Turkey Opening Weekend

Last weekend was the opener for the spring turkey season.  Obligations kept us from partaking until Sunday afternoon where we took a look at some meadows a couple hours away.  I'm still trying to get my first turkey with an airgun.  A few weeks ago I was readying myself for the upcoming season which included shooting practice.  I noticed my Beeman RX1 (HW90), while rebuilt a few seasons ago, had leaked air from the gas ram.  With the rifle out of commission I turned my attention to my Beeman R10 (HW85).  I hastily spent my spare time getting the rifle ready to hunt.

We scouted last year and saw no sign whatsoever of any birds.  This was enough for us not to return during the actual season.  With record rains this year how things have changed.  Green up and water are abundant and the birds are back.  But while there was scat and tracks everywhere no birds were actually found.  Talking with another pair of hunters, they also saw no birds other than a large hen. The birds must have scattered from opening day's hunting.

We only had a brief time and we used the opportunity more as a scouting mission than a hunting one.  But just in case we prepared for an actual hunt.  With shooting time passed, I began focusing on ground squirrels but they were too skittish this year to allow me to get in range.  Boy have they grown.  They seem much fatter this year and much more abundant which seemed appropriate given our El Nino winter.  We'll try to get back again before season's close.

Preseason Turkey Scouting

Putting a Stalk On a Ground Squirrel.

With turkey season right around the corner, it was time to scout our areas for signs of birds.  We decided to check out an old area and scout for some new ones.  We spent the morning glassing meadows and the tree lines looking for birds but found none.  Though there were some tracks of various game, we saw only a few indications of the big birds mostly under the oaks scavenging the remaining acorns.  After an exhaustive search we switched gears and having brought my Beeman RX1 .20 airgun I started my attention to ground squirrels.  I managed to put a stalk or two on a couple but failed to connect despite having a perfect opportunity.  My gun was recently rebuilt and I only had a chance to zero the gun with JSB Diabolo Exacts but mistakenly brought Crosman Premiers that were in my pellet pouch from the last time I hunted.  I thought I had switched them out but apparently not.   A chump move.  Without knowing the exact zero of the gun I failed to connect on different two occasions shooting above the intended target of the head. 

After those failed opportunities it was time to head out.  We did look for other spots but none were promising and we called it a day.  The heat is back in Southern California and made scouting tough as it felt like summer.  I hope the cool weather comes back.

A Different Type Of Hunting

Given the fact that hunting with my dog is likely over for this season, I decided to head out to the outdoors to find a different quarry all together.  I'm a complete novice when it comes to mushroom hunting but I thought I'd give it a try.  If anything it would be nice excuse to get some much needed exercise.

From my understanding it's not really mushroom season in the traditional sense but the way the California weather has been acting nature is in a bit off it's schedule.  Much of the woods acts as if it's spring.  Ferns are out which normally grows after winter.  We did not find any edible mushroom but we did find a few polypores.  Some may have been Turkey Tails and I believe the ones pictured above are Gilled Polypores but I could easily be mistaken.

Above are some pictures of the mycelium.  When conditions are right, the mycelium forms a fruitbody, pushing the mushroom up in order to disperse spores.

On the way back to the truck, we were shocked to see some domesticated turkey in the parking lot.  Apparently someone abandoned them recently and left them to fend for themselves. 

Feels Like I'm Studying Back In University

Honestly I never thought I would liked turkey hunting.  Sitting silently and motionless in camouflage waiting for a bird to come into range to shoot it on the ground didn't really appeal to me.  So when I was invited on a hunt I was somewhat reluctant.  To make it more appealing and add a bit more of a challenge I decided I was going to take one with an air rifle. 

My knowledge of this bird is somewhat limited and so I went into the season I had to rely heavily on my hunting partner's knowledge to try to get us onto birds.  After the first hunt I started to do so last minute studying trying to help improve our odds.  When the hunting season ended I decided I'd study up to help increase my chances when the fall season begins.

I picked up The Wild Turkey: Biology & Management from James G. Dickson. This book seems to be the most complete book I've seen regarding the subject of this elusive bird.  The information goes beyond hunting and hunting techniques and that information is only briefly covered.  It is filled with much more, just about anything you'd like to know about all the six subspecies of turkey found here in the US.  There is so much information it reminds me of a college textbook.  With this book I'm hoping I'm going to be much more prepared for next season.

Not With A Bang But A Whimper

General season for turkey ends this weekend so this was my last chance until fall for my first gobbler.  We arrived Friday afternoon in the hopes of climbing the ridge and glassing the meadows to scout the birds going to roost for the night.  As with most of our plans, we managed to muck that up by driving around endlessly trying to find an easier way into one of the meadows.

After unknowingly driving past our destination, we made it to a section of road where according to my maps would take us to the meadow.  After bumbling around we realized this way in was not going to happen so we continued to drive on this loop to get us back to where we needed to go.

