Hunting Turks in The Mountains.

[Ugly Sauce]

Not much luck hunting the State Land near my house, so I took the long drive up to the mountains, North Eastern Washington State. Did call in one gobbler, but I think he was closer than I thought, and must have seen me put up my decoy. Wonderful day in the mountains, great weather, (too great, got hot) and explored some new territory. Took my Great-Grand-daddies' double, with a Turkey load in one barrel, and a .690" ball in the other, in case of Grizz. And my latest small game gun went for her first hunt, the Colt Model 1862. And of course the "Jungle Commando" was on my right leg. Still patchy snow on the ground.

 

[jmr40]

My wife and I have traveled quite a bit, but have never made it to any of the states bordering the Pacific. I've been in all of them 1 state to the east. I will eventually get there, from what I've seen it appears to be beautiful country.

I live in the foothills of NW GA, but do spend quite a bit of time hunting deer and black bear in the mountains of north central GA and north east GA. I often see turkey there during the fall, but turkey is spring only in GA. I've been tempted to travel to those mountains for turkey, but one of the better areas for public land turkey is only 15 minutes from the house. It's kinda hard to justify a 2 hour drive and climb mountains when there are more birds 15 minutes away.

 

[Olon]

I went out on state land this weekend and the first day was frustrating. A jake was 10 yards out of range and headed my way when a group of 3 (including a kid of probably 11 or 12) came traipsing down the middle of the corn field (on a ridge) and chased him off. These are the same folks who showed up 45 min after shooting light and took the same path right down the middle of the field Since when was it a winning strategy to run down a turkey in plain sight??

The second day was better because barely anybody was out. Heard a few gobbles but couldn't get them to come in. I still very much enjoyed being out there as the weather was perfect and it was quiet.

That spot gets pressured pretty heavily so I'm planning on trying some new areas now.

OP, those are some beautiful guns; glad you seemed to enjoy a good hunt even if you didn't bring home a gobbler.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

My wife and I have traveled quite a bit, but have never made it to any of the states bordering the Pacific. I've been in all of them 1 state to the east. I will eventually get there, from what I've seen it appears to be beautiful country.

I live in the foothills of NW GA, but do spend quite a bit of time hunting deer and black bear in the mountains of north central GA and north east GA. I often see turkey there during the fall, but turkey is spring only in GA. I've been tempted to travel to those mountains for turkey, but one of the better areas for public land turkey is only 15 minutes from the house. It's kinda hard to justify a 2 hour drive and climb mountains when there are more birds 15 minutes away.

I live about five minutes from state land with plenty of turks, but I tried them two days and they just were not gobbling. So going to the mountains, about 1 hour and 40 minutes away, was worth it. I wanted to see how far up the roads were passable, and explore a trail that goes forever and I never get to the end of it. Still didn't, road was passable to where I wanted to go, but not much further, and at least I got to hear one gobble! I sure kicked myself for not taking a chain saw, lots of trees down on the road. But luckily someone else had been up, and "kind of" cleared them with a saw. And the old Jeep Cherokee (1998) got around everything, and through some patches of snow. I love the mountains and it was a great excuse to go up North for the day.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I went out on state land this weekend and the first day was frustrating. A jake was 10 yards out of range and headed my way when a group of 3 (including a kid of probably 11 or 12) came traipsing down the middle of the corn field (on a ridge) and chased him off. These are the same folks who showed up 45 min after shooting light and took the same path right down the middle of the field Since when was it a winning strategy to run down a turkey in plain sight??

The second day was better because barely anybody was out. Heard a few gobbles but couldn't get them to come in. I still very much enjoyed being out there as the weather was perfect and it was quiet.

That spot gets pressured pretty heavily so I'm planning on trying some new areas now.

OP, those are some beautiful guns; glad you seemed to enjoy a good hunt even if you didn't bring home a gobbler.

Thanks! I love them guns. For sure, it's no never-mind to me if I "catch" anything or not, and the worst day in the mountains is....well you know. My state land isn't getting hunted much this spring. We always pass it going to and from our nearest small town, and can keep pretty good track as to how much it does, or does not get hunted. Changes year to year. Just a few others besides myself this year. Yep, one can sure observe some bozos out in the woods sometimes. What really burns me is finding trash, pop cans, candy wrappers, water bottles or whatever. And ya know, we all have to poop in the woods sometimes, but why someone can't bury it, or at least throw some debris on top of it, and plop a big rock on top puzzles me greatly.