Hunting New Turkeys in New Places - What Changes and What Stays the Same

We hit the road to stretch the season past Mississippi’s closing day and learn what changes when the turkeys, terrain, and weather are brand new. We trade stories from West Texas and Idaho to show why ethics stay the same and why turkeys still find ways to win.
• the bittersweet end of the Mississippi spring turkey season and the push to travel
• how we approach new states and new subspecies without changing our style
• why turkeys do not live everywhere and how to avoid hunting empty woods
• West Texas glassing and positioning on Rios with fences roads and pressured birds
• a close-range finish that starts with a turkey hearing footsteps in dead grass
• Idaho public land lessons on movement timing weather breaks and staying with birds
• why gobblers try to gain elevation and how a small setup mistake costs you

Y’all be sure to check out the new Late Season May Sale at springlegion.com! Use Checkout Code May20 for 20% off the entire collection of Spring 2026 Turkey Gear. Supply is low.

LINK: Save 10% on your next North Mountain Gear Leafy Jacket with code LEGION26 at northmountaingear.com

LINK: SAVE 10% on the new 2026 Line of Turkey Hunting Gear at springlegion.com with code POD10

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We'd like to thank the following sponsors for making this podcast possible:

• North Mountain Gear
• Mossy Oak
• Apex Ammunition
• Vortex Optics

Transcript

Season Ending And Travel Plans

SPEAKER_01 1:03

What's going on, y'all? Welcome back to the Spring Legion Podcast in a very bittersweet episode because we have reached the um home stretch of the 2026 turkey season. My name's Hunter Farrier, joining you alongside brother and co-host Chase Farrier again today. And this is um one of them episodes you you kind of at the beginning of the season you you think you'll never get to, and then all of a sudden you blink, and now we're here. We're talking about turkeys that we're traveling for. Yep. Because uh the home state is just dying. The next uh the next gobble that we will hear, we're we're sitting here in the warehouse and got a little peek of the window, and the sun's setting on the last day of the spring 2026 turkey season here in Mississippi. And um Yeah, it's rough as a rough feeling. You know, it it's it's weird. Yeah. You you spend so much time looking forward to it, and all of a sudden it's it's happened. It it it is it is fulfilled, so to speak. Uh everything you're gonna get done, everything you're gonna do, all the memories you're gonna make have been made, and now we're here. Now we're in the uh the efforts of extending that as long as possible. And if y'all know us, that's that's all we want to do is hunt turkeys as as much as possible and and and surround ourselves with goblin turkeys as long as the good Lord will allow for as the duration is as long as they will allow. And that's um and bank accounts. Yeah. As long as bank accounts allow. That's uh that's a probably the biggest factor of them all, so to speak. And um we're gonna try to do that. We we've been doing that um the past week or so, and so we're gonna dive into a little bit of what we've noticed on the road and and kind of some stories to go along with those tellings. And most of them, most of them, both of them, we're gonna we're gonna hit two of them, and I got a couple more and we'll save for uh the plan is for seals to come in this week, and we'll talk a little bit more about our little swing we had. But uh, but one will kind of coincide with a little bit of chases that we'll dive into here momentarily. But um, but yeah, so before we get into it though, I did want to hit on a quick update or two from the online shop side. It is chaos around here. Y'all know that. If y'all followed along since the beginning, y'all know we're turkey hunters with an online store. And for the most part, it's a one-man show when it comes to anything related to a computer, and I'm that one man and I ain't great at any of it. So for those who have who have beared along with us in in terms of returns, exchanges, uh, you know, emails, voicemails, all that good stuff, just want to send a sincere appreciation for y'all's patience because anytime you throw in about a five-day stint of zero service, complete off-grid, complete, no, no mountain high enough to find it, it it throws you can imagine the size of the wrench it throws into stuff that you're trying to get done. And um, that's what happened this past week. And we did get a new, as we mentioned at the very, very end of last week's episode, which I wish I would have uh included in the beginning for anyone who didn't hear it, to s to better sort out any type of order issue or or wonder. We've got a new email called orders at springlegion.com. And that is orders plural. So O R D E R S at Springlegion.com. You send something to to that email, I'm gonna get it and get back with you as soon as possible, and it's gonna be anything from you know got the wrong hat. I need to exchange a size, stuff along those lines, not which size mask do you prefer and stuff, you know. That's the support email. Anything that's anything related to a current em current order that needs to be kind of attended to on a quicker scale, send it to there. Um as soon as we wrap this up, I'm gonna be knocking out everything that we've got in the past few days, replying to everything on on those. And then if you get an order, check the receipt, the pack and slip, or whatever. There is a phone number on there. That's our text line. You can also send a text to that. I ain't putting that on the website. That's the whole reason of even having a phone separate from everything else, is so it don't get all the spam stuff and it'll be much quicker to deal with. Yeah. So appreciate y'all's patience. We're we're we're doing the best we can, as we always are, but kind of the old mantra of the whole brand is where you are winging it every step of the way, and and um we do appreciate y'all nonetheless. But we do have some new stuff. I know y'all have already checked them out, uh, or at least a lot of y'all have, because there's been a I had to somehow expedite some new labels to get to the warehouse um on the airplane on the way up there because y'all have racked them out on these new goat rope hats that we got in uh last week. Full foliage, and um the original breakup is pretty slick.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Yeah, I agree. That's first uh first time I've been up here to see them, but I'm yeah, I like those. Yeah, they're pretty sweet.

