Merriam's Turkey- May 3-7, 2009

Our third destination was much further north and somewhat colder. My father and I travelled to Devils Tower, Wyoming to hunt the Merriam’s turkey, the final bird for my dad to complete his world slam; at this point I still had not shot my Eastern so it was my second last bird. Wyoming is very open, and mostly occupied by private ranches, this gives the turkeys a chance to flourish with very little pressure. It is also a very safe state to hunt a pure Merriam’s breed in, without running the risk of shooting a hybrid. When we pulled into Whitetail Creek Outfitters, the first thing we saw was about 25 turkeys, both hens and toms just going crazy right outside the camp. Immediately I knew we were going to have a good trip. This was one of my favorite hunting experiences, my father shot his bird first, we were set up and a flock of about fifteen turkeys came right by us, my dad waited for a clear shot, and completed his world slam. The next day it was my turn. Although there were lots of toms, there were also lots of hens and it was somewhat difficult to get the toms away from the hens. We hunted hard all day and in late afternoon it was not looking so good. We were calling like crazy and could not get anything to gobble, when all of a sudden way off in the distance we heard two birds gobble hard. We set up right away hoping we could get them to us, without a hen intercepting them on the way. All of a sudden I saw two black spots about a mile and a half away. These birds were hot, and competing with each other to get to the hen. They continued to run and cross each others path all the way to us, and when they got to about twenty-five yards and were well separated I got my shot. He went right down and I finally started to breathe again. It was an incredible experience.

That time of year the weather is unpredictable, I would recommend bringing a rain suit, a winter jacket, warm boots, and gloves. In the five days we were there the temperature varied from about five degrees Celsius to about fifteen degrees Celsius. We had frost, thunderstorms, and sun. Pack for various weather changes.

To contact Whitetail Creek visit the website: http://www.whitetailcreek.com/

Osceola Turkey- April 11, 2009

This turkey season came around very quickly and I had a very busy schedule to keep. Florida was the first destination on my list. From April tenth to the thirteenth my father and I hunted the Osceola turkey in Okeechobee, Florida with Brandon Storey. This was my first Osceola hunt and my fourth turkey in the slam. The previous turkey season I had killed a Rio Grande on the King Ranch, a Goulds with Muy Grande Outfitters in Hermosillo, Mexico and an Ocellated with Balm Outfitters in Campeche, Mexico. I really wanted to complete my slam this year and I felt the pressure, I had two days to get the job done. The first afternoon was more of a scouting mission than anything else; we roosted a couple of birds and were very confident for the next morning. The next day we were in our blind and set up half an hour before sunrise. The Tom started gobbling while he was still in the tree, right away my heart started pounding, he came in much faster than anticipated and my father ended up shooting that bird. It was a nice size Tom and now he had his Osceola for his slam. After lunch we went out again for my bird, we got close to a few birds but not close enough to get a shot at one. Late in the afternoon we set up on the edge of a field and we called, and called. After not hearing anything we got up and decided we would move, the second we got up I noticed a hen about 70 yards from us, we sat and waited so we didn’t get busted. All of a sudden a huge Tom presented himself in full strut. He was a little un-cooperative and Brandon whipped out a big Tom decoy to get him annoyed and bring him in close enough to get a shot. It worked like a charm and as soon as I could see his big red head I took my shot. My fourth bird for the slam was now down. He ended up weighing 21 pounds, with a ten inch beard, one and half inch and one and three quarter inch spurs. It was extremely hot, and the terrain is very light in color. Wear warm weather clothing, and take plenty of water. Rain boots are a good idea, there are lots of swampy areas and they may come in quite handy. I would strongly recommend Brandon Storey as a guide; he has lots of private land where the birds have no pressure. He is experienced and fun to be around.

To contact Brandon Storey visit his website: http://storeyhunts.com/