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 Submitted by:  

Paul Waldon

 Unit:  

8A

 Date:  

Spring, 2007
Friday evening we watched the buggers roost only 50 yards from my preferred blind location so I chose another spot to set up bout 100 yards downhill. They and several others gobbled in the roost Saturday morning starting at 4:45 pst, hit the ground and continued gobbling their butts off. They drifted off but I knew they had heard me and would likely return. I kept after it and 30 minutes after flydown I got a closing gobble, then multiple gobbles. I thought it might be the bachelors. They gobbled several times within 50 yards behind us, but we couldn't see them. A hen chimed in from the other side of our setup and the boys went nuts. I had them going, the hen had them going......then they cleared the end of the trees and came strutting in. Once again I had the video camera but chose to grab the smokepole instead. They danced around the jake decoy at 15 yards. I told my daughters boyfriend (that I had in tow) to just watch and see if they'd kick the jakes butt. They didn't, just strutted and gobbled in unison twice at 15 yards! Countdown time, 1-2-3, only one of trio remain!   Kurtis's bird is a nice 3 yr old, mine a decent 2 yr old. Mine eastern marked and the other another Idaho Mutt.

 

 Submitted by:  

Brian Mahoney

 Unit:  

8A

 Date:  

Spring, 2007
I went out to a special spot and got a bird going off the roost.  After 30 minutes he finally flew down and started my way.  I had a decoy on the skid road 8 yards from me and things looked good.  He came in spitting, drumming and in full strut...unfortunately he was a Jake, so I decided to sit back and watch the show.  WHAT A SHOW IT WAS!!!  It walked right up to my decoy and spent 5 minutes spinning it around while he continued his show.  The decoy got pushed a little hard and it fell over on its side.  To my amazement, the Jake jumped on top and started a 5 minute love making session...he was really going to town!  After he was done with my decoy, he stood to the side of it and I just couldn't take it anymore.  I started cutting and doing a fighting purr trying to see if he would gobble.  Every time I called, he would "need" the ground like a cat does a scratching post.  I finally stood up and that didn't even spook him.  He still wanted my decoy!  He finally caught a clue and headed down the road away from my battered and molested decoy.  All in all, the entire episode took a good 15 minutes.
 
I went on my way trying to find a large gobbler, but I couldn't find one.  I spooked a hen so I trudged up the hill to a road that was on top.  About half way up I heard a gobble that I thought was different from the Jake.  I sat down, made 2 calls, and that Jake came in again to 10 yards.  He quickly figured out that something was wrong because there was no one to love (I didn't have time to put out my decoy).
 
I hit the road and headed up to another cut that had had birds in it before.  When I arrived, I made 1 small yelp on my box and immediately got a good gobble no more than 100 yards away.  I stuck my decoy in the ground, sat down about 15 yards from it, got ready and made one more small yelp...GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE.  He was right on top of me in 20 seconds.  He came in spitting, drumming and in full strut...just like they are supposed to.  He made his way to my decoy and I saw the nice beard sticking from his chest.  It was all over pretty quick at 20 yards.  See the attached photos!
 
My turkey season is over till fall and what a turkey season it was.  Hopefully I can get my dad into a bird this season.

 

 Submitted by:  

Mark Bell

 Unit:  

Southern Idaho

 Date:  

April 2007

Youth Turkey Hunt with IDF&G Director  By Mark Bell, Snake River Chapter NWTF

Days ahead of the anticipated opportunity to go on a mentored youth turkey hunt with the top guy of the Idaho F&G dept, our young hunter, and John pickle of Kuna Idaho could hardly wait for the day to come.  It all started with the National Wild Turkey Federation of Idaho asking for the Director to take time to mentor a youth in the hunting activities we all enjoy in Idaho. The Director Day hunt started several years ago when Steve Huffaker, Director said it was important to get the youth involved in outdoor activities. He said, he would do whatever it would take to get the youth involved in other activities, rather than computer and electronic games.  John Pickle of Kuna, was awarded the opportunity offered by the Snake River Chapter to take mentored youth turkey hunting. Sportsmen’s Warehouse purchased the hunt from a fund raiser held by the chapter. Each year the Directors Day hunt is auctioned through out the state to one chapter. Sportsmen’s Warehouse of Meridian selected from applicants the lucky youngster to take this opportunity.  John called me and let me know he had been awarded the hunt and was excited enough to want to know what all he had to do. 13 years old and already had a successful deer hunt, John said he can’t wait for the day to come. Weeks before he said he was ready and had practiced, watched video’s and his enthusiasm rejuvenated my spring activity level again. 

