muddy
Well-Known Member
Lots of pictures, be warned.
My buddy Derek and I headed to Kansas in search of public land Rios this past weekend. We learned right off that even when it's calm in Kansas, it's still windy! Anyway, the ground was really cool and not what we were expecting but we still managed to put ourselves into position Saturday morning. 10 minutes after flydown we had 2 gobblers working towards us through a winter wheat field when a gun shot went off. Unfortunately for us a someone had decided to take a youth out to the same field and fortunately for him he shot his very first turkey. We went up and said Hi and shook hands with them and in the process got some needed information about the area. We were glad the kid got his first bird but still disappointed that we lost out on an opportunity. We went back to regroup and eat an early lunch and then headed out into another area blindly. Here's some pics from the walk in. Biggest issue this day was dealing with 30 mph winds so we stuck to the draws.
We got right up in a couple birds grills and had them come in gobbling their heads off but Derek was unable to get an arrow through the brush/trees and they finally walked off, opportunities 3 & 4 got away unscathed but still an awesome encounter for not having much idea on where to go. We decided to go back to the field we were on that morning for our evening hunt, glad we did!
Here's the field in question.
The set up.
Minutes after getting set up 9 jakes came in behind us while Derek was starting his nap, by the time he got up and ready to go they had fed off into some thick brush 15 yards from us and no shots were fired yet again. They never left us for the most part but Derek was tired and decided to lay back down. Not long after that I heard some deep yelping and I looked straight across from us to see a herd of birds coming at us, at 14 I quit counting and grabbed my bow. I decided before I even left Iowa that I was taking the first legal bird I saw and when 14+ jakes came in to 15 yards I didn't hesitate to put one on the ground.
Marking the Hub, that was bird #13 out of this Matrix Blind.
30 minutes after my jake went down the first 9 jakes came back by and after a quick two step in the blind Derek was positioned as I opened one of the corners... He was awkwardly surprised as the bird was only 5 yards and he managed to knock feathers off the back while the rest of the birds stood there. Quickly I opened another corner while Derek drew, aimed, and anchored the second bird in 40 minutes. Bird #14 for the blind.
The afternoon was just crazy, birds were just everywhere and I believe it was because of the high winds up on the plateau tops. Anyway, right before fly up we had this buck walk into the plot, and I firmly believe he is a hog. Look at the size of his body and his pop can bases...
Shortly after the deer a large group of hens and gobblers came into the field but I think they spooked at the decoys and skirted us at 75 yards, opportunity 5 & 6 gone to the roost! We were about to call it a day when 3 more birds walked in late and looked @ the spread. I said a silent prayer and one of them walked right up to 10 yards. I have always wanted to double up with the bow and this jake was in the wrong field of the wrong state at the wrong time, I put him down with ZERO hesitation. Bird #15 for the blind.
We did a quick recover/photo session and then prepared for the hoof out of there. We learned that even though things LOOK close, they are NOT. I think our shortest walk to/from the blind/truck was a mile and a half for the most part.
Here are a few more random photos, these roost trees are the biggest cottonwoods I've ever seen, I swear they were as big a round as redwoods.
Dead horned toad
Age this one by the tooth wear!
Last supper of the trip! Thanks again for going Derek!
My buddy Derek and I headed to Kansas in search of public land Rios this past weekend. We learned right off that even when it's calm in Kansas, it's still windy! Anyway, the ground was really cool and not what we were expecting but we still managed to put ourselves into position Saturday morning. 10 minutes after flydown we had 2 gobblers working towards us through a winter wheat field when a gun shot went off. Unfortunately for us a someone had decided to take a youth out to the same field and fortunately for him he shot his very first turkey. We went up and said Hi and shook hands with them and in the process got some needed information about the area. We were glad the kid got his first bird but still disappointed that we lost out on an opportunity. We went back to regroup and eat an early lunch and then headed out into another area blindly. Here's some pics from the walk in. Biggest issue this day was dealing with 30 mph winds so we stuck to the draws.
We got right up in a couple birds grills and had them come in gobbling their heads off but Derek was unable to get an arrow through the brush/trees and they finally walked off, opportunities 3 & 4 got away unscathed but still an awesome encounter for not having much idea on where to go. We decided to go back to the field we were on that morning for our evening hunt, glad we did!
Here's the field in question.
The set up.
Minutes after getting set up 9 jakes came in behind us while Derek was starting his nap, by the time he got up and ready to go they had fed off into some thick brush 15 yards from us and no shots were fired yet again. They never left us for the most part but Derek was tired and decided to lay back down. Not long after that I heard some deep yelping and I looked straight across from us to see a herd of birds coming at us, at 14 I quit counting and grabbed my bow. I decided before I even left Iowa that I was taking the first legal bird I saw and when 14+ jakes came in to 15 yards I didn't hesitate to put one on the ground.
Marking the Hub, that was bird #13 out of this Matrix Blind.
30 minutes after my jake went down the first 9 jakes came back by and after a quick two step in the blind Derek was positioned as I opened one of the corners... He was awkwardly surprised as the bird was only 5 yards and he managed to knock feathers off the back while the rest of the birds stood there. Quickly I opened another corner while Derek drew, aimed, and anchored the second bird in 40 minutes. Bird #14 for the blind.
The afternoon was just crazy, birds were just everywhere and I believe it was because of the high winds up on the plateau tops. Anyway, right before fly up we had this buck walk into the plot, and I firmly believe he is a hog. Look at the size of his body and his pop can bases...
Shortly after the deer a large group of hens and gobblers came into the field but I think they spooked at the decoys and skirted us at 75 yards, opportunity 5 & 6 gone to the roost! We were about to call it a day when 3 more birds walked in late and looked @ the spread. I said a silent prayer and one of them walked right up to 10 yards. I have always wanted to double up with the bow and this jake was in the wrong field of the wrong state at the wrong time, I put him down with ZERO hesitation. Bird #15 for the blind.
We did a quick recover/photo session and then prepared for the hoof out of there. We learned that even though things LOOK close, they are NOT. I think our shortest walk to/from the blind/truck was a mile and a half for the most part.
Here are a few more random photos, these roost trees are the biggest cottonwoods I've ever seen, I swear they were as big a round as redwoods.
Dead horned toad
Age this one by the tooth wear!
Last supper of the trip! Thanks again for going Derek!
