Back From Nebraska! April 10-14th

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It never fails to be an adventure on this annual NE turkey hunting trip, and this year proved no different right from the start. Four of us had dates on the calendar and a little inclement weather wasn't going to stop us. The drive down was pretty brutal. We left home Wednesday evening and found smooth sailing the first half, but then the wet snow started. 45 mph and 4WD on the freeway pulling a tandem axle enclosed trailer with no plows in sight. After a flat tire and many hours later, we hit the gravel and things got really treacherous. Slow was the name of the game and we finally pulled into basecamp safely at 2:45am. It took 2.5 hrs longer than normal. 4-5" of snow was on the ground and still snowing lightly. We got camp setup quickly and went to bed at 4am.

Day 1

Can't think of a better way to wake up than to be woken up by gobbling! We didn't set the alarms with such a late night, but when the birds started sounding off at 6:30am, we all fled from our sleeping bags with eager anticipation. By the time we had breakfast and got all our gear ready, it was 8am when we left camp. Here's a shot of camp our first morning and one getting ready to walk in to hunt our first spot. Should've brought the snow camo!

The first spot was a bust. Limbs were breaking and falling from the trees, snow was still falling, and the birds were most likely still in the trees or hanging close to the roost. We toughed it out for 3 hours out of pure excitement and then left to do some scouting. We didn't see or hear any birds all morning. We went back and caught some lunch and then headed out to do some more scouting. The birds were now being seen in open fields and pastures and the game was on! After dropping 2 guys off at one spot, we parked the truck and noticed a group of birds cutting across the field. We hit the ditch & ran up the road. We dropped the blind & packs and nocked arrows and hunkered down in the cedars. 10 minutes later I saw birds approaching. 8 jakes approached single file at 20 yds. I was waiting for my buddy to shoot, but as it turned out he had limbs in the way and had no shot. I really didn't want to fill my tag on a jake the first day and didn't draw the bow. A fun start to the afternoon nonetheless! After the jakes moved off, we dropped down the hill another 100 yds and setup the blind on the inside corner of a picked corn field. This was our view looking out from the blind.

It was now snowing again pretty hard. We sat for 1.5 hr and decided to sneak out for a peak around the corner. We moved slow dodging cedar trees and I spied two black birds heading our direction about 150 yds away in the corner. Back to the blind! I did some light calling and moved the decoy back & forth. I could hear some hen yelps back behind the blind and though they might have cut the corner and went up the hill. Got a little more agressive with the calls and a few minutes later spied a red head at 20 yds approaching cautiously! He came in slow and silent and was intimitated by the decoys. He provided no shot where he was and finally decided to slowly walk off down the hill. We repositioned in the blind and I said 30 yds and yelped to stop him... THUUMPP! My buddy hit hit him perfect and the bird made it about 2 feet! First bird of the trip down! We stayed in the blind another 20 minutes and did some more calling to make sure nothing else was around and went to gather his 2nd prized turkey with the bow. Turned out to be a 2 yr old bird with 5/8" spurs and a broken off 4" beard. We were pumped!

We had plans to pick the other guys up at 5 so we packed up and went to see if they had any luck. Turns out they called in 3 jakes which provided some excitement. This guy was with on last year's trip and he had missed a jake. He's never shot a turkey before. These 3 jakes came in and he missed twice with the broadheads I recommended. Some how the birds remained close and he was able to pull off a third shot with one of his fixed blade deer heads and put a solid hit on the bird. The guy he was with was able to pull off yet another shot, but hit the blind and deflected wide. I think those birds receieved a bit of education! These are the pics from their hunt that afternoon. 2 birds down in the snow on the first day! Back to camp early for some celebration and some venison chops & onion cheesy potatoes! Stayed up for a nice fire and to bed at a reasonable hour. Stay tuned for day 2!