Friday, the 6th of April, John can’t wait for the final bell of the school day to ring as he is planning to be hunting. Friday afternoon, we all meet up and he is introduced to the Fish and Game director, Cal Groen, and the trip begins. John is as excited as I have seen a 13 year old get. We go through all the preliminary steps of the hunt experience with john and his father, describing what should take place and the anticipated moves that will allow for John to accomplish the task of his first turkey. Geared up, John says he may have trouble sleeping that night. Early the next morning, after searching for the area where turkeys may be living in, we set up in the predawn darkness in anticipation of the event that he has waited for weeks. The morning is clear and not to cold, the decoys and hunter is in place. The dawn brings the springs sounds of birds chirping, ducks winging there way by and the distant gobble of a few turkeys that are working their way towards the setup we have. Setting on the ground in the early dawn, watching turkeys coming at you like arm chairs, strutting and calling, makes the hair on your neck stand up.  The turkeys appear to be intent on finding out who is in their territory and head straight for the decoys and the awaiting youth.   John, gun ready and anticipating the show that is unfolding right in front of him at 15 yards, he readies to pull the trigger.  I told him I would let him know when it was time to pull the trigger. He follows the birds with steady gun poised.  The moment comes, I told him that as one of them is clear with a clear view that he could take one. Five birds dance in front of him, intent on showing the decoys who is boss. John, with sure eye pulls the trigger and a big tom turkey falls to end the anticipation that John was spilling over with. John with excited joy, jumps up and said "I got em", he could hardly contain himself. Shaking with joy, I asked him if it was what he expected and he said more than he thought. His father, Cal and my self all congratulate John on his first harvest of a turkey. He proudly displays his bird and the Kodak moments begin.  He says he can’t wait to tell his mom and brothers. The moment is on film and indelibly set in his mind for ever. He will remember this moment with his father for years to come. Dad says he is hooked and can’t wait for the opportunity for him to hunt. The morning sun brings warmth and celebration. The youth hunt, mentored along with the Director was one he won’t forget soon and told his mom that on the phone. 
"View the rest of the photos"

 

 Submitted by:  

Brian Mahoney

 Unit:  

8

 Date:  

April-May, 2006

I have been bear hunting with my father for the past month.  It took 3 weeks to get some bears coming in, and with a short 1 month season it was a time crunch.  The first evening my dad and I had a cinnamon bear with a white patch on its head come to within 40 yards (not close enough for us archery hunters).  The next day, I kicked a large boar out of the area when I was walking to my stand.  About 30 minutes later he showed up again, growling, chomping his teeth, and making some other noises I'm not familiar with.  I watching him for the next 2 hours...pacing back and forth, laying down, eating grass, and scratching himself, never getting closer than 45 yards.  I never got a bear, but truly enjoyed the experiences of seeing and hearing them in the wild.

 

 Submitted by:  

Brian Mahoney

 Unit:  

8

 Date:  

April 28, 2006

I finally got the opportunity to go out in search of wild turkey.  I ordered a new 12 gauge 2 weeks ago but it hadn't shown up yet, so I decided to take my 20 gauge out (it has killed my last 6 turkeys).  I went to a special spot on Moscow Mountain where I had heard there wasn't much sign.  It took me 10 minutes to get into birds.  I had been calling a tom for a half an hour when I heard crunches behind me.  I was worried that a predator might be stalking me so I slowly turned my head.  To my amazement I saw a 3 hens within 5 feet.  I slowly moved my head back and then heard a gobble behind me.  These turkeys had come in silent and in an impossible spot to get a shot at the gobbler.  I had called the bird I had been working on in nearly a half a mile.  The hens started putting and it was all over.  I got up a short spell later and decided to walk my way back to the truck.  About half way back I noticed 2 turkeys about 150 yards walking up a hill away from me.  I quickly backed up and gave a quiet yelp...GOBBLE!!!  I sat down in anticipation of a very close encounter.  There was a sharp bend in the road and the turkeys would be no more than 7 yards if they cam in.  I gave one more call and then got my head down on my gun and waited.  Two minutes later a Jake appeared at 6 yards.  I waited a bit to see if there was a bigger bird with him.  Another bird started to appear as the first walked back around the corner.  It was another Jake, and I decided that I just couldn't pass up this opportunity (I can get another tag in 2 days).  He folded over without a twitch.  That Jake made some great turkey Jerky!  The next one has to be a long beard with my new gun though!

