Bowhunting Western Montana: 2009 Turkey Season, finally a day in the field

Sunday the 26th found me out in the field for an afternoon of turkey hunting. I have to say this is my first day turkey hunting ever. I wasn't able to make it out for the morning but snuck out for a few hours during the day.

It was a beautiful Spring day here in western Montana. The grass is greening up nicely and I couldn't resist snapping a few wildflower pics.

A nice bunch of arrow leaf balsam roots.

I managed to see a turkey strutting in someones backyard while driving into the area that I would be hunting. I setup as close as I could to the property where I saw the turkey. Like I said I don't have much turkey hunting experience but this bird was going nuts gobbling every few minutes at the very least. He seemed some what receptive to my calling, and came closer to my setup but never seemed to get close enough for me to see him. I pretty sure this is a back yard bird and is probably called to frequently so he knows not to cross the road and barb wire fence that separated us that afternoon.

A lovely example of a larkspur.

Some really great looking property to hunt. I think it gets hammered by other hunters but I'm trying not to let this deter me. After not having any luck with the gobbling backyard bird I scouted out the rest of the property, while I didn't see much sign or here any gobbles I'm pretty sure that plenty of birds are in the area and I just need to get down there and make things happen.

Prep Time: Bowhunting Turkeys in Montana 2009

Having every intention of wanting to hunt the opening weekend of turkey season, I found myself on the archery range on the second day of the season instead of in the field. A stomach bug and the crushing weight of school had not left much time for extra activities, including this blog. So needless to say I was using time that could be spent hunting, dialing in my setup. Luckily we have a long turkey season here in Montana so I weekend squandered wasn't the end of the world.





















My bow was shooting good, and the shooter behind the bow was coming along as well. It was good to set up my recently acquired ground blind and shoot from inside it.



























I like the blind but I'm concerned that driving it's stakes into the ground will require very soft dirt. Not always an option when hunting and setting up on the fly.

Wind appears to be a potential factor and the blind will have to be well staked out if it is the least bit windy and I hope to fool some birds.
With the school semester coming to a close I'm not certain how many days I will have to get into the field and after turkeys.

Elk Management in Montana

Slammed with school, I haven't had time to update my blog, nor have I been able to have any adventures worth blogging about.

If your interested if found this to be a very interesting article from the local paper in Helena.
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2009/04/26/top/55st_090426_elk.txt