May Sale And New Gear Drop

Ethics And Style Still Matter

SPEAKER_01 5:52

A lot of other folks like them too, because they're rolling on them. That stack did not look like that when I left. Uh-uh. And it is much shorter now. But those we got um got some new, I think the leather strap hats are just as slick. Yeah, they look the same on the like looking at the thumbnail, they look like just normal hats, but they're they're like really high quality stuff. They're straight from Mossy Oak, kind of their cotton mill material with the leather strap brass buckle and stuff. We got those in full foliage and original bottom land. They're kind of just a classic, you know, kind of classy, nice hat, and uh some solids in those as well. But um, but on the gear side, we have hit the month of May, so that means we are going to offer the whole 20% off May sale through the month of May. So that's going to apply to anything on the turkey count collection, the gaiters, the vests, the um the jackets, the performance button-downs, pants, you name it. You know, anything that's in that 2026 spring turkey collection that we released back, you know, in February or whenever that was, the remaining stuff will be 20% off with code May20, M-A-Y-20 at springlegion.com for the rest of May, I think. Unless we re I mean, we're gonna run out of some sizes. We're already out of some sizes, so it's kind of the remaining. If you want to go ahead and get that, uh heck, some folks that listen to this in PA going, the season just opened. You know, this is awesome. You know, y'all being a southern brand. Yeah, there's some folks just opening now. Right. So and a lot of folks from down this way are gonna be traveling, and heck yeah, I mean, you can't beat a pair of pants for that price, that quality, in my mind at least. No, I agree. If you could, I'd find a way to beat it. But so y'all check those out, and then we are going to dive on into uh a little bit of what we learned of this past week in the turkey woods, and and it's gonna have to do with traveling. And it's not not how to travel and stuff, but hunting turkeys in new areas, hunting new turkeys. Yeah. And by new turkeys, I don't mean necessarily the the micro new turkeys, you know, this W May versus this WMA, two counties over. I'm talking thousands miles between. You know, we're uh I was up in the Idaho area. Yeah. And um and you were out what West Texas area and and dealing with Rios. That's Miriams and Rios, and you had Rios, and you hunt them differently, from what I can tell. I mean, just through my experience. I ain't saying there's a handbook on it. Right. But I've I've hunted them enough to know that you do hunt them a little bit different than the southeastern easterns. And um and we'll dive into you know kind of how that happened, how we went about it, and what we what worked, what didn't work for anybody who is also gonna be doing a little bit of traveling or lives out there, might might pick up a hint or two of worthwhile and if nothing else, you get a little entertainment out of the story. But um but before we dive into Chase, Chase is gonna tell his story first, I think, whether you know it or not, Chase. Alright. But the the hunting integrity of how you hunt, I believe, doesn't change. So I want to get that across before we even talk about anything. Some I I I hear it a lot, you know. They hunt them one way down here at home, so to speak, and then they go out west and they're like, well, that's when you grab a you know, a fan or a decoy or whatever, because they're it's so open and everything, and that's not what we do. I don't I don't do that. I don't believe in that. I you you how you hunt them, your style stays the same. And and I don't know how I say it, but uh I got a lot of proof of it it still works, you know, even in when there is no trees. And when there is no, you know terrain changes and barriers and stuff. It still works. You can hunt a field turkey no different than you can a hardwood bottom turkey. It's open area. You know, you call you call to them, you make them have to look, you just gotta do it a little differently. But um so we'll dive into that and um tweets that are on on that spill, but that's I just wanted to make sure that the folks do know that, that that I don't believe that that how you go about it, how you if you if you're trying to just make it easy out there, first off, it kind of already is. Right, you don't coming from down here, right? But at the same time, I've got my butt whooped by some dinky little Rios before. 100%. And you talk about humbled. Yeah. It's one thing to get humbled by a swamp bottom eastern on public land around here. It's another to go out there and oh, this is a cakewalk. You think again and you get your teeth kicked in a time or two, and you're like, well, why? Yeah, maybe we'll we'll solve a little bit of that why here in the next few minutes. But um, but yeah, I want you to dive in. I know you took a trip with um with dad and Brick. Yep. The usual. Y'all have gone on it way more than I have.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

I hadn't been on that trip in eight years, I think, is what we figured out. That's crazy. Something of that name. Well, six years. Six years. Um 2020 was the last spring I went. So this yeah, yeah. Would have been six years.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

How in the world? That's twenty six years now. That you know, that's what blew my mind too.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

But um, I felt like I'd only missed one or two, but I I really realized it when I got out there and you know, I saw how much had changed.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Um I ain't even I don't even know how long it's been since I've been out there. Yeah, you're pushing 15 or 10 years.

West Texas Rio Hunt Story

SPEAKER_00 10:58

2017 or something, maybe. Um, 2016, 2017. Um anyways, but um, yeah, I wanted to go on that trip this year. I've I've not been able to go the last few last several years, obviously, and all that stuff, but um it is a block of private that we've just made a good buddy out there that lets us on his place and um you know takes care of us while we're out there.

SPEAKER_01 11:21

Good relationship built over what 20 20 something years, my dad and he's dang near 20 years. He's been going for 20 years, and it's kind of like they go when that there ain't no turkeys, just hanging out, you know.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

And um this property's kind of always been known as a winter roost area, I think. Probably. You know, we've never just been loaded out with a ton of turkeys on us. Or now the neighboring properties always have turkeys. But I think ours is just like a winter roost thing, um, which I did find out when I got out there, everything's dead on our block and not on everybody else's block. Really? They apparently were gonna put solar panels on our block at one point and crop dusted all the mesquite trees with Roundup or something. I got out there and got out there. What? Yeah, totally was like, yep, some things have changed here.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Um ain't water this place is the last left, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

But yeah, so yeah, come to find out, you know, what I thought I was walking into was changed had changed, was different. So dealt with a lot of dead mesquite trees instead of green mesquite trees um and dead grass and all that. But um hunting was was different for sure. Um got there right as we got there, we heard one gobbling as we were opening the gate, actually. Um the the leaseholder, landowner, whatever you want to call. And this this place is hit or miss.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Very hit or miss. I mean, you're in one inner spectrum or other, like you're gonna either have turkeys or you are not gonna have turkeys. Right. If you were to pull up to like the where are turkeys in America, they're on the borderline of like the color of Rios and white, meaning no turkeys exist there. Um, which a lot of folks forget. That's the biggest tip I can give anybody when I when folks are like, you got any tips for hunting out here? I'm like, pull up a map and make sure it's turkeys within the Tri-County area. Because there you could be hunting some prime turkey woods with no turkeys. Yep. There's eight prime turkey woods, but I'm just saying that's that is something that that I do try to look at before I get on the road or while I'm on the road is make sure I'm headed to a place that even I even have a chance because I have hunted air for two days before. Before I went, I forgot turkeys don't exist everywhere. Yep. Um but but not to interrupt your story, but I just wanted to get kind of the the settings set, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

