Little Creek Calls

ln looking at the map it looks like I was about 4 miles from the nearest lake. He must have been up high in the sky watching the flock of Turkey waiting for the right opportunity.

While fishing the west fork of the black river with a good friend and his dad a few years back we came around this bend in the river and there was a spike elk standing on this rock ledge just above the river. He was acting and looked strange, his tongue was hanging out and he didn't run away. As we got closer this collared wolf came running out from just under the rocks and ran up the hill stopping once or twice to see what we were before leaving. He had chased and cornered this elk. Glad to have come to the rescue for the elk that day.

My son has had it great. Every year he's had turkeys called in with lots of gobbling and the ideal turkey hunting experience every year. When I was his age there was no over the counter youth hunt. My dad and I had no clue what we were doing when we first started turkey hunting. We attended many classes and seminars on how to hunt. We still failed most years but we kept at it and all the experiences and time made me the turkey hunter I am today. Do I wish my dad would have been a better turkey hunter and spoiled me, sure but I grew a lot closer to my dad through learning together. I am really grateful to him because he was the one who originally wanted to start turkey hunting. For me it was just a way to bridge the gap between the fall big game hunts. Now it's become my favorite hunt of the year. So keep at it your son is lucky to have a dad like you who takes him out each year.

I was able to get my turkey on opening morning. Something different happened on this hunt that I have never seen or heard of before. After I shot my turkey he is flopping around on the ground when out of nowhere a bald eagle comes dive bombing out of the sky through the trees and lands on top of my dead turkey and starts attacking him with his talons and beak. I guess he wasn't bothered by the gunshot I had just used on the Tom. Anyways I had to run quickly to scare him off before my dead turkey flew away.

That is my newest call that I developed last year. Three and a half reeds of latex. Three different thickness of latex. The cut out shape is called a ghost cut. I like to name my calls after Arizona places so being a ghost cut I named it after the logging camp ghost town of "Maverick" in the white mountains.

Had a great opening morning with my son. Birds were vocal and responsive to calls. Came in gobbling just after fly down. My son was patient waited for the right opportunity and made a great shot.

With no snow accumulation at all this winter expect the birds to be spread out in small flocks in more locations. In the areas I normally see large winter flocks had none this winter. They didn't have to migrate and congregate because of no snow pack.

Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander would be my picks if you were trying to avoid the minivan.

Check the returned items section at REI. They have some great deals on stuff like that.

Like the others said, looks like a green sunfish.

I don't own either one but have looked through and used both on hunts and to me the difference is clarity all the way to the edge with the HD. Now they are coming out with 14X52 NL pure. I wonder how those will compare. I like the idea of 14X instead of 15X, kind of splitting the difference between 12 and 15.

Nice work Tommy. It looks great. Who did the taxidermy?

Here is a link to Cole at CMC Skullworks. His prices are listed on his website. I have had several things cleaned with his beetles and have always been impressed with his work. He is in Tucson but is worth the drive. https://cmcskullworks.com/

Are you taking him to Arrowhead or are they playing the Cardinals next year?