The Washington Slam In Eight Days: Alex Gets His 10th Turkey Slam

Ten Washington Slams doesn’t happen by accident, and Alex Cheney isn’t interested in lucky stories that can’t be repeated. We sit down to unpack how he finishes his 10th Washington turkey slam in only eight days, and what that says about scouting, roosting birds, and running a simple, consistent turkey hunting playbook under real spring pressure. If you’ve ever wondered what “getting it done” actually looks like across Rio Grande, Merriam’s, and the notoriously scarce Western Washington Eastern wild turkey, this conversation gets specific. 

We talk through three very different hunts: an opening-day setup in pouring rain where patience and light calling let hens do the convincing, an Eastern that materializes at 10 yards with zero gobbles or warning, and a Merriam’s hunt where one small detail turns a near-bust into a punched tag. Along the way, Alex explains why the “silent Eastern” myth persists, how to think about being within earshot, and how decoy positioning and calling choices change as the season shifts. 

The best part is the mentorship thread. Alex shares Jayde’s first solo turkey hunt, Zach’s jump from years of frustration to a first Eastern using OnX pins and smart tweaks, and the day Beau Brooks finally hears a Washington Eastern gobble after 14 years of trying. We also cover practical gear decisions like mouth calls to eliminate hand movement, turkey vests and chairs for longer sits, and when realistic decoys are worth the bulk. 

If you want more turkey mentorship or turkey classes, we want to hear from you. Subscribe, share this with a hunting buddy, and leave a review so more Washington turkey hunters can find the show.

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Transcript

Welcome And Washington Slam Defined

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Welcome back to the Blacktail Coach Podcast. I'm Aaron, and this week we are with Alex Cheney, and we're gonna talk about some turkey success stories. And 10th slam completed already. Yep. Actually, already by a couple of weeks ago. Yes. So yeah, looking forward to talking about this. And so for people who might be listening who aren't turkey hunters, I just said the Washington Slam. So one quick explanation as to what the Washington slam is.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Yeah, Aaron. So we have three subspecies in Washington state. We have the Rios and Merriams, which are over on the east side of Washington, and then we have the easterns on the west side of Washington. So if you get all three in a single season, that's what is considered the Washington slam.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Okay. And then there's one other species that's down in Florida and one in South America. So there's the World Slam and there's the U.S. slam that's a little bit different.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yep. Yeah, there's the U.S. slam, which is the uh osseola like you just mentioned in the southern half of Florida, and then there's two birds in Mexico.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Oh, there's two in Mexico, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

The ghouls and then the oscillated.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Okay. Well, there you go. There's your next trophy to do the world slam because you've already done the U.S. slam, too.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Yep, yeah, I've done the U.S. slam.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Okay, so give us a real quick breakdown of your three hunts, the when you got them, and what part of the state.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Yeah, season opens April 15th here in Washington. So I was in the southeast corner hunting my Rios. I got there April 14th, did some scouting, located some birds, got in there in the the next morning, and it was pouring down rain. I was absolutely drenched, and then by the time it got light enough where they should be on the ground already, and they weren't, and so I was like second guessing my setup and myself and everything. And but there was a there's two different ways they could have flown down, so either to my side where I was set up or the opposite side. And so I slowly creeped around this bush and looked their direction to see if they were still in the tree or if they did pitch down to the other side and they were still in the tree. So okay, so there's still a chance.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

There's still yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

And so I did some light calling, and then 10-15 minutes goes by, and finally their one of their hens pipes off in the tree, and so she yelps a few times, I yelp a few times, we talk back and forth for a minute, and then next thing you know, they start pitching down right into my decoys, right into my setup. And so four hens flew down first, and they were feeding, hanging around, and then they saw something wasn't right, so they start putting, and I was like, Where's that tom? And then finally the tom dumps right into my decoys with his hens, and I was able to dump him.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Nice. So that was opening day. That was opening day, yeah. Yeah, and then so then you came back.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yep, yeah, yeah. Uh a couple days later, my wife ended up getting one, and we can go into that.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Yeah, we'll go into the other stories of the people you took out and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Yeah, and then so yeah, I got home Saturday, and then so Sunday morning I went out for my Eastern here on the west side, and I got that I got my Eastern Sunday morning as well. So Which is the hard one. Which is the hard one.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

The air quotes the hard one. Although you're making it look easy, but yeah, it's the hard one. It is the hard one.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