And the guy That's what I mean by winter roost. Like if you hit it in the early part of the season, normally you will have, you know, seven or eight on the place. And it's not a huge place. Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

It ain't you say private land, it ain't like a an outfit. Yeah, uh, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

I mean we're staying in a 1971 school bus with a couch in it.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

The guy and the guy that we're friends with, he he just deer hunts, you know. Yeah, he doesn't start yonder anything, and he just he just tries to help us out, you know. Hey, we do or do not. And when he says we do not, definitely do not. But sometimes he says we do, and we still don't. Right, right. So here in one, I'm sure, you know, I remember the times I went out there, that was a big deal. You hit you hear one, you're like, okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

There's a chance.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Yeah, literally. Literally, yeah. There were some times you don't go here.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Yeah. Um, which first morning there started out kind of that way. We heard one right going up about roost time when we got there. We did hear one, so we were like, okay, well, there's a turkey in the area. Something to look forward to. Yeah. So we woke up next morning and we don't hear a turkey. Which we were like, well, back to reality. Yeah. Um, so I ended up going and finding one of those box stands and um that the leaseholder had out there on a big high knob. And I just climbed up, got on the platform, started glassing fields, the neighboring fields, and I ended up finding three long beards with seven hands in one of the neighboring fields across the road. I'm talking eight or nine hundred yards away. Yeah. But I could tell enough to tell it was three long beards and seven hands. Which our property corner probably got within 150 of that field's property corner. Yeah. But it was a gravel road across it. So you got two hog wire fences and a gravel road crawling through. But it was something, you know. Right, you got something to work on. I realized something was where I could get within earshot of. So I spent about spent about two hours easing my way over there, you know, through the desert and whatnot, um, and found the gnarliest buck bedding thicket mesquite with piles, you could imagine. Yeah, rattlesnake beds. You could imagine. And um which I kind of got to having fun doing that, honestly, just piddling around looking at deer stuff. I found two big deadheads. Yeah, they do have some big deer out there. And um I think I picked up eight sheds that first day, and two deadheads. So that was cool. Um but um ended up getting over there and I was watching the turkeys out there in that field, and I was waiting on that perfect opportunity to call. And I know you know what I'm talking about by saying that, but like if it's a dominant turkey and two non-dominant turkeys, yeah, waiting on one of those non-dominants to kind of get a little distance and stuff between him and the the main dominant turkey and making that call then to say, hey, they're not paying attention to me, let me slide over here.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

I I think that's the case. I mean, I'm I I could obviously be wrong, but I I do try if there's multiple long beers in there, you can tell the dominant one, you can tell the subordinate ones. And I mean, I don't have no numbers in front of me of like X amount I've tried, X amount at work, X amount didn't. But a lot of times I can wait till one of them subordinate ones gets to pecking off somewhere. Because they're kind of opportunists, they they if a grasshopper runs a little wild, they gotta they're gonna their instinct is to go after and they like you know if you sit there and this works when you got eyes on them. Right. Only yeah, if you got eyes got eyes on them, you know, there isn't there is no chance. But but if you can see one kind of peel off and and just get sidetracked or whatever, they don't want to call then. Yep. That's what I would say.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

Well, I was waiting on that opportunity and was trying to I needed to cover get uh get through one more gap of sunshine to feel like I needed to be where I needed to be.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

And knock you did you not call until you got through it? I was trying not to, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

And I was sitting there trying to wait for them all to kind of you know get behind another pile of brush so I can move that gap because there wasn't no other way around it other than cross it in plain sight. Yeah, you know, sometimes that's gonna make sure they're all looking the other way and jog it, you know, across.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

And that's when you just sometimes the least you can do is try not to direct their attention to the city.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Exactly, you know. Yeah. So I'm as I'm watching them waiting on that, I see the opportunity unfold. And I'm like, golly, I'm in the wrong spot, and if I call, I'm definitely not getting across it either way. And amongst so I finally made my move, and then they ended up getting into like uh uh fighting and oh heck aggravating and all this stuff, and the main dominant bird pushed them to the very far back corner of that field, which is they're now another 800 yards from me at this point, wind blowing from them to me. So they couldn't hear me, which I got on the wing bomb and um threw some yelps out there, obviously no response, and they kind of stayed where they were gonna stay, and so I just started, you know, kind of learning that creek. It's an old dried up creek bike bed out there. I don't know if you call it a bottom, but creek bed, there's a creek there that's dried up. So I started just kind of relearning that because I ain't seen it in so many years. So I was fiddling around, you know, started finding those deer heads and stuff like that. So I was just enjoying myself more as of going on a nature walk calling every 150 yards with some, you know, in the back of my mind, one may strike up. And um ended up going back to the deer stand to get back on there and glass those fields to see where those turkeys ended up going. Yeah. And I ended up the the two non-dominants were still out there. Um I think if I'm thinking this right. At some point I looked back in the field and the two two non-dominants had not gone over the little roll yet. They kept peeking up over. So I'm thinking they may have heard my calling at that point. But I sat there long enough that they weren't coming back, so that's when I decided to work my way back to the deer stand to glass. That's what it was. As I'm up there glassing, I hear one gobble. And I'm like directly behind me. So I go to the other side of the little platform I can stand on. Yeah. Directly behind me. I'm back to the other side. I'm like four gobbles, he is behind me every gobble. And I'm like, either we got two turkeys over here that are really messing with me, or this box stand on one side of me is messing with me, and that's exactly what was going on. Um so he was standing at the last place I'd called. Really? Okay, like within 15 feet of it, and I could I knew that. When I got on the ground and he gobbled twice, I said, I know exactly where you're standing at. It's the last place I hit, I think, my wing bone. Um came off the neighbors, I assume, because I'm 300 yards off the property line from the direction he came from. So he may have been in that group, he may not have been, because this is probably an hour after I'd last laid eyes on these turkeys, so good chance it may have been one of them. I don't know. Or another one. So, anyways, I move you know, I cover a lot of ground real quick, 200 yards, probably. He's at 400 yards at this point. Um barely can hear him. Um there was a little rise out there, a little high point that was bald, sun's, you know, nothing on it. It was just a hump out there. And I get to where I'm about to cross over that, and I say, wait a minute, you know, let me get him to gobble one more time. And I felt like he was drifting right, so I dropped back off the high spot, I guess you'd call it, and circle it to the right. And I never touched the call again. That turkey heard my freaking footsteps in the dead grass. I'm not kidding you. Shot him in eight steps.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Oh, he was headed right to where your last step.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Yeah. And I was sitting there like I rewatched a little GoPro clip, and I'm like, I want to get to that next tree. But I want him to gobble first before I do, and he gobbled right then. I said, We ain't getting to that tree. That tree's gonna stay there. He was at like 45-50 at that point, and the minute he gobbled, I saw you know, yeah, a little glimpse of his red head, you know, through that brush, and he hooked up there. I heard him drum one time right there on me, and then he came around the corner, looked like where where you at? So I mean he was looking for that hen real hard, it seemed. Um, which was kind of weird, you know. Um, I expect that in leaves. Yeah, but I never well, I mean, so so you hadn't called since the last time you did? Yeah, since where he was standing at. And as far as I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Well, I mean, if he if he's looking hard at the time, he's looking hard. Yeah, and he hears something at all.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

