Author Topic: Turkey Camp....now with IOW(ABO)W'S HUMILIATING COPPER TURKEY CALL  (Read 17222 times)

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Offline JW_Halverson

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A number of forum members are converging on the Black Hills of South Dakota in order to pit themselves against some of the oldest, wiliest, and most frustrating turkeys on the face of the earth.  We have not had a decent hatch in 4 years and what gobblers we have are mostly a pretty call-shy and well educated bunch of hard cases.  Nonetheless, we shall throw ourselves at them with vim and vigor!  Not with much common sense or goodjudgement, most likely. 

I am starting the post so we will have a place to post pics and tell our individual stories.  Iowabow had a good time last year and we are hoping he goes home with more than just stories.  Soy is struggling to make it in from Minnesota, fighting against an outbreak of bird flu that is bent on wrecking his job and main source of revenue.  Meanwhile, Primitive Tim continues northbound in his Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, utterly UNDAUNTED by the weatherman's threat that we are facing a spring snowstorm and snow that may be measured in FEET!  I wonder if his tie dye will work for or against him as a form of camoflauge. 

I've been working in the kitchen non-stop for several days making meals that we can simply reheat and eat.  We will be dining on venison stew, chili, carnitas and other hearty fare.  I am hoping I can feed them so well that they don't feel the humiliation these crusty old gobblers are gonna be handing out like mini Snickers bars at Halloween.

Keep a weather eye out, turkeys...and you birds, too!
« Last Edit: June 08, 2015, 10:43:07 pm by JW_Halverson »
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline PrimitiveTim

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2015, 11:01:52 pm »
I am going to wreck some turkeys!!!  >:D
Florida to Kwajalein to Turkey and back in Florida again.  Good to be home but man was that an adventure!

Offline hedgeapple

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2015, 11:12:29 pm »
Good all.
Dave   Richmond, KY
26" draw

Offline wapiti1997

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2015, 07:50:47 am »
Looking forward to pictures!!

Offline Pat B

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2015, 09:18:54 am »
How is turkey hunting in blizzard conditions?
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2015, 02:05:25 pm »
Well, Pat....lemme tell ya, this little grey duck stayed in bed this morning!  We have received more moisture in the last 24 hours than the rest of the whole year before now!  I got 8 inches of wet, sloppy, slush (I hesitate to call it snow).

This is going to be tough on the hens.  Most likely they have all abandoned their nests and will lose this clutch. This coming week, the hens will be more active again and bossing the toms around like Tiger Moms.  Not only does hunting this week sound bleak, but losing a good hatch this year exacerbates an already bad situation. 
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline Danzn Bar

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2015, 02:35:36 pm »
Sorry to here that JW....................
Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking

Offline kylewayne

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2015, 03:37:26 am »
Should I be bringing my snowshoes for the hunt?  ;D

Offline Pappy

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #8 on: May 12, 2015, 06:13:28 am »
Sounds like that will be a hoot Turkeys or not with that group gathering. Good luck. :)
   Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
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Life is Good

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #9 on: May 18, 2015, 08:57:44 pm »
Soy rolled into my driveway some time Monday evening last...I was still at work. We sat up and told "outrageous truths" until pretty late.  I let him help feed our little American kestrel and he thought it was pretty cool stuff.  Nest morning, long before the chickens had even settled in to sleep, much less gotten up, we were out of the house and out to the One Two Eight Roost where we set up and talked to some gobblers on the roost.  Somehow, they left the roost silently and we never had so much as a sniff of their butts disappearing!  Oh, the joy of getting humiliated by a bird with a brain the size of a shelled pecan!  He and I drove off a few miles to another place and tried working some other gobblers, but they were pretty henned up.  Plus, we had gotten a lot of snow the weekend before and we were soaked to the skin and went home. 

On Tuesday afternoon I got a call on an injured great horned owl and Soy was 'voluntold' to come along.  We found her next to a road construction cone, likely had been hit by a car.  He got to see one of our largest and fiercest avian apex predators up close and personal!  Being a real lover of the outdoors and wildlife in general, he was soaking it in pretty fast.  I was glad to have the help along.

He helped me pack and we headed out to camp north of Custer, SD and a few miles straight west from the Crazy Horse Monument.  We were busy setting things up when we looked over and saw a sight that was frightening.  It was a flatlander out of his natural environment!  A genuine abo rock knocker by the moniker of Iowabow.  Apparently I had failed to be vague enough with the directions to the camp and he found it with no problem.  Shortly after that, my friend and tattoo artist, Mikey showed up.  With many hands, the camp was set up in record time.  I fried up some steaks and red potatoes in order to save them from having their bellies rub a blister on their backbones.  Based on the belching and sighs, they were not dissatisfied.

Next morning kyle_wayne (a very infrequent poster, but frequent lurker on here) showed up with a buddy he and I know from the Rendezvous scene. A bit later, we looked up to see the skinniest, funniest looking sasquatch cub staring thru the pines at us with a bemused look on his mug. Apparently this was not only a cub 'squatch, but one that was just beginning to become an adult.  I could tell, because he was obviously out searching for new territory to call his own.  His big hairy feet had dried gumbo clay from the Badlands clinging to them all the way to his knees.  We invited him in and fed him.  Young 'squatches will eat about anything, I am here to tell you!  After a few thousand calories into the youngin, we got his story out of him.  He had left Florida weeks ago and had wandered thru the Tennessee Classic, Indiana, Iowa, and into South Dakota.  He looked a lot like Primitive Tim.

The gang was all there, the weather was pure, unmitigated crap most of the time with wind and rain chasing our butts up and down the ridgelines.  Any chance the sun came out, we were slinging gear out to dry on any handy bush or stump.  We stayed up far too late, got up far too early, and failed to take afternoon naps.  The turkeys were as uncooperative as a 3 yr old throwing a fit in a candy store!  Primitive Tim got shot in the knee with an arrow, but that is his story to tell.  Many of the folks had never met before, but were fast friends by the time camp broke up.  It was a rare pleasure to be camp wrangler and cookie for this bunch of guys.

I want to thank each and every one of them for coming out and pitching in to making this a memorable week in the woods.  Now I am gonna let those that are willing to tell their stories. 
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline chamookman

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #10 on: May 19, 2015, 05:25:49 am »
Sounds like a great time to Me Jdub ! Nothing like sharing a fire with Friends - Old or New. Bob
"May the Gods give Us the strength to draw the string to the cheek, the arrow to the barb and loose the flying shaft, so long as life may last." Saxon Pope - 1923.

Offline Chief RID

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #11 on: May 19, 2015, 10:47:57 am »
You are the man JW. What a great idea. Sure am looking forward to the others tales of this adventure.

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #12 on: May 19, 2015, 05:13:17 pm »
You are the man JW. What a great idea. Sure am looking forward to the others tales of this adventure.

I think more you should do this.  Find a piece of ground to hunt and invite a few of the folks from nearby or farby, and have a good time!  We PA folks seem to get along pretty well in camp when we stick to the ground rules we abide by on this forum. 
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline iowabow

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #13 on: May 19, 2015, 08:38:44 pm »
A few great guys here. Awesome group of people. 
(:::.) The ABO path is a new frontier to the past!

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Turkey Camp
« Reply #14 on: May 19, 2015, 11:20:18 pm »
In bed no later than 1:00 a.m. and up by 3:30 a.m.  Any guess why I fell asleep standing up between Mikey and Soy?
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.