It is actually you do enough scouting, and I've been doing this for a little bit now, and you just stick to the playbook and put all these plans in into play and see if it pans out. But yeah, that one there was three birds gobbling off the roost. I got in there in the dark, got set up, and there's three birds gobbling off the roost, and then after fly down time and everything went quiet, so I sat there for an hour or so just lightly calling every once in a while, and then all my other Easterns I've gotten, I've I knew they were coming in, whether they're gobbling or you can hear them spit and drum, which is the sound they make when they go into strut. Like there was some sort of indication that they were coming into my set. This is the first bird that's ever shown up where I had no idea he was coming in. So I was surprised when I looked up to see this Eastern at 10 yards.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Wow. Ten yards.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

And then I'm and I didn't know he was coming in, so I'm not ready or anything. And so and so I had to wait till he got behind this one Doug fur tree that was between between me and him before coming into my decoys. And so once he went behind this Doug fur, I got my gun real ready. And I know it was only a second that took him to pop out from behind that tree, but man, it felt like five minutes. Because I'm like, did he see me? Did he hear me? Did I just ruin the hunt? What happened? But no, he was locked into my decoys and he stepped out on the other side of the tree, and I was ready with my gun and was able to get him.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

And then for your Mariam, that was the big hunting party all went up for that one, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yes, yep. Yeah, yeah, there was a group group of us and met a couple other buddies up there, and we we had a good time. And that was the following following weekend. So kind of the same thing. Roosted birds the night before, got in there early, got everything set up, and I had DJ and my buddy Ryan with me on that hunt. And but yeah, kind of the same thing. He was hammering off the roost, and we're pretty close to him, and started talking with his hen back and forth, and kind of the same thing. The hen flew down, he flew right in after her into my decoy setup. There's something that he didn't like, and so he ended up booking it, and then but ended up stopping still within gun range, and I was able to get him as well to finish my slam.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Nice, and so two weeks, basically basically from the first third bird.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

I think eight days, yeah.

Jade’s Solo Hunt And Other Wins

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Oh, eight days between the first and the third bird. Yep. Yep, okay. So living proof that it can be done. This is your tenth, too. Yes, yep. And for also for those who don't know, Alex is the one who teaches the turkey portion of the hunter's gathering. That was the first year that we did Hunter's Gathering and we taught Turkey, or you taught Turkey. We didn't, we had no part of that except for inviting you. But yeah, getting it done. So your methods do work. There's your proof. If the first nine slams didn't prove it, the tenth should absolutely the tant accomplished in eight days. That should completely prove your abilities with all of that. So you had you had mentioned so some special hunts with Jade, your wife, and Zach, who is uh alumni of the Blacktail Coach, taking the classes and everything. So a good friend of the show and of ours, and uh you got to take out Bo Brooks. Yes, I did, which we had a funny conversation because you sent uh we have a group thread text thread between all of us, all the pro staff, and you sent out a picture of you and Bo, and he'd gotten his first Washington Eastern, and you can go into the stories in a minute, but you said, Hey, I'm here, and well, some of the other guys knew who that was that you were with, yeah, or knew the name. And I'm like, Who?

SPEAKER_01 6:49

It was funny. You text me, you're like, Who's Bo Brooks? And then you figured out who it was. You're like, Oh, that Bo Brooks.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

Yeah, like it was funny. So I am in the process of still learning names that I maybe I should know, seeing as how I'm on a hosting a hunting podcast for the Pacific Northwest. But it's one of those Dave does this all the time, he'll mention somebody. I'm like, who? I just I'm still learning a lot of these names. Turkey names are, I would say, that to my defense, those are still some new names, but uh you got to take him out. So let's go through those. So Jade.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Yeah, yeah. We were hunting in the southeast corner of Washington. She loves hunting turkeys as well. This is the first year we did not have a sitter with us. Usually my mom goes with us, okay, watches Alora while Jade and I we go hunting. This year we did not have a sitter, so just kind of I'd go hunting. Okay, and then when it was her turn to hunt, I would watch our daughter while she went to hunt. And I got my bird on opening day, and so next was Jade's turn. And I was I am so proud of her. Like for her to set an alarm for 3 30 in the morning, get up, drive out to the spot, hike in the dark by herself, get set up, and to call on this bird into eight yards that was chest bumping eight yards, and he was in full strut, chest bumping the decoy, and she was able to dump them there.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

And I know that picture's up on the social media, Facebook and Instagram. That was a very nice looking bird.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Yeah, it was a good bird. And like I said, I was like I was on some awesome hunts this year, but that was that one was my favorite. Just like for her to go out by herself for the first time and oh, okay. So it was her first time first time doing it by herself, and for her to get out there and get it done, like just speechless.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

We need to have her on it to do a success story. We could. We could. Actually, we should have a group of her and any and the other guys who've gotten their first birds or uh a trophy of some sort, whether it's your first going out by yourself or first bird or first this or that or yeah, whichever.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Yeah, absolutely.