I mean, and and I closed 350 of that four months.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

You returned back to about the same exact spot you called last.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

Nah, I mean I wasn't far off though. Yeah. I got where I mean he heard he could hear my footsteps from where he was walking around. Right. Which I mean, where he gobbled fo three or four times back to back was exactly where my last call was. Or it may have been my next to last call. Well, if I I'm trying to remember either way, close to it. So he may have known I had gone this way, you know, and he was working that way. Yeah. If that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

He could have been going to your to your actual last one if it was behind you now.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

Um and but no, I mean I Yeah, I mean, I really really think he because I mean that brush I was in some loud stuff. Yeah. I mean, realistically. It it seemed like you could hear one walking in it.

When Turkeys Gobble At Your Steps

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Right, and I've had uh some this past week that that they would gobble once. And you bite out change calls and they got give that call one gobble, just those courtesy gobbles of like, I acknowledge your existence. Yep. But I ain't entertaining it. And um But if you got to moving and you, you know, and and I was hunting in some thick stuff. This ain't the story of my tail, but the next day or two was in some thick stuff. Really? And if you got to move and they'd gobble at you moving, it's kind of like, you know, it almost sounded like wings dragging the ground or something. You know, I don't know what they were they just like that something's moving. Yeah. And they'd gobble at that one time, but they ain't gonna gobble at it the more you move, you know, they'd give it one good, one. But I get guarantee they're they're keeping it in the back of their mind. And you know, I don't I'm not a turkey, I can't put in their brains, but it seems like I can just say what it seems like.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Uh when me and Gresham went to Georgia, what was that two weekends ago? We had uh set up on some turkeys gobbling. This is just a quick side note that hits on this. Um we finally hung it up on these turkeys and started walking out always directly away. And brother, whenever we started slipping out, because we were gonna make a loop on them because we could tell they weren't coming back here and they were going another direction, brother, they gobbled 40 times and you know, that 50 yard stretch of us walking, they could hear us at 200 yards.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Well, you think of how good they can pinpoint a deck and call exactly 500 yards, and then the tree came from that they they can hear your you know it it's it's kind of a well, I mean, just playing devil advocate, well, can they not tell it's not a turkey? Or you know what I'm saying? How do they how do they distinguish so well and so incorrectly? Yeah, I'll never know. But is what it is. Um but no, I mean honestly, I and I hadn't heard that story yet, but that does actually coincide a a lot with the one I had in mind, which was um kind of the same situation. Um so I went up to um Idaho, which I ain't never been to, obviously. Boy from the South and everything. And I don't I don't I've hunted Miriams like twice.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Yeah.

Idaho First Look At Merriam’s Country

SPEAKER_01 26:40

And this these were kind of Miriams and Rios, kind of and some hybrid stuff. And um from from what I can tell hunting those both subspecies, you gotta you gotta get them hot and don't let them get cold, kind of deal. You know, you gotta lay it on them, and which is not what I'm used to. You know, you've only with me. I'd I'm a big call time time-wise, you know, call right at the right time. Yeah, call at the right time way more than talk them into me being a better hen than the one they're at. Yeah. Um and waiting and waiting and being patient until then. It could be an hour, it could be ten minutes, it could be right now. You know, I gotta make a call right now, I gotta, you know, and I'll get frustrated if I don't have being a friction guy sucks when you're that way. Because you gotta have two hands. Um you think but now I just start practicing on alcohol, but and I ain't. Um anyway, not not a short story, but I'm gonna make a long story shorter than it could have been. Um I was up there with uh SEALs. So SEALs and our buddy Jennings, who y'all probably seen around our booth at NWTF a few times. He's he's been on some hunts with us a few times. Um good dude, big friends with him. He's been one of the OG supporters of Spring Legion since a long time ago. Long time ago. Um just uh an old soul and and appreciates a lot of the same things we appreciate. And and and always good conversation like-mindedness-wise and stuff. Um so they were up there and then uh Gage, uh Seals' I guess would be colleague, was uh up there too. He he was I think I don't know if he was already up there or came there as well, but nonetheless we we just swapped around, you know. I'd hunt with one, the other two would hunt together, and then the we'd all just trade and hit the same different spots or go find new turkeys and stuff. And um uh Jennings and I hunted the first m the first morning, which was I mean, it was so freaking cool being up there and seeing stuff like that. Like I ain't never seen stuff like that. I saw um Jordan last night, was it and he was like, You ever been up there? Like, uh uh. He was like, ain't what you thought is I'm like, uh uh. I had no idea what I thought, but that wasn't it. And it was like in a good way. I just you know, it was it was beautiful stuff. It was saw elk for the first time. So I ain't never seen a mountain with snow on it before. Really? Like, yeah, like you see in pictures and stuff. I ain't never seen that. I've seen like the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia. Oh, yeah. And that's it, you know, and some coal mines in West Virginia, but I ain't never seen like a bona fide mountain before. Right. Maybe in an airplane once, like looking down, but that's the first thing I saw when me and James took off, and there was one goblin not far from the truck, and Gage and Seals took that one, and I was like, Well, there's a big old river looking creek back here, about 500 yards, and I don't think we can hear it from here, so we're gonna at least head that direction. And we, you know, we found some. Got there, but the first thing I I noticed was a big bodied animal everywhere, and that was elk, you know, so I ain't never seen them before. And then I I could tell, you know, the the sun was starting to come up, and I was like, is that a freaking mountain? It was like way off. I'm like, that's a mountain, you know. And I was like in awe of the mountain more than anything.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

