Andrew L.
Well-known member
Headed north this weekend with my cousin and a buddy in search of my first turkey. I had messaged Brandon Y. about the road conditions prior to heading up and figured we would not make it back all the way into our camp as we have a mile drive on a Logging/ATV trail and the snow had just melted a few days previous. Our road typically is not bad until the last quarter mile or so but even with a 2 wheel drive truck I have had no problems in the past. To be safe we took a 4 wheel drive truck and planned on making it up the split where the gravel ends, about 100 yards from camp.
We arrived Friday and took a short walk to check the road before we drove it. It seemed sloppy but nothing that I thought would hurt. Needless to say after not even making it in a few hundred yards in the truck literally sank. After an hour of winching and shoveling we had managed to only get the truck deeper into the sludge. We have literally one contact in the UP. After calls to both his cell phone and home phone there was no reply, what a great start to gobbler hunting!
After another hours full of work we received a call back and a tractor was on its way. The Good Samaritan helped pulled us out and in typical UP country fashion would not even allow us to give him compensation for fuel or take him and his wife out for dinner or drinks to return the favor.
Friday night plans locating a roost were out of the question. We hauled the necessities back to camp before dark as we have no running water or electricity there, IMO the way things should be at camp.
We began hunting Saturday morning and received only one distant gobble in a few hours of hunting and hiking. After hiking to the truck for the evening and pulling onto the main road we notice a Tom and 2 hens across the road and figured it was as good a shot as any. I was dropped off and set the decoys while the other 2 parked the truck and sat 20 yards behind to begin calling.
After, what seemed like a life time, the turkeys had crossed the road and the Tom presented a great shooting oppourtunity and I was able to connect. A bigger bird than I had ever expected for my first and a great relief after all the work from the previous day.
A few lessons learned. First, UP logging trails are a no go after the thaw. Second, to not take your neighbors for granted. The weekend ended Sunday morning dropping of a restaurant gift certifcate to the folks that helped us out, without them we would still be there.
Hope everyone is having a successful spring in the woods! Now, is it September yet??
We arrived Friday and took a short walk to check the road before we drove it. It seemed sloppy but nothing that I thought would hurt. Needless to say after not even making it in a few hundred yards in the truck literally sank. After an hour of winching and shoveling we had managed to only get the truck deeper into the sludge. We have literally one contact in the UP. After calls to both his cell phone and home phone there was no reply, what a great start to gobbler hunting!
After another hours full of work we received a call back and a tractor was on its way. The Good Samaritan helped pulled us out and in typical UP country fashion would not even allow us to give him compensation for fuel or take him and his wife out for dinner or drinks to return the favor.
Friday night plans locating a roost were out of the question. We hauled the necessities back to camp before dark as we have no running water or electricity there, IMO the way things should be at camp.
We began hunting Saturday morning and received only one distant gobble in a few hours of hunting and hiking. After hiking to the truck for the evening and pulling onto the main road we notice a Tom and 2 hens across the road and figured it was as good a shot as any. I was dropped off and set the decoys while the other 2 parked the truck and sat 20 yards behind to begin calling.
After, what seemed like a life time, the turkeys had crossed the road and the Tom presented a great shooting oppourtunity and I was able to connect. A bigger bird than I had ever expected for my first and a great relief after all the work from the previous day.
A few lessons learned. First, UP logging trails are a no go after the thaw. Second, to not take your neighbors for granted. The weekend ended Sunday morning dropping of a restaurant gift certifcate to the folks that helped us out, without them we would still be there.
Hope everyone is having a successful spring in the woods! Now, is it September yet??
