to temps in the teens...and I suspect there has been a time or two when it hit single digits.

One learns pretty quickly to "layer up" and have an inkling of the importance of "sweat control" in those early morning hours. Sitting against a tree in the pre-dawn dark after working up a sweat climbing a mountain when the temps are in that range will give new meaning to the term "miserable".

Still, after all these years, there are mornings when that message has apparently escaped me yet again.   

[Mossyguy]

It has been pretty quiet here lately...

The coldest hunt I've ever been on was when I lived in Kentucky. The year was 2007 and my parents came to visit as I was a Drill Sergeant on Fort Knox.

We woke up that morning to a brisk 19 degrees...and this was the first week of April I believe. We got on a gobbler about an hour after daylight that was hammering on the other side of a small creek in an oak bottom. I had to carry my dad across it on my back as his boots weren't quite tall enough. We ended up hiding behind a big blown down oak tree and called the bird right by us.

The most memorable part of that hunt was the fact that I had to carry my dad across the creek on my back. I was finally able to return the favor for all the times he carried me..

[Yoder409]

This one time..........in Nebraska.....

[POk3s]

Yoder, I have a feeling that was the same time I was there. (Second pic/second story above).They called it a 100 year storm and I showed up just after it stopped. I planned to camp, but got a hotel. Was happy to only have to pay for one night.

[Yoder409]

Yoder, I have a feeling that was the same time I was there. (Second pic/second story above).They called it a 100 year storm and I showed up just after it stopped. I planned to camp, but got a hotel. Was happy to only have to pay for one night.

Yep. 

We flew into Chadron from Denver the first day Chadron airport was open after the "Blizzard of the Century".  Flew in with a lady whose daughter had died in the blizzard.

Was gonna hunt 5 days.  We ended up running for our lives at 5 AM the 3rd morning ahead of the next 15" of snow that was coming.

[nyturkeyduster]

I hunted Nebraska in 2021 with POk3s where the temperature swung 80 degrees in about 8 hours. When the alarm went off that morning, in was in the mid teens and by early afternoon it was 94 degrees and miserable.

I've been involved in a handful of hunts here in the northeast where we had snow but that's seldom. I prefer the chilly hunts, I hate the heat.

[POk3s]

I hunted Nebraska in 2021 with POk3s where the temperature swung 80 degrees in about 8 hours. When the alarm went off that morning, in was in the mid teens and by early afternoon it was 94 degrees and miserable.

I've been involved in a handful of hunts here in the northeast where we had snow but that's seldom. I prefer the chilly hunts, I hate the heat.

One of the nuttier days I've had as well..I just didn't remember it being that cold...but I've had too many days start in the teens!

If I remember right, the next morning was hot and humid, wiping water off of everything!

[nyturkeyduster]

When it got hot, we broke camp and headed north.

[POk3s]

When it got hot, we broke camp and headed north.

Okay you crazy bast***, I had to go rewatch videos and look at pics to make sure I wasn't nuts. One of those mornings was cold, unsure which one as I didn't video it. But on our last day morning it was warm and muggy. I videoed all the water on my truck from the hot humid air. And then we headed north that day. It was either the morning before, or the morning before that that was cold. I want to say we said we had an 80 degree swing in a little over 24 hours. Could probably go back and look at the weather if I was motivated enough.

The other possibility is that it went from teens to 90 degrees the day before, but we ended up giving it one more morning and broke camp.

One of the two.

https://youtu.be/nyoRX53erI8?si=DgauTx7KBi9vfrWB

[TauntoHawk]

Yoder, I have a feeling that was the same time I was there. (Second pic/second story above).They called it a 100 year storm and I showed up just after it stopped. I planned to camp, but got a hotel. Was happy to only have to pay for one night.

Yep. 

We flew into Chadron from Denver the first day Chadron airport was open after the "Blizzard of the Century".  Flew in with a lady whose daughter had died in the blizzard.

Was gonna hunt 5 days.  We ended up running for our lives at 5 AM the 3rd morning ahead of the next 15" of snow that was coming.

I was supposed to hunt out there that year as well. At the last second I pivoted and went south to the Carolinas instead.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[Yoder409]

Yoder, I have a feeling that was the same time I was there. (Second pic/second story above).They called it a 100 year storm and I showed up just after it stopped. I planned to camp, but got a hotel. Was happy to only have to pay for one night.

Yep. 

We flew into Chadron from Denver the first day Chadron airport was open after the "Blizzard of the Century".  Flew in with a lady whose daughter had died in the blizzard.

Was gonna hunt 5 days.  We ended up running for our lives at 5 AM the 3rd morning ahead of the next 15" of snow that was coming.

I was supposed to hunt out there that year as well. At the last second I pivoted and went south to the Carolinas instead.

You done GOOD !!!