Monthly Archives: April 2010

So close…

Posted on April 24, 2010 by Mia Anstine

The hens through the trees

The Little Gal and I just got back again.  Tonight it almost all worked out.  We headed out in the afternoon and set up our decoys on the edge a meadow that we know is always full or turkeys.  We found a big dead tree to sit behind and use for a blind.  The Little Gal’s gun rested on the log, and I sat with my calls behind her. We made ourselves comfortable and prepared to for action.

We sat for about 15 minutes, and heard turkeys up at the top of the meadow.  There was a tom that gobbled, followed by a hen that bocked.  I had my slate ready, and mimicked her, cutting her off.  The tom gobbled again, the hen bocked, and I bocked, cutting her off.  We did this three times and then she was silent.  We sat and waited.
About twenty minutes went by and we heard a gobble.  It was still at the top of the meadow.  The gobble again was followed by a hen, and we repeated our display from before.  This time the calling went back and forth about six times and then silence.  Again we sat in absolute silence waiting.  Across to our right, we saw four cow elk eating.  They had no idea we were there.  We sat, not moving, not making a sound.  The last thing we wanted to do was spook the elk, much less those turkeys.  If those elk noticed us, they would have a good view.  From their angle, we were right out in the open.  We sat as still as we could, looking up the meadow.
Then I saw one.  There she was.  A hen.  I whispered to the Little Gal.  “Do you see her?”  She nodded her head and then sat motionless.  We sat there like statues behind that dead tree and waited.  We saw the one and then two more hens.  We waited and then saw another couple of birds.  Where was the tom?  Another hen.  Then he presented himself in full strut!  There he was a big beautiful bird.  The birds were still a good 200 yards off.  I whispered to the Little Gal “wait until he gets between the tree and the decoys”.  She nodded her head and then sat still.
We sat again.  This had to be the most stillness my body has felt in its life.  The hens made their way toward us.  They were not calling, they were not purring.  They went down a little dip, and out of sight.  The tom strutted behind them, and then he was out of sight.  The Little Gal looked at me worried.  I whispered “Be patient.  They are going to come.  Just wait.”
Soon the hens began to emerge.  One, two, three…  until there were ten.  Then we could see the white of that amazing Merriam fan.  Slowly the tom strutted out of the dip.  He was HUGE.  He was gorgeous!  The hens were spread out across the width of the meadow, and it looked as though they may make their way right past us to the other end without giving us a good shot position for their master.  The Little Gal squirmed a little.  I knew she was thinking the same thing.  I whispered to her again.  “Just wait”.
Suddenly the tom noticed our decoys on the edge of the meadow.  He gobbled at his hens and they scattered.  They scattered in their flock right over toward the decoys.  The tom strutted slowly behind them, making his way in our direction.  Our hearts leapt in anticipation.
The hens came to the decoys.  The tom was behind them but was in range.  He was strutting and turning.  When I knew the shot was good, I whispered to the Little Gal.  “When his head comes up, shoot”.  The hens didn’t hear a thing.  They continued toward the decoys and I waited in anticipation.  I waited, and I waited.  Then I nudged the Little Gal.  Finally, she shot!
The tom leapt into the air and turned and spun.  The hens all popped their heads up and then the whole group of them took off.  They scurried up the hill, through the oak brush and then they were gone.  The Little Gal and I jumped up.  Both of us with our legs asleep from being still for such a long time nearly fell over from excitement.  The Little Gal began to cry.  She said “I’m the worst shot ever!”.  I assured her she was not the worst shot.  I told her that everyone has a miss.  Heck, with all that excitement and pressure, I may have missed too.  She and I waited until the feeling came back in our legs.  We then gathered up our decoys and I made sure I had all my calls.  We headed out to the road.  Mom and daughter.  So close, so close!!!
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Categories: hunting, kids in the outdoors, turkey hunting | 3 Comments

Morning Fun

Posted on April 18, 2010 by Mia Anstine

We got up this morning bright and early like usual.  I had a rough time getting the Little Gal going and had to keep on her to get ready until we were out the door.  We headed out in the dark to the property to hunt, and when we got close, we saw a van parked in the driveway.  I thought “don’t tell me some poacher is in our spot!”.  As we got closer, I saw that it was a white van, and it was stuck.  I put the flat-bed in 4-low and pulled up the road around it and parked. 

