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Now in my second year of retirement, I am starting to get the hang of it. When somebody asks if I want to go on a hunt, I check my calendar to see if I have a scheduling conflict and if not, I now commit without much internal debate. Just go for it!
Three of us, all retired old guys, headed out early Monday morning for the 10 hour drive to Kansas. We will be hunting about an hour northwest of Wichita, just north of Lyons. Our leader, Bill, is a passionate turkey hunter and was attempting his grand slam (Eastern, Merriam, Osceola and Rio Grande) in the same season. Bill already had his Osceola and Merriam and we were hunting the Rios in Kansas. Myself and the other hunter in our group were turkey rookies. I did take one turkey about 40 years ago, with a 30-06, while deer hunting in the Texas Hill Country.
We were hunting with Phire Creek Outdoors. They take two groups a week, a Tuesday-Thursday group and a Friday -Sunday group. They provide guides, transportation in the field and lodging, but no meals. So we did breakfast and dinner on our own in the very nice lodge and did lunch at a diner in town. In addition to our group of three, there was a father/son group from North Dakota. This filled the lodge, which has 5 bedrooms and two full bathrooms.
Day 1 of hunting was Tuesday, May 3. The weather forecast looked good for the first day, but 90% chance of rain for Day 2 and 3. If we were going to get a turkey or two, it most likely needed to be on Day 1. We were told to be ready to leave the lodge by 5am. Legal shooting is around 6am and we had a 20 minute or so drive to the area we were going to hunt. After parking the truck, we loaded up and had an easy 10 minute walk to where we set up. We nestled our turkey lounge chairs into a smallish cedar tree which was located near a fence line with some tall native grass. Within 30 minutes we were hearing gobbles and our guide, Robbie, struck up a conversation with them using his turkey call. Around 7:30, 4 hens came in and we could see some toms approaching. Robbie was standing in the back of the cedar tree and had a better view. Robbie would whisper to get ready. Two toms came in and I let them walk pass me so that my hunting partner would have a shot. A third tom appeared and was 30-40 yards, straight in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my hunting partner raising his shotgun and drawing a bead. I brought my gun up and fired and hit my turkey. My buddy didn't fire, so I turned from my 12 o'clock position to about 10 o'clock and lined up another tom that was just about to get airborne. I fired and missed. My friend never fired and we chalked it up to poor communication. We really hadn't discussed a plan, so I told him when he had a shot, take it and I would follow.
This photo shows the small cedar tree we used as a blind and the relatively short 30-40 yard shot I had.
The father/son group got three turkeys in the morning hunt.
After lunch in town and a short nap, we headed back to the same location around 4 pm. Legal shooting ends close to 9pm. We had a bunch of turkeys working around us, but no shot opportunities. At 7:30 pm, Bill sent us a text and had scored a double. He now had 3/4th of his slam. The father/son team also added a turkey in their evening hunt, so a total of 7 turkeys from 5 hunters on Day 1.
Day 2, May 4. We lucked out on the rain, the forecast pushed it back to late morning. We basically did a repeat of Day 1 and within an 30-45 minutes, turkeys were working around us. Hens were 20-40 yards right in front of us, but the 2 toms stayed far off and never presented a good shot opportunity. We watched them walk off into the creek bottom and then up a hill on the opposite side. While watching them, I thought I saw a cow walking through the wooded area, but it turned out to be a very large deer. Our guide estimated it to be north of 300 lbs. Pretty impressive sight! More deer appeared and soon we were watching about 8 of them for 20 minutes or so. A few gobbles brought us back to the business at hand. The toms had circled around and were coming back our way. At about 40 yards, my buddy drew a bead and made a nice hit on the tom. Shortly afterwards, the rain came and we called it a day.
Day 3, May 5 was heavy rain, so we decided to pack up a little early and do the 10 hour drive home in daylight. Excellent hunt and seriously thinking about making this an annual event. Lots of fun and great memories!
Three of us, all retired old guys, headed out early Monday morning for the 10 hour drive to Kansas. We will be hunting about an hour northwest of Wichita, just north of Lyons. Our leader, Bill, is a passionate turkey hunter and was attempting his grand slam (Eastern, Merriam, Osceola and Rio Grande) in the same season. Bill already had his Osceola and Merriam and we were hunting the Rios in Kansas. Myself and the other hunter in our group were turkey rookies. I did take one turkey about 40 years ago, with a 30-06, while deer hunting in the Texas Hill Country.
We were hunting with Phire Creek Outdoors. They take two groups a week, a Tuesday-Thursday group and a Friday -Sunday group. They provide guides, transportation in the field and lodging, but no meals. So we did breakfast and dinner on our own in the very nice lodge and did lunch at a diner in town. In addition to our group of three, there was a father/son group from North Dakota. This filled the lodge, which has 5 bedrooms and two full bathrooms.
Day 1 of hunting was Tuesday, May 3. The weather forecast looked good for the first day, but 90% chance of rain for Day 2 and 3. If we were going to get a turkey or two, it most likely needed to be on Day 1. We were told to be ready to leave the lodge by 5am. Legal shooting is around 6am and we had a 20 minute or so drive to the area we were going to hunt. After parking the truck, we loaded up and had an easy 10 minute walk to where we set up. We nestled our turkey lounge chairs into a smallish cedar tree which was located near a fence line with some tall native grass. Within 30 minutes we were hearing gobbles and our guide, Robbie, struck up a conversation with them using his turkey call. Around 7:30, 4 hens came in and we could see some toms approaching. Robbie was standing in the back of the cedar tree and had a better view. Robbie would whisper to get ready. Two toms came in and I let them walk pass me so that my hunting partner would have a shot. A third tom appeared and was 30-40 yards, straight in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my hunting partner raising his shotgun and drawing a bead. I brought my gun up and fired and hit my turkey. My buddy didn't fire, so I turned from my 12 o'clock position to about 10 o'clock and lined up another tom that was just about to get airborne. I fired and missed. My friend never fired and we chalked it up to poor communication. We really hadn't discussed a plan, so I told him when he had a shot, take it and I would follow.
This photo shows the small cedar tree we used as a blind and the relatively short 30-40 yard shot I had.
The father/son group got three turkeys in the morning hunt.
After lunch in town and a short nap, we headed back to the same location around 4 pm. Legal shooting ends close to 9pm. We had a bunch of turkeys working around us, but no shot opportunities. At 7:30 pm, Bill sent us a text and had scored a double. He now had 3/4th of his slam. The father/son team also added a turkey in their evening hunt, so a total of 7 turkeys from 5 hunters on Day 1.
Day 2, May 4. We lucked out on the rain, the forecast pushed it back to late morning. We basically did a repeat of Day 1 and within an 30-45 minutes, turkeys were working around us. Hens were 20-40 yards right in front of us, but the 2 toms stayed far off and never presented a good shot opportunity. We watched them walk off into the creek bottom and then up a hill on the opposite side. While watching them, I thought I saw a cow walking through the wooded area, but it turned out to be a very large deer. Our guide estimated it to be north of 300 lbs. Pretty impressive sight! More deer appeared and soon we were watching about 8 of them for 20 minutes or so. A few gobbles brought us back to the business at hand. The toms had circled around and were coming back our way. At about 40 yards, my buddy drew a bead and made a nice hit on the tom. Shortly afterwards, the rain came and we called it a day.
Day 3, May 5 was heavy rain, so we decided to pack up a little early and do the 10 hour drive home in daylight. Excellent hunt and seriously thinking about making this an annual event. Lots of fun and great memories!
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