Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
300RUM

A Wing It Operation

Recommended Posts

When dealing with tags donated to Hunts 4 Heroes on short notice there is often not much time for planning or scouting. Time to plan and scout or not you can always get out there and just enjoy the hunt. Tom Wagner, the H4H Hunt Coordinator, contacted my hunting partner Chris and myself asking if we could take veteran turkey hunting in 5A the following weekend. We agreed but there was already one catch. I normally work a 4-10 shift and am off Fridays but due to a current shortage of employees I was working 5 day weeks. I would not be able to get camp set up on Friday. Tom said he would try to find someone to set up a camp or arrange his schedule so he could do it. Tom began the search for a vet and Chris and I did some armchair scouting on Google Earth and Topo. We were good to go.

 

Thursday, an hour before they were scheduled to depart, Tom got a call from the veteran. His wife had become seriously ill and he had to cancel. We were on hold as Tom searched for another veteran to take the tag. By Thursday evening Tom had located another veteran and the hunt was back on. Tom went up and set camp Friday morning. Eric, the veteran, met him and they got in an evening hunt. They saw a couple of birds but did not get a shot. I arrived in camp at 1130 PM and Chris was to arrive early in the morning. I woke up and Chris was not there. He loves turkey hunting and it is unlike him to be late for a turkey hunt. We were in an area without cell service. I made an attempt to contact a friend back in Phoenix via HAM radio and have him try calling Chris. He is usually up early playing with his radios but no luck today. Off we went without our ace caller.

 

We spent the morning calling in the area the birds were spotted yesterday then advancing to the next location and calling again. Not one gobble in return. We decided to swing back through camp to see if Chris had made it and grab a bite to eat. Before Tom got the bacon and eggs going Chris pulled up. He had been about 1 mile from camp this morning but on the wrong side of a canyon. As the truck drives that proved to be a 15 to 20 mile trip to get from there to camp. The good news was he had just been up in about the same area we went but he had gotten some gobbles back. It was not far away so Eric, Chris and Tom headed back to that location while I headed off to scout a different one. I worked along a canyon for a couple of hours and got 3 birds to gobble back. Not bad. I returned to camp. The hunting party had heard or seen nothing. It was bacon and eggs for lunch then a nap.

 

The evening plan was Eric and Chris returning to the same area while Tom joined me for a return trip to the canyon I had scouted. We would try to locate and roost one of the birds I had heard for a good morning option if the evening hunt failed. It was a nice hike but no gobbles this time. One hen returned a call from above where we parked the truck just before we headed back to camp. When we returned to camp we learned the hunters had located a gobbler. Chris called him in and Eric made the shot around sundown. This was his Fourth H4H hunt but his first filled tag. He seemed very happy. Along with a turkey to cook he also got a bunch of nice feathers to tie flies. Eric is really into fly fishing. He even builds his own rods. We had a nice steak dinner and crawled into our sleeping bags for a good nights sleep.

post-15248-0-76835100-1525030178_thumb.jpg

  • Like 15

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×