That's that's how I got whenever we went to New Mexico. I mean, I don't know if how I'm talking about Core's light mountains. Yeah, I mean, they have some, but I don't know how close to say, you know, to what you were your yours your mountain's probably a lot prettier and less deserty than what I was seeing in New Mexico. But it did snow on us for three days in New Mexico, and that was really pretty seeing snow on the mountain. Yeah, that's nothing.

Rain Stop Setup And Public Land Lessons

SPEAKER_01 30:17

It it would it would snow at random up there, it'd be 60 degrees and just randomly. Yeah. I did figure out when it when the snow comes, like if it's because it rains a lot, because we're kind of Pacific area, um, rains very randomly for very indifferent amount of times, you know, it could be a long time, it could be a short time, it could be hard, it could be light. But whenever the snow comes, it always snows like big ball of snow. It's like flaking dots. Yeah, kind of like that. And then the the rain was about to stop and it's about to get really calm. So that happened to us same day, but I'm gonna tie him back into that in a a moment. Um But Jenny's I we started in the morning there. Could have doubled up on some Miriams, some some full-blooded Miriams. I mean, it was cool. I hadn't heard one in probably 15 years, I feel like. Um I take that back probably seven years. Um caught them across the creek, and I mean it was I yelped at every gobble and they left hens and they gobbled at every yelp, and it was awesome. You know, they came from about 400, came down, you did everyone kind of pitch, one pitch straight at us, and we were not ready. And I'm like, get ready. Because I'm looking through binoculars at them like dots. Uh-huh. And just you just going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And one of them, I just like take my eyes off the binoculars and see it with my naked eye coming, you know, across. I'm like, it's something's headed here, you know. Never saw that one. I don't, I don't know. It could have been a hand, for all I know, but nonetheless, the two that were hammering at every single one of them, yeah, I mean you just follow them. I could follow them with the binoculars. And we we set up in a spot that gave us the most options. Tried to get the highest we could to also if they were flew, if they that one that flew saved these two lives, definitely. Because that put it in our mind that they could definitely go lower and come up this bottom part. Right. And so we had to keep we had to respect that enough to keep it in shotgun range and not get at the top and try to call them over the very top. And they and then these two came back up, came up right at us. It was too thick to shoot. Um, it was one of those that we didn't have time to say who's shooting, who's shooting second. So neither of us were like probably both of us could have been quote unquote greedy and just shot one real quick, but didn't want to just like upset the other one if they weren't on goats that, you know. That's why you always communicate and stuff beforehand instead of in the moment. Um, and then they they wound up circling up high and and Jenny's was on my right and couldn't swing right. I could swing right, but I'd have to shoot over his legs and you know, I was like, eh, first day. I ain't about to just so I just kind of eased on out. And I knew they were gonna see me. They did, and I was like, if they they head back, I got 'em. I'm I'm I'm gonna be standing up by that moment and you know, all clear, all safe, everything. Ginny's down on the ground. Um, but they headed back left, so I'd had to kind of wind back down, go back. I was like, uh. So let that ride out, awesome morning, about as good as you can get without shooting one. Um, and then they they started gobbling again. But I was like, okay, forgot that you gotta really lay it on them around here. So I've heard, so I've seen, so I've experienced, and so um, and and even Jen has verified he he hunted the same day or something, and they didn't. They they tried to make him get curious, and he was coming in on a rope, shut it down at about 150, and they said, then 150 turned into 500 real quick. You know, he just turned around and walked off. You know. I'm sure every turkey's different, obviously, but for the that I just kept that kind of little bit of a not what you do with Easterns. You usually do exactly that. You shut it down after they c act like they're committed. Yeah. Um But these even when they were committed, I let it on them and they they all the way through the dang gun barrel. Just happened to be a bunch of craps burned the gun barrel that morning. Right. Um and then they did what turkeys should do. They they they took the hiker, they took the route that keeps them alive, and you know, we got crisscrossed. Yeah. And that's what happens, and that's that's getting beat. That's called getting beat by the turkey. You know, and that's what I told Jim's like it's been a while not to like pat myself on the back. It's been a while since I've had a turkey come in and gotten gotten out turkey by him. You know, usually I I think of every scenario you've been with me. I'm so analytical. I think of every single scenario when it comes to setups. And I'm usually ahead of it I've got I've got a way to get there. I've got it in the back of my mind, even in the most odd way they could approach it. I've I've got a plan. They deal with pretty basic turkey should do, and we didn't have a plan. Um so hats off to those two. Never shot them, they're still alive as far as I know. But same day, I think, uh, I think it was Gage and I had walked up to the top of a mountain. I think this is where we saw these ale. Not the top of mountain, but but uh a big, big eye spot. Was looking down, looking across a river, and he spots three turkeys strutting in the middle of this just area. We're just glassing calling and stuff. We've gotten on some, gotten off some. It's been raining here and there. Sales engine is riding around, you know, trying to check a new spot or something that weren't rode off. I think they're back maybe by now. Um have no cell service, actually. So we just our plan is to literally come back at 2 30 and talk about that's what we did the whole time was you know, meet back here, and if you're not, we assume you're on one or dead. And you know, if it's several hours after we'll start them looking for you, but we're not gonna just come walk up there. You're gonna we're probably gonna find you kind of dead. You're either gonna be not dead at all or really dead when we when we do come in there. Yeah. Um, or or we're gonna be dead for coming in on the turkey um that you've been working. And then when you get up hiking that much, you you don't want it to mess up if you can help it. And you don't want to mess somebody else up if you can help it because you you done put in the sweat equity just to get there. Um even in some areas that had a lot of turkeys. It was just they move a lot. So you gotta move a lot. And you gotta move quickly and swiftly and keep on going and keep on going and keep on going and keep on going until you finally get that one bit of advantage. So you don't want to just give nothing to them that that you ain't got to. Not much time for decision or waiting around or thinking. Um, you gotta stay with them. And um, so so Gage and I were up there, he spots these turkeys, and they're probably 900 something yards away, down we far. And uh we can actually hear their gobble because the I guess the water maybe, and it was it was still, but um, you know, if you're watching them through binoculars, you can see they're next to cow, and you'd hear them, you know, after um five seconds after it seemed like, but um, I guess it was they were gobbling right at that river, which would have bounced it right back up to us. Um But we're like, well, I know there's turkeys where Ginny's I hunt is morning. We ain't hunted over there. Let's let's give it a go. You know, it's gonna take an hour and a half to get there. It was like a 40-minute drive to get across the river. You we couldn't just get across it, you know. We had to hike back down this whole thing, get in truck, drive 30 minutes into this spot to hit the bridge, to cross back down, you know, did all that. Timed out pretty good because it did start raining. And prior to that is when I figured out the whole little when it starts doing that little dipping dice snow, it's about to get, you know, prime time. Right. Um the rain's about to quit. This is half of two experiences. I could be totally wrong. I'm just saying what it happened one time, I said, I hope it happens again, and it happened again. It could never do it again, and I could be completely wrong. Don't shoot me if it is. But for the for the for this case, it proved to be true. Um, so we get all the way around, we pick up Jennings and Seals on the way. They're at the truck.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:36