We jumped out and proceeded to grab our gear.  We were already about 15 minutes behind schedule in order to be in position before sunrise.  I put on my hunting vest and grabbed our guns.  The Little Gal put hers over her shoulder, and as I was putting a shell in mine, I heard a little old lady say “I’m stuck down here, do you think you could help me?  Now I tell you, I am a very kind-hearted person, but after the bird chase yesterday, and us being late with it being just before sunrise now, I really didn’t want to ruin our hunt.  I explained to the lady that we were heading in to hunt and if she was there when we returned, I would gladly get her un-stuck.  We locked the pick-up and headed through the gate.

It was already getting light out.  We should have already been in position and set up.  We hurried down the road as quiet as can be.  The sun would soon be in our eyes.  We suddenly heard a gobble!  YES!  Well, partly yes, and partly not.  We were not in position, and the bird was exactly where I knew we needed to be.  We eased down the road sticking close to the willows and brush so we wouldn’t be seen in the light.  Then we heard some hens clucking.  We came around a small bend and I peered out of the trees to see if I could see them in the tree I thought they should be.  Sure enough!  I counted about 7 hens, and could visibly see a tom strutting on his branch.  We also heard two other gobblers, but couldn’t make out where they were.We eased forward ever so slowly, staying concealed as much as possible.  The sneaking was somewhat easy because the ground was still saturated from a hail storm the night before.  We finally came to the first gate.  The old rickety thing would make too much noise if we tried to open it, so we made our way down into the ditch beside it and crawled under the fence and then back up to the road.  All this while the gobblers were dancing and singing and the hens clucking.  
Once we got back up the muddy slope to the road, we peered out of the willows and saw they were all still up in the tree.  We snuck up further.  We were with in 40 yards of the tree, but could not get any closer because there was no more cover.  We stopped there to wait for them to make their descent.  We hoped they would fly down to the flat road ahead of us because we knew they would eventually head up to the top of the mesa. 

 

Sure enough, all of a sudden, a tom flapped his wings and flew.  The problem was he flew down to the meadow on the other side of the trees, away from us.  We waited and watched as one by one all the turkeys took their leap and went down to the big meadow.  We could hear the gobbling and clucking down there.  

Once it was safe, we made our descent down the hill.  We snuck through the trees stopping occasionally to see the turkeys through the openings between the trees.  The toms strutted, and hens pecked at the ground.  We snuck just to the edge of the trees, some 30 yards from the birds.  I could see the toms cutting off to our left and heading back up the hill toward where we had just come from.

As we were easing forward to get a better view of the toms the hens turned.  They were looking straight at us!  The Little Gal and I stood there frozen in stride not making a move.  We just couldn’t let them bust us now!  We stood and waited motionless, and then the hens came to us.  There were seven of them, and three of them were with in 25 feet of us!!!  The looked a pecked.  All the while, I could hear the lead hen calling as she headed up the hill in the same direction as the toms.

We just stood there, frozen.  I had a cramp in my foot from the position I was locked in, and I know that the Little Gal had to be uncomfortable and cramping as well because the way she had stopped, her hip was in an awkward position.  We remained petrified.  Finally the last of the hens left in tow behind the rest of them.  Up the hill they went, past the road, past the ditch and up onto the mesa.

We moved after we knew it was safe.   Finally!  Whew!  We waited a while until we were positive they were gone and then headed up to see exactly where they went.  We saw tracks headed up to the mesa.  I counted 18 bird tracks~  4 sets which appeared to be toms!

That was the end of our morning hunt for us today.  We left and went and tried to help a sweet lady get unstuck.  She was too deep, and we ended up lending her the phone to call a tow truck.  I pulled out the coffee thermos and shared it with her while we waited for the tow truck to come.  We chatted and shared stories for over an hour.  It was a fun morning with a sweet adventure with up close & personal turkeys, and a new friend to top it off!

The turkeys are safe again!!!

Categories: hunting, kids in the outdoors, Outdoor life, turkey hunting | Leave a comment