That was the plan at least.  With only about a quarter of the loop left to drive, we were stopped in our tracks.  High winds blew earlier this week and while we drove into the mountain we only saw small signs of it we finally drove upon evidence of it.  A fallen tree blocked our way and we had to backtrack costing us more time.

After backtracking we decided to quit wasting time trying to find a way into a new meadow and go enter in the area we were familiar.  We had about an hour of light left when we dropped our packs and started to look for signs of birds.  We found a highway of tracks and headed to the new meadow.  In the darkness of night we set up our decoys among the highway of tracks and left them there so we wouldn't have to bother in the morning.

To our surprise when we awoke at 5:20 am it was already starting to light up.  That was a mistake.  We raced to our decoys and setup into the woods to hide ourselves.  We waited patiently, calling sporadically. Given all the tracks, we figured this was a good spot but it proved unfruitful.  We moved on looking at other meadows without any sign of birds.

Eventually after glassing, Chul with eagle like eyes spotted two turkeys on the far end of the meadow. Having an additional 2X power with my 10X binoculars I checked to see if I see any beards on them.  Once they gave us a profile view of them I noticed thy were both hens.  Though we weren't able to take these birds this season we decided to test our fieldcraft and see how close we could get to them.  We would try and flank them to the left using the taller vegetation to hide our movements.

On our way to them we would flush valley quail and cottontails.  Too bad its not season for them.  It's been years since I've seen so many rabbits.  One rabbit (not the one pictured above) I initially thought was a jackrabbit given its size but I doubt it as I believe jacks don't live in this habitat.  It was a beast of a cottontail. We managed to get less than 100 yards to the birds.  There we sat glassing them for about twenty minutes until we decided to see if the we could get closer.

We backtracked and would try to flank them again.  We managed to get to about 50 yards of them only  to be spooked by two numbnuts that decided to blast through the meadow.

With that we thought it wise to end this hunt and head back to camp.  After packing up we decided to check out some other areas.

One area was an archery only section so I left my airgun in the truck and act as spotter.  By this time it was getting hot and the meadow was busy with hikers so we knew hunting would be pointless.  So we called it a day and headed out for lunch.  So our turkey season ends without a bird, we'll have to wait until fall to try again.

Having not eaten other than a handful of nuts, we were starving and BBQ was in order.  We both chose pulled pork sandwiches.

Chul has been raving about these apple pies ever since we started hunting the surrounding area.  With our stomachs full, we ordered our apple pies to go.

Scouting For The End Of The Season

Word has it that this area was a great go-to spots for turkey so we decided to investigate.  We only had this morning to check it out so we woke up early and headed south.  When we arrived we overshot our destination, and after some backtracking we managed to find the trail.  It quickly lead us to a small meadow but not the meadow we were looking for.  After some serious bushwhacking we managed climb over a hill to give us a look of our destination.  Without any game trails in sight nor any easy way to the field we decided to forgo more bushwhacking and look for another meadow.  Other than some old scat we found no signs of turkey despite the overall birdiness of this place.  Though this may be due to the fact that the recent rains most likely washed away any sign.    Next weekend is my last shot to try and bag one of these birds this season, so we have some decisions to make on where we want to hunt.

The Beeman RX is running out of time for a her first Turkey.  After this year she will unlikely be used as nontox .20 cal is almost nonexistent.   Even if it did exist this gun is very pellet sensitive so there is little chance of it shooting it well.

One of many fresh deer tracks of the day.

Looks like a predator kill.  Most likely a turkey that met its fate.

More deer tracks.

A flower, the name escapes me now, with medicinal properties. *EDIT* The plant is Yarrow

A Red Tail giving us an aerial display. 

Lunch at Roberto's.  California Burrito...

and a cheese quesadilla.

Last Day. Strutting Their Stuff On Private Property

With the valley now all to ourselves, Chul and I awoke early and made our way to the meadow we heard the Tom.  Unlike the previous night I actually had a great night's sleep.  Thankfully as we had quite a hike ahead of us to get out of here.  We slept in our hunting clothes so we were ready to go and geared up light.  Bypassing breakfast we headed to the meadow as quietly as possible.

 

When we arrived to our decoys we hid behind our natural blinds, I set up my shooting monopod and laid my Beeman RX on it as Chul made calls.  But this time the calls though went unreciprocated.  Waiting we eventually gave up and started to head toward another meadow.  Dead leaves litter this area and there was absolutely no way of making a quiet stalk.  We hid in the outer edges of the meadow behind several oak trees and random brush.  Only a few lanes gave us a view to the field any attempt to come closer would likely spook anything in that meadow.  Chul had a greater field of view from his spot.  My view was obstructed so I could not see the buck and a doe feeding on grass.  Since I was the one with the binoculars Chul could only tell me it was a "pretty big" buck.  It eventually passed his viewing lane and disappeared.  At this point we decided it was time to get out of this canyon before the heat arrived. 