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Day 2

Awoke to light flurries, 26 degrees, and strong winds. Supposed to be breezy today, high of 34, and light snow until afternoon. Had a nice breakfast consisting of oatmeal and coffee and we headed back to the area where we got our first bird the day before. We dropped the other guys off at the same spot they found yesterday. We noticed a lot of activity up in one particular corner of a field and we make the trek up there. It was probably 1/2 mile or so uphill and my legs were feeling it when we reached the top. It was a beautiful area, but the wind was howling and we had to find a protected spot. We went over the hill and found a gorgeous place to setup with 3 draws funneling to a point. We popped up the blind and put out the decoys. There was already a fresh set of tom tracks in the snow passing through! We were a little late getting up there, but not that late - he was on his feet early. 30 minutes later we look up and see 8 or so birds heading down a big hill towards us. They disappear behind some brush and must've cut into the timber as they never reappeared. 45 minutes later, the wind picked up even more and the decoy was spinning in circles. I made the call to sneak out and stick in a few sticks. I wasn't back in the blind for 3 minutes when I looked down the draw and spied turkeys coming. A whole bunch as a matter of fact - about 15-20 hens led the way with a strutter coming up the rear of the flock. The hens were getting loud and I matched them with my diaphragm watching the scene unfold. I figured the hens would come through first and with that many eyes, probably bust us before the tom was within range. But as soon as that tom saw the jake decoy, he ran past his hens right up to the decoy. Kind of caught me off-guard, but I was able to draw my bow untetected and hold the pin on him while he came in to 12 yds. I don't know what it is, but I have a hard time letting them get to the decoy. I've seen it too many times something happens in close and the birds takes off without getting a shot so when an opporunity presents itself, I usually jump on it. One of these times, I'm going to let a bird flog the deke though, even if it costs me an opporunity! Upon the release, I watched the arrow hit the bird hard and he jumped and flapped a few times and was done. Those Grim Reaper 2" WT Specs sure do a number on turkeys! It was a picture perfect text book hunt and I couldn't be happier!

Carrying gear and a heavy bird over your shoulder long distances isn't much fun. I realized halfway to the truck I wasn't as in good of shape as I thought I was! Pains of happiness. I walked right by this as, but my buddy hollered behind me and I turned around and this on the fenceline. A nice 8 pt still in velvet. We had heard of the EHD outbreak on forums and from the locals when we arrived, but now we were witnessing it first hand. Nearly back to the truck we stumbed on a another smaller 8 pt that was polished. Here's a pic of the bigger one.

We were seeing fawns running around everywhere throughout the day. Pretty sad deal. Going to be several years before things stabilize. We stopped and checked to see how the other guys did and they didn't see anything so we broke for camp and got my bird hung up and had some lunch. The snow had finally stopped and now it just cold and windy.

That afternoon we headed to an area I hadn't been to in years. The other guys went up to the corner near where I shot my bird earlier that morning. There was cattle and plenty of birds across the rd, but we weren't able to pull anything across the rd. It was a long 3 hr sit in the blind with nothing to speak of. We walked back to the truck to wait for the rest of the crew to return. They saw a pile of birds, but nothing within 40 yds, but had a good gameplan for morning. Saturday was shotgun opener and it was supposed to be beautiful out. Calm winds, sunny, & temps in the mid-40's! We couldn't wait! Had a fabulous meal at a local establishment and crawled in the sleeping bags with high expectations for morning.

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Day 3

Up at the crack of dawn, we had our ritual breakfast and left for the turkey hills. The other guys climbed the big hill and setup overlooking the entire field while we setup down at the bottom. We didn't even have the blind popped up when we heard hen talk from up top. It was calm and birds were fired up. A short while, there were flocks of birds in the field. Hens yelping, toms strutting & gobbling. It was the day we were waiting for! Those guys up in the corner had an amazing hunt. They watched as about 60 birds filtered out of the cedars out in the field, some even pitching off the top of the hill and coming in over their blind. They had 3 jakes come back behind their blind, but present no shot. A short while later a hen w/ an 8" rope tested their patience. They held off as toms were nearby. They then watched a flock of birds turn direction and head right up the hill to them. A tom proceeded to breed a hen and once he was off, he marched right up to his jake decoy and proceeded to beat the the snot out of him. After missing the jake earlier in the trip, he was seeking revenge and was carrying the shotgun this morning. At 15 yds and patience wearing thin, he pulled the trigger and dropped a beautiful tom. We heard the blast from the bottom and still had birds well out of range in front of us. We managed to call 7 hens across a creek and one bearded w/ about a 5" beard came within 40 yds. Had she come in, she very well may have been in trouble! Here's a distant shot of her as she steered clear of our setup.