Here Comes the Storm

Posted on April 17, 2010 by Mia Anstine
Lea & I just got back.  We found a spot where the turkeys had crossed earlier in the day.  Fresh tracks in the silt.  We set up there, near some willows, and waited and called a little bit just to see if we would hear anything.  We heard thunder over the ridge to the north of us.  We waited there about 30 minutes.  Then we heard a gobble across the valley to the south.  Then there was another gobble.  It was another bird.  Same direction, just a little further away.  Lea took the gobbler and shook it real good.  The two toms gobbled back.  We gobble back and forth to them from across the valley about 6 or 7 times, and then they quit so we did too.  After a little bit, we heard another gobble from over that direction.  We decided to beat it over there. 
We took off across the field, and through a ditch to a level spot and waited.  We heard it again, but it was higher on the hill than we were.  We decided to get up a little higher on the hill we had come to so we could be on their level and see them easier.  We hiked up and stopped and clucked then waited.  There was the gobble again.  It was up and over the top of the hill.  We took off up the hill as quietly as two little ladies can.  We stopped along the way to listen and make sure he was still there.  Each time we heard him, we would continue our sneak.  When we neared the top of the ridge we could hear him.  He was RIGHT THERE.  I told Lea to go ahead of me so she would be able to have a clear shot. 
We peaked over the top of the hill and couldn’t see anything beyond some downed trees, but we could hear him gobbling.  We could also hear some hens.  Once again we waited.  I clucked to them the way they were clucking, and they just continued on with their business.  We snuck up a little further and hid behind a tree. 
Lea saw the tom peak his blue head up over the lip of he hill, but just as quickly as she saw it, it was gone.  We stood still.  He gobble again.  This time he had moved a little left.  We stood quietly.  Lea was ready to let him have it at any moment.  Next thing we knew a hen popped up over the hill about 30 feet to the left of us.  She headed north and bock, bock, bocked the whole way across the top, right past us and then down the hill she went, right about where we had come up. 
We knew the tom was near by but never saw him.  With her moving across so close we stayed as still as we could and kept our eyes peeled for him.  Nothing.  We sat motionless.  Next thing we knew he was gobbleing behind us but was about 50 feet further away than where the hen had crossed. 
We waited and then slowly turned to look.  He gobbled again but was already making his way down the hill we had just come up.  Lea and I looked at each other thinking what to do next.  Then we heard yet another gobble about 100 yards up from us on the ridge.  He was loud and strong so we decided to take after him.  We stalked him.  He would gobble and we would go, and then we would wait.  We clucked to him.  He would gobble again, and we would go.  Then wait.  We clucked again and he gobbled.  We followed him and a hen that we would hear occasionally across the ridge for about 400 yards.  
Finally we got to about 50 feet from him!!!  That is when the excitement began.  The lightening came.  As quickly as we had heard those couple of toms fire up about an hour before, this tom stopped.  We stood again and waited.  Then we heard him.  He was at the bottom of that hill that we had climbed to find him.  He obviously was making a b-line for some place other than the ridge because the storm was coming and fast. 
The lightning popped, and snapped, and the thunder rumbled.  We decided we needed to get ourselves and our 12 & 20 gauge lightning rods off of that ridge as well.  We made our way down off that hill as quickly and quietly as we could with the lighting popping all around.  When we crossed that ditched again and just when we got to the other side the lightening struck up on the hill behind us and made our hair stand on end. 
We made our way to the edge the meadow and looked to see if it was safe to cross.  Then the rain came.  We saw three turkeys one the other side of the meadow and knew we could not just run out into the meadow now.  We stood in the trees and scanned.  On the East side of the meadow, three more turkeys came scurrying out in a hurry.  They went straight across and to the other side.  Then three more to the left.  Same thing.  They all made their way to the North East end of the meadow and up into the trees. 
We knew we could come back tomorrow and get them, and we didn’t want to booger them out now.  We waited and waited with the rain pouring down on us until they were all gone.  Then we headed out to the West.  We got down toward the end of the meadow on the opposite side of where we had seen them and then crossed as quickly as we could.  Half way there, it began to hail.  The two of us got pelted, and then were in the trees before we knew it.  We walked as quickly as we could back to the truck, back to the highway.  It looked like it had snowed an inch after that hail piled up.  Once we were safely back in the truck we both laughed out loud.  Sooo close!!!  
What an adventure!!! 
Categories: hunting, kids in the outdoors, Outdoor life, turkey hunting | Tags: , | 1 Comment

Learning To Call

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Mia Anstine

I love so much learning new things when it comes to hunting.  This spring, one of our clients suggested that I try a specific mouth reed for turkey calling.  He recommended the “Lost Poult” from Cane Creek calls.  I got on-line and found the reed.  I also viewed a video which they have on their site about how to use it, as well as what it should sound like.  I placed my order and awaited the arrival of my new call!

I practiced with my glass call, slate and box call in anticipation of the arrival of “The Reed”. 

Finally the day arrived.  I received “Lost Poult” in the mail.  My husband watched as I held it up with a big smile and popped it in my mouth.  He being experienced at calling with a reed, immediately began to laugh.  I smiled and tried to blow….  kchhhhhlllllllccccchchhchhhhh.  Nothing but static!  I sounded like the suction tube at the dentist office.  We laughed, and he warned me not to choke on it.  I tried to catch my breath from laughing, and nearly did swallow the reed.  Hmmm.  I tried again.  “ssschhhheeek”  Oh no!  I was definitely going to need practice at this thing!  A few more squawks, out of me, and then my husband broke out his reed and showed me how it was done. 