Mentoring Zach Into His First Eastern

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Yeah, we should have a group success story of that. Uh and as a reminder, so anybody who's listening who went to the hunters gathering, if you've gotten, and we know one of the guys, his name's Luke. Hopefully, this is okay. We did see he got his first bear and we saw the pictures of it. Luke, if you're listening, want to do a success story with you. If you're comfortable with that, reach out to us. But anybody who went to the hunters gathering or to any of our classes, where it's always an open invitation. If you accomplish a trophy of some sort, reach out to us. We'll have you on the show. Because people love hearing these stories. They absolutely do. So next, Zach.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah, Zach. A couple years ago, I was in the coaching program for the Blacktail Coach. He was also in the coaching program during one of our classes. Dave mentioned that I hunt turkeys. And so Zach reached out to me asking if I'd be able to help him at that time. He hunted turkeys for seven years. He shot two two jakes in one morning within those seven years. The other six years he didn't get anything. So he came over and I was just talking to him, talking turkeys and teaching him my playbook. Basically, I run. And and I told him, I was like, you can I was like, I don't know if you can hunt with us, but you can at least camp with us. Um, I was already taking other buddies, and so he came and camped with us, and I was like, with that in mind, I was like, Well, you know, you can go hunt these areas, and if something doesn't pan out, you can come back, tell me what happened, and I can try to help.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

Kind of in the moment mentorship, mentorship, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

And so uh long story short, he brought his buddy Chris in the same thing. He's been hunting turkeys for five years, hasn't gotten one. But long story short, his buddy Chris got his first tom that year, and then I called in Zach's first tom. Nice, and so that was like kind of like the first year. So this is his second real year hunting of turkeys. We've been in touch over the years or over this last year and stuff, and he came with us on this trip, and he got another Tom on this trip, and but also what's what's cool is he also got his first Eastern, which is the hard bird to get. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, which is super cool. He put in the work, he did the scouting and everything. He was just texting me and sending me pins on Onyx on where to set up and where he thinks this bird is, and so I just the nuances I helped him out with to tweak it, but he ended up getting his first Eastern. Oh, nice. So it's just really cool to see his confidence build over these last couple years, and now he's able to go do this by himself, basically using the playbook I helped him with.

Helping Bo Brooks Finally Hear One

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Yeah. Okay, and so the final person, the unknown to me, Bo Brooks. So explain who he is, why he's a name in hunting, and that whole hunt.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Yeah, he is a very successful and well-known turkey hunter throughout the whole US, that's just what he does. He's also a world elk calling champion as well. And so he's just really well known in the hunting world. And and I didn't know this at the time, but it turns out he's from Washington. Okay, and I had no idea, but me and him started talking, and I told him I I get the slam every year, and he's like, You get Easterns here in Washington? I was like, Yeah. I was like, basically every year. Yeah. And and it turns out go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Just 10 of them.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Right, right. And it turns out he's been trying to hunt these things for 14 years and he's never seen one or even heard a gobble.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

Really?

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Yeah. And so he's like, dude, what do I have to do to hunt with you? And so we'd talk in for a bit, and then this was before season. Uh-huh. And then we stopped talking, and then he reached back out. He's hey, any luck on your Eastern? So I sent him my pictures of my Eastern. He's like, No way. I was like, Yeah. And then long story short, we planned um he's he called me up actually when I was with DJ and Ryan over on the east side. He's hey, Alex, I'm gonna be in town next Tuesday and Wednesday if you want to hunt together. He's no pressure, just think about it, let me know. So I thought about it and called him back. I'm like, hey, let's make it happen.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

Well, to me, with all of these stories, what's even more impressive that I'm picking up is not only are you getting yours, but now just two of those, Zach and Bo, you mentored two other guys on how to get or you went out with Bo, but you mentored Zach to go get an Eastern on his own.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 12:58