We all go. You know, we're like, what the, you know, they didn't hear nothing, find nothing, or whatever at the other place. They're like, well, come on with us. And um And y'all are going after these that y'all saw strutting so far away. Yep, other side of the river. One was strutting, two weren't. But um they they had a hint or two behind them. And um and really it was it was I don't remember the exact time of day, but it was a time of day where they should be coming off their loafing period. Yeah. They should be ramping back up early afternoon, two o'clock, something like that. And um and that's that's what we did. We got around, got got finally got in there, pinned them as best we could in in terms of like closeness to the river, you know, stuff like that. So we had a good 200-yard walk to get down there. Heard some more heard some. I it had to have been different turkeys. We hit a a crow call or uh trumpet or something, sent it off in there and had a shot call, but kind of caught us all off guard. We're like, eh. That don't line up with where they were, but they could definitely be there. So we had to respect it. And um never heard them again. Then heard some waiting down in there. I'm like, that's probably them. You know, these I I wasn't paying them much attention to their situation. So anytime you get eyes on the situation, they got a hand or two behind them, they're in front, and they were gobbling or looking. They were uh not at us, obviously. We're we're looking from 900 yards away. I'm like, they're they're looking for it. I I told that's what I told Jennings, and they was like, I think, you know, these these look willing and able, right? Way more than some of the ones that we were on earlier today. Um, Gage and I was like, they they entertained it, but they did not seem like they had a shortage of hens around them. They they weren't really on the on the hunt for some. Right. Um and this was a matter of an hour or two prior. So I'm like, you know, let them ride out and let's try these. It looked like they they'd do it, you know. So that's what we did. We got down in there and and and so we decided to collective decision to get a little closer and get a little closer, started raining pretty pretty good. And then that snow stuff started to happen again. I'm like, all right, let's get on down in there because this stuff, and and this is when it's kind of common, you know, between Mississippi and somewhere like that, is if you can be there when the rain stops, oh yeah. Are you or in the same fold as if you can be there when that hen leaves and he gobbles, you know, he does that six gobbles in a row. He's like, come on, come on, come on. Who's next? Who's next? If you're there, you're in a good spot. 100%. If you hear him from 300 yards away, you just better hope the hand ain't 200 yards away. Right. Because you lost. And you gotta redo it all over again. You gotta wait till he's done with her. And she might not want to be done with him soon, so then you're gonna have to wait longer. Um but if you're there and you can be there in ready to answer that first gobble after a uh rain or whatever, and it got dead still, it was almost eerie. Yeah, you know, after it. And um, and we weren't we were about 65 from them. No kidding. And they and we're right there on the other side, and we're I mean couldn't have drawn it up. They weren't where they were, but we were where we were trying to our best to you know think about where they would have come from in respect to where they were in the direction of the red and stuff, which all that stuff can change. I don't trust all of it completely, but uh you gotta have hope somewhere. You gotta base your decision off of something. And um and when it's just a very faint gobble, it's very hard to do. So what made the most sense it luckily is what they did. And um, and so we're above them. We find this big log that done laid down, and um, I think Seals had Seals had killed one that same morning. Yeah, so me and Jenny's you know, got beat that morning. So we're both kind of on the gun still. And um one of those now we didn't talk about I'm like, you shoot one, I'll shoot another one, you know. Or vice versa, whoever gets it gets it kind of deal. We ain't gonna try to one, two, three, nothing, obviously, but now we're both aware of that. Right. And um and now we have four people with us, so it's gonna be a little bit of a tall task. So we're in the middle of this big, you know, dozer-looking road, they've been cutting some trees and stuff. And um they got a time or two, but after that first call, we were we were pretty much there. Gave him a yelp, answered, kind of gotta do what we gotta do. And then back how that sun came out in two seconds flat, and then as bright as I'll get out, and we're all in the open. We're trying to hide in the shadows and stuff, and four gauges back there, and he's a taller dude. Yeah. And like we're running out of log shattered to hide behind, and he's behind us, and I'm like, I don't know what we're gonna do here. Um, because if they and it's kind of like you would think, so this road goes straight down in front of us and it goes down, and they're on the other side of it like a lip kind of deal. Yeah. 65, and that that curve is about 30. And my first thought is they're not going there, they're going. They're gonna go right because they're gonna get higher on us, and this is not how they're gonna get high. I just like I just feel like they're not. You know, it would be awesome if they did and stuck their heads up right there and we shot them at 25 yards. I just don't I don't think they are, even out there, even whatever. Um I I thought they were gonna be a little not layups, but the way they were acting behavior-wise, I thought it was gonna be a good chance. Right, you know, pretty quick. If you're not, you know, if we're if we get in there