For the first time, I am sad that my turkey season is finished.
Turkey season use to be like a marathon. The outcome mattered most, and the journey was a means to an end.
This year I savored the journey more. I worked very hard to try to decipher the new code to the woods that had gone cold after having been very productive for several years. I did not hear or see a gobbler in Grant County this season, and while I got very discouraged, I also tried harder. I scouted areas that I hadn't hunted before. I listened for gobblers in the mornings, called to them in the afternoons and skulked through woods in the evenings listening for birds flying up to the roost.
I had resigned myself to a shutout when Mike Stanley of Highland invited me to a place where I killed a nice gobbler in an epic hunt. The story of that hunt occurred on the last day of the season, when I called a pair of gobblers across a creek at dawn. I didn't see them, but their gobbles were thunderous. Stanley, watching through binoculars at a distance, said they came to the edge of the field where they strutted and gobbled about 60 yards away.
"If you'd had a decoy, they'd have run right to you," Stanley said.
Although I didn't kill a turkey in Oklahoma last week, I thoroughly enjoyed the hunt, and I especially enjoyed meeting new friends that tried to help me get a gobbler. I see now how turkey hunters stretch the season for as long as they can going from one state to another. It gets in your blood that way, and now I also have that hunger.
I used some gear this year that merits attention, including an Alps Outdoorz Grand Slam turkey hunting vest. It features an internal metal frame that contains two legs that deploy when you sit to create a stable backrest. It is heavy, but it allows you to plop down anywhere and sit comfortably on the plush integral cushion.
It has two dedicated pockets for slate calls and a box call pouch. Two water bottle pouches are near the head area, but I used them for calls instead. This requires securing the box lids with rubber bands to prevent squawking. A cellphone pouch is on the front, and two internal pockets hold just about anything you would want to put in them.
Ion Sports Camera
I've had my Ion HD Sports Camocam for several years, but I didn't use it because it seemed like too much trouble. I was mistaken. It is easy to use and is ideal for turkey hunting.
The Ion Camocam is a small, cylinder shaped camera that shoots 1,080p high-definition video. A padded bracket mounts underneath a shotgun barrel, rifle barrel or on a bow. To turn it on, slide a switch forward. It vibrates silently when you turn it on or off.
This camera was on my gun when I killed my Oklahoma and Arkansas gobblers, but both times I got so excited that I forgot to turn it on. It shoots incredibly clear, satiny video. I like it a lot better than my GoPro, and it is now a permanent part of my turkey hunting kit.
Radical Pan
Camp cooking is a lot easier and better with a new product called the Radical Pan by Chef Oren. Made of hard, 3.5mm anodized aluminum, it also has three layers of durable, toxin-free nonstick coating and a handle designed to stay cool. Its signature feature is its patented high-rise lip at the back. This allows you to flip food like eggs, hotcakes and stir fry like a pro. My 10-inch pan is the ideal size for a propane camp stove, and it heats much more evenly than the stainless steel camp cookware I've used for decades. For information, visit radusa.com.
Zenbivy
When camping in cool weather, I have long used an unzipped sleeping bag as a blanket. Lately I have been using a Zenbivy quilt, a great new product that makes the sleeping bag obsolete for sleeping in teardrop campers and on air mattresses in late winter and early spring.
The Zenbivy is a rectangular quilt that can be configured into a mummy bag. It is light and stows into a small bag, but it is very warm and plush. For information, visitzenbivy.com.
Sports on 05/10/2020