Once in a Lifetime Turkey Down in Wyoming!

[Dakota]

Well folks, it has been an interesting four days! We've gone from emotional highs to lows to highs and back again! At first we had an awesome 5,000 acre ranch to hunt in WY and then found out it was covered in 2+ feet of snow! Then we had a shoe-in ranch where we never saw a single bird, though the weather was crap with all the fog/snow/rain mix. Then the owner of the cafe we went to in Newcastle told us that there were 200+ birds in the cottonwood creek bottom/pine covered mountain side ranch we had access to only to find out someone took a pot shot at the flock the evening before and scattered them to the four winds! Sunday morning we decided to try forest land on the SD side of the Hills. The weather was terrible and the birds would not respond to our best attempts. Jim took us to as many of his honey holes as he could in the forest, but a lot of the snow has yet to melt and this was the earliest he had ever hunted them in over 27 years of chasing birds in the Black Hills. We got up to the lookout tower, one of Jim's favorite spots to locate birds, and spotted two turkeys walking away through the mist. We waited a few minutes for everything to settle down before we went down the ridge to set up and Pete, Dad and Jim's friend, Gary, remained by the trucks. Between Jim's box and my diaphram we tried our very best but couldn't get anything to respond or come in. After we were back in the trucks Jim told Gary, Pete and Dad that I can call for him anytime and that if he was a gobbler he would be gobbling his fool head off! I asked him if he was serious and he said that he has judged turkey calling contests for the NRA many years ago and has heard some excellent callers and knows what a turkey sounds like, apparently I'm one of the best callers he has ever heard! Later on in the afternoon the weather turned for the better and we were able to spot a gobbler strutting on the mountain side above the second ranch that evening. We decided to forgo the 12 ga. and go with the .243 and slowly made our way up the winding gravel road. Our goal was to get within at least 100 yards of the strutter for a good rifle shot but as we neared the top our plans were suddenly put on hold as a line of hens walked onto the road not 50 yards away coming up the hillside from the cottonwoods below. Not unlike a rutting bull elk, trailing behind them came a gobbler with that luminecent (sp? ) blue, red and white head and a swinging paint brush to match! Now don't ask me how, and Jim is just as perplexed, but I missed...TWICE! What's worse, the ejector jammed on the second shot and wouldn't eject the spent cartridge! That whole situation was the worst low of all. Well, yesterday (Monday) morning we had access to a ranch where we had seen a lot of birds strutting and got there as birds were in the process of flying down. Birds were gobbling everywhere we turned and could be seen in the open mountain meadow (soon to be called "Slaughter Field" ) and Jim and Gary decided that Pete and I would take the rifles and drop back down the road out of sight of the turkeys and would cross the fence and climb up the hill and into the woods for cover. Once there we slowly made our way to a vantage point to overlook the field. All the birds were up in the trees by the time we got settled and we decided to just sit and wait to see what might happen. As the sun began to rise above the mountains four gobblers wouldn't shut up to the southeast of us and three others would sound off occasionally to the northeast. Every once-in-a-while the woods would be still for a few minutes and I would give a few clucks and yelps with the diaphram. Every single time those four gobblers to the southeast would hammer back! We'd been out there for over an hour when Pete suddenly saw five birds making their way down out of the trees and into the field. Thinking the gobblers may be coming soon behind them, Pete and I set up with me using his shoulder as a rifle rest. As I looked through the scope and my binocs I saw two redheads with small beards. In WY any bearded turkey is legal and, not knowing if I would have another chance, I picked out the bird with the longest beard and dumped it with one neck and and double foot shot (don't ask, I have no idea either ) at 150 yards with Jim's .22-250! Immediately, one bird ran up into the trees, but the others just stood there not knowing what to do. I immediately switched to caller mode for Pete and started clucking and yelping with the diaphram. Man, did they swiftly become chatterboxes! I called them from 150 yards to within easy shotgun range of Pete and I in less than 10 seconds, but Pete didn't let the .223 bark. I guess Jim was right, I can call! When Pete and I got down to the bird and we were checking it out was when we made a huge discovery. This was no ordinary jake or bearded hen. It had a mature gobbler fan, a 3" beard, tiny (and I mean tiny) bumps for spurs, an unusual head (kind of looked like a combination of a hen, jake and gobbler), was 14-15lbs. and had squared off wingtips so he's been strutting. What the heck is this bird?! Jim has never seen or heard of a bird like this period! He/she/it is at the taxidermist now and he thinks it is some sort of hermaphrodite or a mutated gobbler. Pete shot a jake later on yesterday in the same meadow, hence the name "Slaughter Field". Overall it was an awesome, hard and rewarding hunt with a once in a lifetime bird!









Dakota

[Flintlock1776]

Congrats!

[Hunt or be Hunted]

glad you got 1 buddy great story

[pendog]

Awesome Dakota!!

[Nut]

Congratulations

[woolybear]

WTG on the freak Dakota!

[WHISKEYSWAMP]

congrats Dakota!

[NiteRunner]

Congrads! A friend I know shot a bird with a full fan only to discover it had a short jake beard.

[BAMABUCKS]

Congrats on the bird & a great hunt.

[PotashRLS]

Great story and bird too. Living the high life that is for sure!!!

[Bowtech_archer07]

Awesome story and congrats on the bird Dakota!!!!!!!!

[Jorden]

Congrats on a cool looking bird Dakota

[GWSmith]

Very Nice!

[Tom2008]

Congrats Dakota on an awesome hunt! Great calling too. That bird is a unique one that is for sure.

[Rhino]

Congrats on baggin that unusual bird. Sounds like a good one to take out of the flock.