Now I had competition.  Now I had to figure out that call!

Picture this.  I drive an hour to and from work every day.  That means I have plenty of spare time on my hands.  I try not to text and drive.  I try not to take photos while I drive.  I also try to stay awake while I drive.  I drive and I drive and I drive.  I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to practice my “Lost Poult” call!   I loaded the YouTube video onto my black berry, and played the “Lost Poult” for inspiration.  Then I proceeded to practice. 

Well, I must tell you that I also had already been playing around with a reed for a coyote call.  I found that one fairly easy to use.  It wasn’t so technical to make a sound with the way that the turkey call was.  One day while driving, I was admiring the gigantic prairie dogs that were popping up out of the snow.  I gazed across the field and spotted a coyote sleeping in the field off to the right.  I pulled over and decided to try out my skills.  I popped my reed in and yelped a couple of times.  The coyote raised its head.  I then yelped like a pup, and the coyote got to its feet.  It started to come to me.  Knowing that my husband would NEVER belive me, I pulled out my trusty camera which I never leave at home.  I took photos of it and I yelped and called as the traffic drove by until it finally was scared off by a big semi.

When I arrived at my destination, I called my husband and told him my story of calling in a coyote.  I knew it.  He didn’t belive me.  That evening, I showed him my proof, and he smiled.

I see plenty of wild life on my daily trips to and from work.  I see prairie dogs, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, deer, elk, and I also see none other than wild turkeys!  Well, now that I had barked at a coyote, I needed to try my “Lost Poult” on a real live turkey.

One sunshiny spring afternoon, I was cruising along, driving and driving and driving.  I saw out of the corner of my eye two turkeys.  I quickly grabbed my reed, veered, pulled off the road, rolled down the window and grabbed my camera.  I clucked at the hens and they ignored me.  Hmm.  I thought.  I better try a shock.  I bocked a loud call to them and got their attention.  Then I purred.  They purred back and headed toward me.  Toward the highway with the passing vehicles.  Woah.  I decided that I was satisfied with that!  I turned off my camera and put my reed away.  I headed for home with a big grin on my face.

Upon arrival at the house, I pulled out my camera and showed my husband the pics of the hens.  He said “no way”.  I told him that I now know how to use my call.  He asked me to show him.  I grabbed my reed, bocked, purred and cackled as he watched with his eyes wide open! 

The best way to learn a call….  Many hours of driving!  ;-)

Thank you to Cane Creek for their YouTube video and instruction.  I couldn’t have done it with out you!  Season starts Saturday.  Let’s see how I do!

Categories: hunting, turkey hunting | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Preserve Our Rights

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Mia Anstine

I had a conversation with a young hunter the other day that made me realize more than ever that we as hunters have our work cut out for us in teaching ethical hunting.  The image of hunting can be portrayed as brutal, in-humane and unfair if you aren’t careful on how you hunt as well as how you tell your story.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with a hunter being excited or having fun with their hunt.  It is how we relay the message and the purpose that we must consider, and we must teach this to our children. 

I was involved in hunting at a very young age.  Although I did not hunt myself until later in life, the sole purpose of the hunters I tagged along with was to feed their families.  When I finally began hunting myself,  I was a single mother, had a single income, and looked to put some food on the table.  I took a hunters safety course and learned the safety of fire arms and hunting ethics.  I also learned that there are a lot of people in our country that frown on hunting, and it is a privilege that should be cherished. 

I already knew that wild game is healthier than any of the hormone grown meat you can purchase at the store.  The wild game animal eats fresh vegetation and has more nutrients in its body than a farm raised animal.  I grew up in an area near indian reservations, and at a young age I learned to respect mother nature and the animals.  Each time I am fortunate enough to harvest an animal, I make sure to take the time to thank the animal, to thank God, and I am happy to put food on my family’s table.

We as hunters are the guardians and stewards of a long time tradition.  There are many activists that would love nothing more than to be rid of us.  We must take care in what we choose as ethical hunting.  We are the conservationists who lead in supporting and maintaining wild life in our country.  It is the money from our applications and purchase of hunting licenses that allow the division of wild life to perpetuate wildlife resources.  Many non-hunters and anti-hunters get the privilege of hiking and seeing many animals just due to the fact that we purchase a license to hunt an animal.  

Each day, remember to be an ambassador.  Take pride in what the hunt and respect it. 

“In a civilized and cultured country wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen. The excellent people who protest against all hunting, and consider sportsmen as enemies of wildlife, are ignorant of the fact that in reality the genuine sportsman is by all odds the most important factor in keeping the larger and more valuable wild creatures from total extermination.”