And and that's and I know R3 has uh they do a lot of turkey camps and there's a lot of mentorship. And we've been talking with WDFW with Kelly, who's in charge of their R3 program, and he's gonna be be coming on the show, but it's that mentorship, which is the whole idea behind the black tail coach as well. So if you might be interested in turkey classes or some form of turkey mentorship type program, put a comment below or in your platform or send us an email. We want to find out where we want to take that information in and maybe whether Alex wants to or not, give him more work to do. But if you're gonna learn from somebody who's gotten it done, that's the whole idea. Dave talks about that with Elk, Blacktail. You want to listen and learn from the people who have actually gotten it done. So Bo got his first Washington Eastern.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

Oh, yeah, yeah. We got we're driving up there and we get out of the truck and we're getting ready to go get set up, and he's Alex, I just heard a gobble. I'm like, no way, because it's like middle of the day. Sure enough, he hammers again, and and I'm only s I'm only saying this because he because Bo put it in the post he did about me, but he started tearing up, like so excited. He's been looking for these things for 14 years and has never seen a bird, let alone hear a gobble.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

And the first morning you take him out.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Yeah, the first time we get out of the truck and he hears this bird hammer.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

And it was cool, and then we played this one bird for a while, it didn't pan out, and then we got on a second bird that day, and that one did pan out. And so it was like just to be able to help someone of that caliber in the hunting community was like is such a privilege for me to be able to take Bo out and help him get that.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

Because on the east coast or most of the country, easters are the most prominent birds, right? Correct.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Yeah, he's killed a ton of them.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Yeah, because he hunts all over the US. But to get him western Washington, now is it the same thing Western Oregon are easterns?

SPEAKER_01 14:52

I don't think so. Okay. I think they just have the Merriams and Rios down there.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

Okay, because I went this last weekend, I was down at a conference down in Coos Bay, and I saw a turkey full strut with a couple of hens out in this small field as we were going out to do one of the get togethers, and then driving back. I think it might have been a decoy because it was solitary, just standing by uh an old barn, driving back, Elkton area, and then I saw is it a flock when there's multiple.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Yeah, a flock.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

A flock, okay. I know some other birds, it's a covey, but anyway, of at least four all standing on on this road up on a hillside on a like a driveway or something like that. So I was seeing turkey all over the place, and I'm like, are these Easterns too? I don't know. Right, because I'm seeing them everywhere here, yeah. So yeah, but the one in full strut was really cool because I think that was the first time I'd seen one like that out in the wild.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

So it's always a cool sight. Although I've seen a grouse in that full strut, which shot him in the back of the head. But yeah, that's a whole different success story. You got to go out with a lot of people, successful hunts, so good times.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Yeah, absolutely. Even when I was up there on my Merriam trip, I was able to swing by Justin Grimm. He's the chapter president of the Nisqually NWTF program. But I was able to swing by there and say hi to them and everything. But they they did a mentor camp. Oh, okay, good. And so they took a lot of first-time turkey hunters out and they were very successful up there. Oh, good. And and I'll be in touch with Justin, but I'm planning on being one of the mentors next year and taking people out. So if you guys are interested in that, look into that program.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

The Nisqually chapter of the NWFT. NWTF.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Yeah. They do, I don't remember exactly what it's called, but just basically a mentor camp on if this is your first time first time turkey hunting, okay. They take people out, try to help them harvest their first bird.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Okay, and so you will be there.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Uh yes.

Why The Slam Becomes The Trophy

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Yeah. Okay, there you go. There's your opportunity to be mentored by the best. So let's get into I want to talk about the process between when you first started turkey hunting, your first slam, and now that you've gotten your tenth. So, what was the the different feeling between your first slam thinking back then and now come just completing your tenth slam? Was there was there different emotions behind it? Or yeah, what's that whole process of the mental game over those years?

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah, it's exciting every time. Every turkey hunts a good time. However, when I first completed my first slam, I was also newer to turkey hunting. And the slam wasn't my goal yet, per se. Okay. I just did it because I got I started hunting with my buddy Jason, turkeys. He'd already been hunting turkeys for 15 years, so he was ready to move on to that next level of trying to get the slam. Versus me, I'm new to turkey hunting. I'd rather go chase the birds on the east side and actually see birds and hear birds and watch them strud and yeah, everything. I wasn't ready for the challenge of this Eastern. So really it feels cool. I I was able to accomplish my first slam and it means something to me. However, I'm more excited now when I get a slam just because that's my trophy now.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

Yeah, that's your trophy.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

And that started about five years ago.