and we don't bump them and we we nail it as far as getting in there, especially plus the rain and timing it and being up in their bubble once it stops and they're they're looking for something. Check, check, check. That we did all that. Right. Should get should do good. But where we are sitting, now they go one time and I get to look around like, hmm. This ain't the most turkey route they're gonna take, and they're gonna go right, and we gotta it's a blowdown. This ain't one of the ones they cut. So, and it's blocking all the the whole right. And that's where the hill connects to them, you know. I'm like, oh, this is gonna get in the bind. So I'm trying to think of a way I can slide to the to the right, genuine slide under the log and stuff, yeah, you know, before they do it. And hope I'm right, because if I'm wrong, I'm really gonna look like a you know what. And they do pop up in front of us where guns were just pouring. Um but they start easing that way, and I'm thinking like they they saw us because they it was a good pause during gobbled. Somebody they one of them stick their head up and we're fumbling around, you know. They could have been not 65, they could have been 35 for all I know, and stuck a head up or a hen, stuck her head up. That happens a lot. Um, you're worried about where the gobbler is and forget a hen could be right. She's driving the dang ship. They ain't driving, they're riding the ship. The hen's driving the ship, so you bump the hen, that ship's gone. Yeah. Um, and sometimes they're nice enough to putt at you and let you know you did. The gobblers usually don't. They just leave and you hunt air for the next hour and a half. So I thought that's what we're doing. But they gobbled again, they done move right, and they were coming back up, and I'm like, all right, well, I'm gonna make a move down here. I'm gonna get lower, but it's gonna allow me to see up, you know, when they when they top this next one. If I can get them to come up to the very, you know, come check back down here instead of back up here, right. I can get a shot, I think, I hope. And that's you know, that's what I did. So I I I waited, got I was just riding this um pine tree, straddling it, you know, laying down on it, blocking myself from whatever's on the other side of this blowdown dirt and stuff until they gobbled again, they gobbled again, and it was where I could move. I'm like, okay, thank God. You know, and then I could go. And I like I had to cross in the sun, in the road to get to this next pine tree, just bundle a crap underneath it. Um but that allowed me to see over and um was hoping to catch them then, and then I didn't. They they went even they went up, down, even lower, and was coming back up. We're gonna was gonna come up at the six o'clock of our original setup instead of like the what would have been at like a three o'clock. Okay. That's what I'm thinking. They're gonna hit the three o'clock high. Yeah. They were coming up, they're gonna do the whole dangham thing come up. 180 degrees from where they were. Yeah, followed the low part all the way around. They were just barely easing up. I'm like, okay, this is a new, this is in your kind of find out there was another blowdown that would have blocked any efforts of them to go up and then follow the road. I see. That wouldn't have been dumb of them to do. They'd have still been kind of on our same level and not been, you know. They they'd have still had to maybe come look because there was a bend in it. But around that bend, as I learned once I got out there, there's another one, or one, maybe two, honestly, that they'd had to walk around and we their way through and I'm sure they knew that. You know. Um and so they were, and I caught a couple times just enough to make them try to what the heck? You know, that's where we kind of were, you know, enough to kind of come back. And they were they they they were not easy ones, like I thought. I was wrong in that assumption. They they took a while, about an hour of gobbling th Maybe they probably had gone three or four times. Tops. They were they were acting a lot smarter than I thought they would, you know. Um just based off of their natural, you know, behavior that we witnessed earlier. Assuming this is the same three. I think it was. It was one really white one and two real looking ones. Yeah. That's what this was. Um and and sure enough, but but they came out look the first one came out looking for one. They cobble one good time. I could hear drumming. And he when he came up, he was looking right at where I was calling it. It had been about 15 minutes or something, you know. Um at that point I'm trying to hand motion to them like y'all be looking around because I think they might, you know, do the whole Houdini and come come on top of you and hammer at 20 on top of you. And one of y'all better be looking that way because you ain't gonna have long swing on them. Uh-huh. But he did. And and you know, turkeys are turkeys, you know, at the end of the day, and and that's what happened. They they were they they beat us just like an eastern wood that morning. They did what turkeys should do. That doesn't change. Turkeys are always gonna, not always, I won't say always or never, but turkeys are typically going to gonna get a higher than you if they can. Give they they're gonna take the advantages you give them if you don't think long enough about it. And you give them one too many, and sometimes one's enough. Right. You're done. You know. Could be fun. Yeah. But but you ain't gotta it's kind of like you run out of cards. You know, the more you lay down, the more, the less you got in your hand. And when you're out, you're hoping he lays down a bad one. That's all you can do. You know, you hope he he makes a wrong move. Because if he don't make no move, he wins, and if he makes a right move, he wins. Even more.