 

 Submitted by:  

Brian Mahoney

 Unit:  

8

 Date:  

April 22, 2006

I took my dad and little brother Patrick out for a late morning hunt.  Neither has shot a turkey in the Spring, so I decided to call for them.  200 yards out of the truck we got a bird going.  We quickly set up a decoy and I began calling.  A nice Eastern showed up within 5 minutes, only 25 yards from me.  Unfortunately, the decoy moved unnaturally in the wind and spooked the bird.  Patrick and my dad had too much brush in the way to take a clean shot.  Better luck next time.

 

 Submitted by:  

George Fischer

 Unit:  

Southern ID.

 Date:  

Youth Season

Rocket Fuel for the Soul  As morning light crept across the Camas Prairie on April 8th, local Fish and Game officers were up before dawn an out in the field. However this day they were not chasing poachers or making sportsmen contacts, they were investing in the future.  April eight and ninth was the 2006 youth turkey hunt weekend. Hunters 10 to 15 years of age could pursue male turkeys with an adult mentor for the special weekend. The actual turkey season for all hunters begins April 15th. Local Fish and Game officers and several local parents made the time to take out some really special hunters for some of their first trips into the field.  One of the first shots to echo across the prairie was the 20 gauge of 12 year old Johnny Bruzas of Grangeville. Just after first light, supported by guide Jeff Payne and callers District Conservation Officer George Fischer and Idaho County Deputy Mike Brewster, Johnny harvested a beautiful adult tom out of a duo of tom’s that came running into a hen call. This was Johnny’s first turkey hunt and the first child to harvest an animal out of the Toby Steven memorial hunting blind in which the hunter and three guides crammed themselves. Johnny does not own a shotgun thus he used one donated to area youth by the National Wild Turkey Federation.  Larry Willmott, Conservation Officer from Elk City escorted Taylor Altman and her dad Larry on an exciting hunt of the canyon breaks of the Clearwater. They had several close calls with a large group of tom turkeys, but could not get close enough to convert one to roast turkey.  Officer Roy Kinner of Grangeville roved the hills with Shailynn Jungert and her mom. They covered some great turkey country and were only several yards away from birds on several occasions. If you could eat stories they would be stuffed.  Officer Craig Mickelson of Riggins took two new hunters out in the Salmon River country for a gobbler. They heard several and had a great day.  Jim Roll , Clearwater Region Back Country officer stayed a little closer to home as he took to the field for two one on one hunts with his kids Elisa and Thomas. Thomas passed up several young tom turkeys as he was after a whopper. When the whopper did come in a bit of "buck fever hit" and the boss of the forest made it to see another day.  On Sunday the ninth, Mark Bruzas along with Guide DCO George Fischer of Grangeville called in seven hens and five very large tom turkey’s in "No Tellum Canyon". As the Tom turkeys strutted on into shooting range Mark made some very good decisions not to shoot because the birds were too close together and he risked killing more then one with a single shot. As the second biggest tom in the flock cleared the others, Mark made an outstanding twenty fiveish yard shot to collect a whopper of a bird. Officer Fischer was very impressed with Mark’s maturity in picking a great safe shot. Fischer stated "Along the lines of the short feel good stories- called Chicken Soup for the Soul".taking kids on these first hunt opportunities, doing it ethically and  legally-  whether you get a bird or not is like Rocket Fuel for the Soul. The officers, kids and parents were very appreciative of the landowners that allowed the kids to hunt on their property.