Once all the birds were well out of sight, we snuck around the knoll and made sure nothing was approaching from our backside. After that, we packed up and went to see what that shot was all about!

We now all had a bird and still had a 1/2 day to hunt and a few hours Sunday morning. The sun was up and starting to get warm so we went back to camp and got the birds cleaned and into coolers. We tried to go scout some land where I shot my bird last year, but everything was a muddy mess and it was a long hike. We opted to rest that area this year and finish up where we had been seeing birds. We did a two blind setup about 150 yds apart for our last evening hunt. The toll of us putting the pressure on and being chased around on different properties from other hunters was taking a toll. The field remained empty all day and as tough as it was to stay put, I kept on saying 15 minutes longer! Finally, the birds show up from nowwhere on their way back to roost. Some hens pass by the other guy's blind, but there's more up on the hill working their way down. This was their view of our blind that evening.

After some calling back & forth, I had the flock of hens and tom coming back towards our blind. But unbeknown to us, one of the other guys had snuck out and was stalking the birds. I don't think he knew how good turkey's eyesight is and was comparing the stalk to whitetails! Anyways, by now we're getting in the blind as these birds are headed right towards us. Suddenly there's a huge commotion and they all take flight and fly over our blind, land on the hill behind us 20 yds away and run up and over the hill. What the heck just happened??? Suddenly my buddy spots the other guy standing up on the hill. We were a little frustrated with that one, but that's the way it goes sometimes! That ended a a pretty uneventful and frustrating evening. We had porkchops and baked beans for dinner and a good fire to wind down. The forecast was calling for rain overnight and possibly into the morning. I slept through it, but evidently it rained pretty hard overnight, but was quiet when we woke up. We gave it one final hoorah, but the birds didn't want to play nice. We had two hens come through the decoys, and heard some gobbling in the distance, but that was it. Hunted until 9am and pulled the plug. Took down camp and left the beautiful Nebraska landscape until next spring. The snow had all melted. As usual, we had a blast even despite unfavorable weather. This is always a trip I look forward to every year and I'm always sad to leave.

Hope you enjoyed following along on this year's hunt!

[123fish]

Great story and pics. Congratulations to all of you. Looks like it was a great time. Can't beat Nebrska for turkey hunting!

[Gofishleech]

Great stuff !!

[hugonian1]

Looks like you guys had a great hunt and made the most of some tough conditions.

Great looking bird there.

Congrats.

[DonBo]

Great job Matt! Poor conditions, yet awesome results. Thanks for taking the time to bring us along.

[Borch]

Very cool SNS!

You never know what mother nature will dish out and you still had a great time.

[pail-fish]

Great write-up and looks like a great hunt. Wish I could have tagged along this year. There is always next year as they say.

I'm still picking mud out of my jeep from the last time.

[sticknstring]

That road was inaccessible this year. Well, maybe not for your jeep - ha! Next year indeed!

[Meat-Run]

SNS, great hunt and story, love the short blood trail.

MR

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Is this thread realllly wide when you you guys view it too? Something wrong with my computer I think!

Here's a little video I put together with the pics and a few short vids. I didn't bring the video cam out due to the weather the first couple days and we didn't have many opportunities when it did get nice out. I brought two trail cams down too, but never even put them out. So much stuff to carry and too many different sets. Big ideas going in, but tough to make good on them! I wish I had more footage to share - sorry! I'm definitely going to take extra time and do it on my MN hunt.

[Hoyt4]

Very cool SNS and congrats. Love chasing them birds in the snow. Glad your trip happen and was safe.

[Sifty]

Great story thanks for sharing

[paceman]

Awesome recaps and pictures! Thanks for sharing them!

[mws4dux]

Sounds like a great time....Great pics and story!!

[bigbucks]

Absolutely love the bloody tracks in the snow leading to the dead bird. What a cool shot!

Great job & great pics, congrats.