SPEAKER_00 47:48

Yeah.

Season Wrap Sponsors Sale Reminder

SPEAKER_01 47:51

And a lot of times they don't. That's how they're still alive. And and this is public land. That's what Gay Zay is like. They still get hunted. You know, just because they're out here don't mean they're done. They they done had the spill before. I'm sure they didn't start off as three, but probably four or five, honestly. They know what to you know, be wary of and everything. They acted it. Kind of caught me by surprise. So, um, and that really kind of proved to be true the next few days. Um I'm waiting until next week to dive into it. We'll have seals on here to talk about it. Hopefully. If not, we'll find somebody else and talk about something else. But you know, aside from just calling a lot more, and uh and and they they check each other a lot. Even the hens I've I've learned. You know, the hens around here they'll they'll Popeye can yelp and and and go back and forth with a hen for a few minutes, and then it's you got scratching. You can kind of you almost check them with that almost. Yeah. And um but there they they they cluck a lot, or I guess that's what I'd call it, or you know, they're they're constantly talking. Oh yeah. They're constantly yelping, they're constantly gobbling, which is awesome if you like goblin turkeys and who don't Which I I think that's just because they can be seen from so much further.

SPEAKER_00 49:02

And possibly the pre the predators are different out there too, you know. They they don't have a bobcat, Jason, they have freaking mountain lines.

SPEAKER_01 49:10

Right, I you know they they they I can't think of a a solo turkey I saw.

SPEAKER_00 49:17

No, yeah. When I was in New Mexico, I never saw I never saw less than two or three together.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

Yeah, I mean there was I saw some groups of hens, three and four. Even all the goblins I saw were were two, three, four. And I think that's just them trying to stay alive or anything. Um but a lot of fun was had, and you know, coming it's always weird coming back home and even though limited out, can't I couldn't hunt Dragon tomorrow if I wanted to, and nobody can. You know, it's uh it's an odd day. I used to always hate May 1st. This year I hate May 3rd. But the good news is we got a whole month left to do it if you if you got the uh opportunity to travel and and find more, and we plan on doing that. And um appreciate y'all listening to our rambling about doing that. Yeah. That really means we only got about three or four more episodes.

SPEAKER_00 50:08

Honestly, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:09

That's gonna be weird there. So we're gonna make the most of those and make sure they're good ones. And um did want to take a second just to verify and uh our appreciation for our the folks who are have partnered with us on this podcast. Because we we've made it far far enough to be used like the the vortex that site. I think it's Viper or whatever. The first time I've used that. And it it's a big difference than the usual stuff I use. Um you all know I shot a bead forever. I'm used to putting my cheek down on a gun and everything, and switching to a red dot was odd, felt weird. Made me nervous almost. You know, I just I just I wasn't used to it. It it shot true and it wasn't it didn't shoot, let my shotgun used to shoot kind of at that angle. It didn't feel right, my my neck's thick enough and everything, and I'm I'm always like, Am I aiming too low? Not too low in respect to where I usually do. Um this that that side of theirs feels way more natural. Yeah, you got that low profile on eye. Yeah, absolutely. Um and um and that and and then um yeah uh been rocking the North Mountain Gear, everything. Fleece Line one came in handy this week.

SPEAKER_00 51:20

Yeah, I'm telling you, man, those fleece ones are jacket all the time. But I don't yeah, I'm I think I wore it one more than in Texas just for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 51:27

I'm big on the the regular kind without the hood now. Yeah. And um and then use our jacket to go over, which is the same dimensions, just uh like a half inch bigger. I made it to wear over a North Mount Gear leaf jacket. So all the where the North Mountain Gear jacket breeze and stretches are jacket breeze and stretches.

SPEAKER_00 51:43

Pretty dang close to it. Because that's what I like wearing. Uh uh That's what what I've been wearing a lot this year because it's been just too humid to wear that fleece lined one. Yeah. And I've been wearing our jacket with uh with the um North Mountain.

SPEAKER_01 51:57

You came back. I hear that left and right. They're like, that jacket is something now. It it does weird things. You know I mean like how you keep cold and hot at the same time, I don't not know.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

Yeah, I kind of accidentally did that. Honestly, yeah. Whenever you first got a few for us to test, I I like I think I was like with you, and I was like, this is the weirdest. You figured something out, but I don't know, I don't think you meant to. Something with the double layer and the mesh, and you don't get hot and you don't get cold, and you don't sweat.

SPEAKER_01 52:25

Even if you hike up a mountain. Yeah, I mean if it's 20 degrees, you ain't hot, I mean you ain't cold.

SPEAKER_00 52:30

Right. It's the weirdest thing. And I mean I can't explain it. I don't know how the scientific facts of it work. I don't you got lucky with it for sure, if nothing else. That's my explanation, is and buttoned up, yeah, figured it out, I guess. I wear that jacket dang near year round. Yeah, I just like having a I like having sleeves. Yeah, I'm just one of those guys that likes to be I'm wearing a long sleeve right now, but it's a fishing shirt just because it's thin, you know. But I like having sleeves touching my arms. So that jacket, I mean you almost can wear it year round, and I like wearing it all the time. So I think we need a casual brand brand of it and just say you hint, hint, wink, wink. Yeah, we can do that. We need to do that.

SPEAKER_01 53:09

I know, I know a guy. Yeah. Um, but cool. Yep, so appreciate y'all listening. Appreciate all the support we get, all the reviews and all the uh shares and whatnot y'all do give. Uh y'all be sure to check out everything, all the the new May sale at springle.com, May 20 is the discount code. You gotta put that in a checkout, so don't get there and go, oh, that's not 20% off. Put it in a checkout, take all the 20% off of all the items that are in the 2026 turkey collection while supplies last. And um no promises they're gonna last till June, but we're gonna keep the deal running until then.

SPEAKER_00 53:42

Yep. I also have a set of plaques in the truck for you. Oh, so we can restock plaques now.

SPEAKER_01 53:47

Plaques are back. Plaques are back. Y'all putting them to use, it looks like. Because we just uh we just put more on there, so y'all are wiping them out as well. So Chase's been doing them hand-carved, hand-made tricky plaques that look very slick. We started those last year, a lot of folks got them. Yep. And um it looks like I'm I hope everybody needs a little bit of a few. I hope everybody needs more, yeah. Means the season's going good. So anyway, appreciate y'all listening. We'll see you next week on Spring Legend Podcast.