 

 Submitted by:  

Brian Mahoney

 Unit:  

8

 Date:  

April 1st & 2nd
University of Idaho instructor teaches "how to call wild game".  Brian Mahoney, a Senior Instructor at the U of I taught his "Wild game Calling and Viewing" course again this spring.  He had 2 classes totaling 55 students interested in the outdoors.  The class teaches the basics of calling and viewing 4 main groups of wild game (Turkey, Elk, Deer & Predators).  All students are required to learn how to use a reed and must make 2 Elk and 2 Turkey calls for the final exam.  While much is learned in the class sessions, the real education happens on a day long field trip.
    A day is spent with each class in the woods looking at tracks, scat and other wildlife identifiers.  The main purpose of the trip is to call Wild Turkeys and have students try their luck at calling. 
    The first day (April 1st) was very eventful.  The first group of birds (1 tom and 6 hens), called by Brian came to within 40 yards.  The class then split into 2 groups.  Brian's group called a Jake to 10 yards before he bolted and flew off.  The other group had a nice Elk encounter, viewing 3 rag-horns, with antlers still intact.
    The second day (April 2nd) was wet and made calling a little difficult.  The class split into two groups after an hour or so and tried their luck on different parts of the U of I Experimental Forest.  Brian's group finally got in front of a nice flock and had them coming in hard and fast.  All of a sudden, a coyote appeared at 75 yards and trotted to within 30 yards.  This shut the birds up and the calling was over.  Brian had told the class that his favorite coyote call was making turkey sounds...now they believe him.  Brian's group took a long walk back to the vans, looking at all sorts of tracks and scat.  They were within 50 yards of the vans when they heard a gobble.  They looked over and saw several students from the other group sitting and calling.  Brian's group quickly sat down and enjoyed the show.  The Jake came to within 10 yards of the other group and 40 yards of the vans.  It was a great experience and one that the students and instructor will remember for the rest of their lives.
    Brian Mahoney is the President of the Palouse Longbeards Chapter in Moscow, on the Board of Directors for the Idaho State NWTF and serves as the Idaho NWTF Webmaster.  For more information on his Wild Game Calling and Viewing course or other Outdoor Recreation classes he teaches at the University of Idaho, please visit his website at www.uidaho.edu/~brianm

 

 Submitted by:  

Roy Kinner

 Unit:  

Grangeville area

 Date:  

Fall 2005

Recently 28 Grangeville Hunter Education class graduates got the chance of a lifetime to hunt upland birds and shoot some sporting clays.  The opportunity arose when Idaho Fish and Game District Conservation Officer George Fischer coordinated a Field Day with the Flying B Bird Ranch in Kamiah. The Flying B provides some of the best shooting preserve opportunities in the country. The Flying B wanted to become more involved in helping our local youth and generously donated the use of their ranch to us.  Before students are certified each hunter  education instructor asks themselves a question, “Would I have this young person hunting with me?”.   Instructors and parents put that very question to the test on our field day in Kamiah. The graduates really impressed everyone with their abilities.  More impressive then the shots they made at fast flying chuckar and pheasants were the shots they passed up because of safety reasons.  Sixteen students who had never hunted upland birds met at the  ‘Flying B” and got a quick review of what they learned in Hunter Education classes and then went out to show what they could do.  Flying B Guide Joe Parce gave an excellent demonstration of how birds will be hunted over dogs and how the dogs will work together.  The young hunters then got to take some shots at sporting clays to get used to the shotguns and learn more about hitting moving targets.  Then it was time to hike the field.  Not many times in a  average persons life do they get to experience a hunt on a professional level, such as is the case on the Flying B.  Graduates were teamed up with some of the  B’s professional guides and their dogs and taken out to areas where the students got to practice and apply what they had learned in Hunter Education. All the kids did a wonderful job of staying safe and using good judgment.  Almost all the participants bagged either pheasants or chukars during the day long event. Many of the birds presented challenges to the kids.   Some of the pheasants flew low to the ground.  In such cases the guides determined was not safe and shouted out “NO BIRD!” so the hunters wouldn’t endanger the dogs working.  In all cases these hunters used great restraint and never fired .   As part of the days event, the Local Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation ( Camas Prairie Turkey Trackers) donated a Jakes membership and magazine subscription to each of the kids.  Throughout the day we discussed ethics, proper gun handling, and what it means to be a true hunter, or "sportsman".    Instructors George Fischer and Roy Kinner would like to thank the Flying B Ranch for their time, efforts, dogs, guides, clay pigeons, and the live birds supplied in making this day a true success.  Thanks also goes to the many other volunteers, IDFG Jim White,  Idaho County Deputy Mike Brewster, Ed Eckert, USFS Katherine Thompson,  Jack Hudson and all the parents who helped make this day a success.  Most of all, we would like to thank these future hunters for their attention and patience in making this a safe fun day for all.