It was going to be hot so we wanted to be backpacking in tolerable weather.  We managed to breakdown camp and head out by 7:30ish.  Chul estimated a 2 hour hike out and we still needed to find my torn up Lowa boots we cached on Friday.

A stronger hiker than I, Chul managed to be about ten minutes ahead of me and found my boots strapped on his pack and waited until I caught up.  On the way out we ran into this snake which I believe is a California Striped Racer (Chaparral Whipsnake) on the trail trying to sun himself.  By 7:20 we were by the truck, ten minutes earlier than his estimation and just before the temperature began to rise considerably.

On the way home, since we did not see any turkeys on this trip, we decided to drive by the lake to get some food and check out them out on private property.  In on field we saw two hens, in another a lone Jake strutting his stuff.  The field next to the diner had at least seven birds we glassed.  One of them was a monster Tom with a beard that was dragging the ground.

We sat in the enclosed patio area so I could glass the birds while we waited for out food.  I had the heart attack special- country fried steak, scrambled eggs and taters.  I'm sure any calories I used up on the hike was now going to be replenished and some.  For me a gun hunter I only have two weekends left to take Tom this spring season.  I'll see if I can make it back before it closes on me.  As a bow hunter Chul has an additional two weeks.  Hopefully one of us can bag one of these prehistoric looking animals.

Day 2 Looking For Tom

Having tossed and turned all night, I managed only a couple hours sleep when we awoke the camper armed with a shotgun across from us was making his way to the meadow we had scouted the night before.  With that plan canceled we regrouped and decided to see if there was a way above the ridge to the other side where we knew had a meadow interlaced with public and private land.

After several summit attempts we made it about three quarters of the way up before we were stopped in our tracks with an impenetrable wall of thickets.  We would try four or five different game trails only to be met by the same result.  Demoralized we stopped for breakfast and formulated our next plan.

Back when I backpacked more often I tried several freeze dried "backpacking" food and everyone tasted like ass.  I've been reluctant ever since to buy any and bring them with me.  Chul has always told me that Mountain House made the most edible and should stick with those.  I do trust Chul's palate but I was still skeptical.  Mountain House breakfast skillet was on the menu and I will have to say it was much better than I expected. 

We decided to forgo our attempt to summit and headed down back into the meadows.  There by the creek we began to see some sign including this not-too-old track of a big Tom. 

Despite being late in the morning we set up some decoys and hoped for the best.  We made our calls but to no avail.  I was hoping to see the real deal through my scope but I could only put my reticle on the foam version (of course I wouldn't be shooting a hen). 

By late morning it was time to head back to camp and take a siesta.  It was hot and we moved our sleeping pads under a tree for shade and a cat nap until we got hungry.

Laziness and hunger caused me to eat my SpaghettiOs-wannabe without heating it.  I really did not want to clean my cooking mug again.  It was actually quite good cold.  By this time the hunter who camped across from us was back and preparing to head home.  We chatted him up and he gave us the best lead of the trip.  He had not gone to the meadow we wanted to hunt but in another direction.  He was able hear a Tom gobble but not able to make him respond to his calls or  could get him to come in.

We followed his directions and headed to that area.  On the way we found more sign including new tracks and turkey scat from both hens and toms.  Chul gave a hen call and he heard the Tom respond with a gobble.  He set up where we were and Chul set up the decoys.  This ended up our fatal mistake.  Chul later believed he saw the turkey in between the brush while setting up the dekes, thus spooking it away.  At the time he didn't realize it. and we set up our ambush. Moments later Chul called again but it went silent.

We decide to leave this area and save it for the next morning leaving the dekes as they laid.  At this moment it dawned on Chul that he may had been seen by the gobbler.  Looking for other areas we headed toward the meadows we initially wanted to hunt in the morning.  We tried climbing over the hills but they were impenetrable fortresses.

Eventually we found some other meadows and found more evidence of Toms.  It looked like a smaller track than the one we found earlier but nonetheless a good sign.

Exhausted we headed back to camp to rest up for the next day in the hope to meet that Tom that teased both the shotgun hunter and ourselves.

Earlier in the trip I lost my boots as the soles fell apart, now it was Chul's turn to have his gear break.  His GSI spork broke leaving him with no eating utensil.  This piece of shit gear is the worst piece of gear I've ever seen.  I tried to booty fab it by melting it trying fuse it back together but the plastic was having none of that.

Trying to be the Last Boy Scout tried fabricating his own spoon.  One of Marines' mountain survival school tests is to make wooden spoon, I could say neither Chul nor I would have passed. 

For dinner I brought along Mountain House Pasta Primavera and Chul brought Beef Stroganoff.  Both were half way decent and pretty good for backpacking food.  One suggestion Chul gave me though was to not follow the manufacture's direction and add less water.  I loaded mine with one and three quarter cups of boiling water (directions say two cups) and it was still too runny.  Not long after our meal it was time for bed and I slept much better this night.