Theodore Roosevelt
Categories: hunting | 1 Comment

Delicious Elk/Deer Burgers

Posted on April 4, 2010 by Mia Anstine

Ingredients:

1/2 C – diced onion                                                                                     

1 Tbsp – vegetable oil

1 tsp – dried thyme

1 tsp – dried rosemary

2 tsp – brown sugar 

1/2 tsp – salt

1/4 tsp – pepper

2 tsp – Worcestershire

4 oz – crumbled blue cheese (optional)

2 pounds – ground elk or deer meat

Other items needed:

Hamburger buns, mayo, mustard, catsup, lettuce, tomato and any of fixin’s that are your favorite on a grilled hamburger. 

In large skillet, add vegetable oil.  Heat over medium heat.  Add onions and saute.  Set them aside to cool.  (we puree the onions after sauteing them and add them as below so the kids don’t notice them).

In a large mixing bowl, add the egg, thyme, rosemary, brown sugar, salt, pepper and Worcestershire.  Mix thoroughly.  Add mixture to ground meat and mix until well blended.  After mixture is well blended, add blue cheese if desired.

Mold burger into bun size patties, grill until cooked through.  Serve hot!

Categories: hunting | 2 Comments

What A Trooper

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Mia Anstine

For Christmas, we took my friend’s 83 year old grandfather hunting for his private land cow elk.  Each year we think that it may be his last hunt because of his age and of course his health.  This year was no different, but we succeeded in getting him out to hunt again.  That experience was a gift for us.

“Christmas morning the thermometer reads -18 degrees.  We headed out to search for elk for grandpa.  We saw a spotted a small heard over a ridge.  After a very short uphill hike, and a whole lot of huffing and puffing and stops to catch his breath, we got grandpa into position so he could get a shot.  Unfortunately, his shot missed its mark.  The hike was a lot for him.  He just was not able to catch his breath to get steadied enough.  We had worn him out.  He was pretty upset at his miss, and quietly walked back down the hill to the pick-up.  We headed home for Christmas dinner and put him under the electric blanket to rest.

Saturday morning, we were up early and convinced grandpa to head out again.  That morning we were trying a new location to hunt for that cow elk.  When we arrived it was -23 degrees!  Grandpa was sore from the previous day.  He told us he was worn out and he didn’t think he could do another hike like yesterday.  We told him we would get him to a location that would be a little easier.  We located some cows, but they were on the wrong side of the fence for that private land tag.   Today the girls just were not co-operating.  With the temperature being so cold, we could not set grandpa out to wait for them to come to the property, so we headed home.  It was another unsuccessful day. 

Our third and last day out, Sunday morning, we were up early and took grandpa for his “last chance” cow elk hunt.  He would be leaving for home the next day so we had to get him on a cow elk for sure.  That morning the temperature warmed up a little for us.  It was -12 when we left the house!  We went to the same piece of property we had been hunting the past two days.  The same heard was still near, but of course, they were still on the wrong side of the fence.  We desperately needed to get a change of plans going.  Grandpa was getting very discouraged, and he was beating himself up for missing the first morning and for not being able to get around as good as he once could.  We decided to try another piece of land where the owner had told us he had spotted a heard. 

We headed toward the north with the temperature a balmy 4 degrees!  The problem at this property we were heading to would be that we would not be able to just walk grandpa a short way.  All the meadows were a ways out there with rolling hills in between.  We towed our snowmobiles behind the pick-up and headed to get grandpa another chance at a cow!  Once we arrived at the property, we loaded grandpa on back of the snowmobile and headed up the deep snow-covered valley.  You really can not sneak up on the elk if you are on a snowmobile, so we had to try to get grandpa in as close as we could with out spooking the animals away. 

We rode up to the top of a small ridge and peered over.  Sure enough, there was a small heard of cow elk!  The excitement began.  We unloaded grandpa and he hiked down a little just to get him a straight shot.  He sighted in on a nice cow.  I saw him hesitate.  He was worried about another miss.  Then he took a deep breath.  There was a shot and hit!!!  Grandpa stood there, trembling with excitement.  It was the GREATEST thing to see the smile on that man’s face!  Hunts like grandpa’s are a lot of work but definitely rewarding.  Not only to him, but to his guide! 

Many of us take it for granted a lot of the hiking, hunting and climbing we do.  If we want to stalk an animal, we just do it.  What a challenge to get grandpa close enough to that cow elk.  83 years old, successful and happy as can be!  Closing on the first season of the year, always remember to be thankful for everything you have, health, happiness and the ability to hunt!

Categories: elk hunting, hunting, Outdoor life | Leave a comment

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