Amazing Oklahoma turkey hunt, etc.

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Swampstalk
Posts: 388
Joined: November 16th, 2018, 3:48 pm
Location: Palmetto Bay, Florida

Amazing Oklahoma turkey hunt, etc.

Post by Swampstalk »

Well earned Rio.jpg
Warning, a long read:

4/14: My son Nick and I traveled to our Oklahoma farm where I grew up for a spring work and hunt trip. We listened at dusk for gobbling from the front yard. It had rained some the night before and the red clay was slick. The weather was off and on overcast and in the 60s during the day and 40s by morning. It rained again on Friday of another good amount so everything was soggy.

4/15: We get up before daylight for a quick breakfast and listen at first light for turkey gobbling over across the road east a ways. Decide to head over that way. Crossed the first pasture where some cows were. They followed us across the creek to the back pasture. The creek banks are really steep, about 30 feet high, and slick at the crossing with sloppy red clay. We heard several Rio Grande gobblers off on the backside timber and settled in the edge cedars and, due to the cows being close, were able to set the decoy only about 10 yards out, not the best situation. My son begins some calling and the birds are responding. Cows keep nearby and milling around. After some time a coyote comes out of the woods about 10 yards on the right starting for the decoy but sees us and takes off. The gobblers are fired up and begin to head our way gobbling non-stop. Due to the cows close by the toms begin to come closer to the edge of the timber skirting the cows. After some time the toms are very close gobbling all the way. They get out in front of us but a half dozen cows are right behind them following and the gobblers get spooked and take off running and then start to take flight. Nick, being on the left side, takes a snap shot at the trailing tom.

In a bit we see the toms across the field and a couple hundred yards away. We move closer across from them and set up. They are 80-100 yards out from us. We see one bird pecking and jumping on the other, at first thinking an unseen hen had come in to them. But it was the other gobbler that was injured as it tried to take off but just flapped it wings and stayed there. They stayed in the same spot so we decided to head back across the creek and circle around to get closer. When getting up Nick finds a bunch of Morel mushrooms so we gather them up to take back.

We bust our butts going back down and up the slick 30 foot high creek banks to the first pasture and make our move closer to the birds. We have to go down and back up another slick cattle crossing. Nick reaches the top edge and has trouble being able to stand. The gobblers are no more than 25 yards from the crossing. The uninjured tom gets jumpy and starts to bolt, then he returns to the injured tom and Nick finishes it off. The other gobbler we had not shot at as I was not at the top of the bank yet. The down gobbler had a broken leg causing it to be able to not take off, evidently being hit by Nick’s first shot. Glad it was taken. He was a big mature Rio Grande, 23.8 pounds, 10 3/8” beard, and 1 ¼” and 1 3/8” spurs. This was an amazing and tough, but rewarding, hunt. Sautéed turkey nuggets and Morel mushrooms for dinner!

4/17: While we were doing maintenance around the house and some tree stand work, clearing shooting lanes, moving a stand, Nick then found a buck skeleton of a deer he shot nearly 3 years before and we tracked and lost on other properties. It had circled back later and died on an isolated ridge. This was closure on an awesome 11 point buck!

4/18: Our last evening we decided to try out an electronic caller on coyotes from a stand near the cattail pond on the upper back side of the place where there has been a coyote run for decades. Before long we heard several groups of coyotes howling, then catch a glimpse of one on the edge of the opening a ways out, maybe 75-80 yards, but it got boogered and ran off. We only had buckshot loaded shotguns with us. I got it on video briefly anyway.

An amazing and very full work and hunting trip for us. We were both pretty worn out and slept on the plane back home. We did get to visit with family some while there, which is always a good time.
Morel mushrooms.jpg
Nick's 11pt buck.jpg
Don
quavodus
Posts: 287
Joined: April 1st, 2021, 1:19 pm
Location: Moss, Tn.

Re: Amazing Oklahoma turkey hunt, etc.

Post by quavodus »

Sounds like a good time and hunt.
"I live in America, why do I have to press 1 for English?"
Hobbes_mobile
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 2501
Joined: April 23rd, 2019, 11:18 am

Re: Amazing Oklahoma turkey hunt, etc.

Post by Hobbes_mobile »

Sounds like a great trip Don. Great bird and those are some huge morels.
Swampstalk
Posts: 388
Joined: November 16th, 2018, 3:48 pm
Location: Palmetto Bay, Florida

Re: Amazing Oklahoma turkey hunt, etc.

Post by Swampstalk »

Thanks! Yep mighty tasty too! Under different set up circumstances we might of had a chance at another double. But that’s Turkey hunting. We have enough memories to hold us over a while.

Hope you all fill those tags!
Don
Hobbes_mobile
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 2501
Joined: April 23rd, 2019, 11:18 am

Re: Amazing Oklahoma turkey hunt, etc.

Post by Hobbes_mobile »

Swampstalk wrote: April 24th, 2021, 11:01 am Thanks! Yep mighty tasty too! Under different set up circumstances we might of had a chance at another double. But that’s Turkey hunting. We have enough memories to hold us over a while.

Hope you all fill those tags!
We did better than expected on Thursday.
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