TheMadCatter
Well-Known Member
It’s been a wild spring here in Colorado! I’ve been busy guiding hunts and running my own outfit, and somewhere in the mix, I carved out a month to build a cabin up in the mountains. Between hunter groups, I managed to get a week off, so I grabbed my shotgun and headed north to Wyoming to meet up with my good buddy Owen for a little turkey action.
I rolled in around 2pm, picked up my tag, and we wasted no time getting out to a familiar roosting area. Some hens wandered by, and we heard a bunch of gobbles, but the toms wouldn’t commit. So we backed out a little early to do some scouting. Sure enough, we glassed three toms about 3/4 of a mile out heading to roost in a line of trees. We made the call to get up at 4 a.m. and try to get ahead of them. We set up about 100 yards from one tom, but he flew the other direction into the same field we’d seen them in the night before. We stayed put, hoping one might swing our way by midday. Out in the valley, the toms started strutting, and one caught my eye—he was completely black, unlike the usual white-tipped Merriam’s. I knew right then I was going after that bird.
When the turkeys moved over a small ridge, I slipped off on my own through the timber, trying to cut them off. The wind had picked up, so I couldn’t hear any gobbles. I climbed a 30-foot rise and found some cover next to a downed tree. A couple of snow-white Merriam’s passed by 40 yards out, but the black tom was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t know if he’d dropped back into the valley or gone over the other side, but I took a gamble and moved into thicker trees beyond the ridge. I moved down the ridge and I spotted some hens about 50 yards below and hunkered down. That’s when I started hearing drumming and spitting. At first, I figured it was the other two toms—but then I caught a flash of black wings. It was him. He came in gobbling over and over, less than 10 yards away. I had to wait for him to clear some thick brush and that's when I pulled the trigger, and he dropped where he stood he didn’t even flop.
I'm getting a turkey DNA test kit from wildturkeydna.com and I'm excited to see what comes back! I doubt I'll ever kill a bird like this in my lifetime again, it was another one of my crazy adventures.
The cabin I finished building right before turkey hunters showed up...
Pleasant Valley Outfitters LLC (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574826944182)
I rolled in around 2pm, picked up my tag, and we wasted no time getting out to a familiar roosting area. Some hens wandered by, and we heard a bunch of gobbles, but the toms wouldn’t commit. So we backed out a little early to do some scouting. Sure enough, we glassed three toms about 3/4 of a mile out heading to roost in a line of trees. We made the call to get up at 4 a.m. and try to get ahead of them. We set up about 100 yards from one tom, but he flew the other direction into the same field we’d seen them in the night before. We stayed put, hoping one might swing our way by midday. Out in the valley, the toms started strutting, and one caught my eye—he was completely black, unlike the usual white-tipped Merriam’s. I knew right then I was going after that bird.
When the turkeys moved over a small ridge, I slipped off on my own through the timber, trying to cut them off. The wind had picked up, so I couldn’t hear any gobbles. I climbed a 30-foot rise and found some cover next to a downed tree. A couple of snow-white Merriam’s passed by 40 yards out, but the black tom was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t know if he’d dropped back into the valley or gone over the other side, but I took a gamble and moved into thicker trees beyond the ridge. I moved down the ridge and I spotted some hens about 50 yards below and hunkered down. That’s when I started hearing drumming and spitting. At first, I figured it was the other two toms—but then I caught a flash of black wings. It was him. He came in gobbling over and over, less than 10 yards away. I had to wait for him to clear some thick brush and that's when I pulled the trigger, and he dropped where he stood he didn’t even flop.
I'm getting a turkey DNA test kit from wildturkeydna.com and I'm excited to see what comes back! I doubt I'll ever kill a bird like this in my lifetime again, it was another one of my crazy adventures.
The cabin I finished building right before turkey hunters showed up...
Pleasant Valley Outfitters LLC (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574826944182)