SPEAKER_02 18:11

Because you also understand what a trophy it is, especially when you have guys like Bo reaching out to you who have never gotten an Eastern in Washington. Oh, absolutely. It's you realize, oh, this is tough. Where it's that when you first go out, and I've talked to Bud talks about because he got Charlie three years in with his ultimate buck that he wanted.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

And so afterwards you're like, oh, well, what's now what's the trophy? Because I got the trophy pretty quick. And so it's at staying motivated.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Yeah, yeah, staying motivated motivated, helping out other buddies.

SPEAKER_02 18:48

Yeah. So you okay, so you just said that about five years ago, completing the slam became the or the at about your fifth slam, that became the trophy was completing your slam.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Yep, yep. That's something I wanted to do. I've at that time I've completed five already, and I've built that confidence of I know I can do this, or at least have opportunities to to do it.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

Multiple times.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

And so you've been hunting turkey for 13 total years, or was something like that? I can't remember. You mentioned it.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Yeah, I think this year is my fifth fifteenth season hunting turkeys, and then my 13th since I got my first slam till now.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

Okay. So you hunted a couple years, got your slam. And how many years in a row have you now gotten your slam? Because it seems like every year I've known you.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Yeah, so I've gotten my slam the last five years in a row. But that was also when I transitioned to where the slam is now my goal.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Since I had that mindset, since then I've gotten my slam each year. And then but before that, I hunted what's that seven or eight years since I got my first slam and I completed five within those time frames. So it wasn't an every year thing, but every other year or so.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Interesting. It's well what and you've mentioned this about your motivation now. It's completing that now. Has it changed? Because I know before just completing the slam, which meant if that was a Jake, you were cool cool with getting the Jake because the trophy is doing the slam. But has it evolved a little bit more where now it's got to be a Tom, or are you still it's just completing the slam? And now you've added on helping others.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Yeah, it's I always try to shoot, try to get a Tom. Yeah. I always try to get a Tom. However, it's if it if I'm on the east side and it's my last day, I'm hunting there, and a Jake walks in front of me, I'm gonna dump it every time. Yeah. Just so I don't have to make a second trip back to that area. Yeah, yeah. Because yeah, I want to get the slam.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Seven, eight-hour drive to and another weekend.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Yeah, exactly. And I only have so many weekends I can hunt.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

You got Memorial Day weekend, work could get in the way of things. You got Mother's Day weekend. We got a couple different friends' kids' birthdays. Yeah. It's like family commitments. Yeah, I only have so many weekends to hunt, anyways. Yeah. So gotta try to make it happen where you can.

Myths About Western Washington Easterns

SPEAKER_02 21:07

And with your daughter being young enough that, yeah, like you said, you've got a trade-off, or mom comes out to babysit during the hunt. So there's that aspect. And you don't want to be gone, like I get, you don't want to be gone when they're young all the time. It's that, especially like seeing Dave, he'll be halfway into a hunt and he's ready to come home because he just wants to see wanted to see the kids when they were young and Osha and everything. So yeah, I get that. So thinking back from the start, have the regs changed in Washington as far as for hunting or anything like that?

SPEAKER_01 21:41

No, they've stayed pretty consistent with the turkey regs. You used to be able to shoot two in Spokane County, and now I think you can get three birds in that county. Oh, okay. In a sing in a in the spring, and then kind of like the harvest stats change year to year depending on how many birds get harvested in a certain area.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

I was talking to somebody, they said up up there they're becoming a nuisance in areas.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Yep, yeah, there's a lot of birds up there. Yeah. That's like during that hunter's gathering when I was teaching my class, it's like could I Have a ton of people reach out to me about turkey hunting and a lot of newer turkey hunters. Yeah. So I help guide them and to where I would go basically.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

Yeah. And it's and you've always said that. Go just go up there. If you're just starting out, go where you're going to be successful. Yep. And that's kind of with any type of goal or any type of hunting. It's do it in a way that you're going to be successful because that's that helps build motivation when you're successful with doing something.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Yeah, absolutely. I have people reach out to me and they're like, hey, I'm new to turkey hunting. I want to get an eastern, which more power to you. Yeah. But I high if you're new to turkey hunting, I'd highly recommend heading to the east side and hunt hunting those birds first and building some confidence under your belt before trying the west side.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Yeah. So thinking back when you were early early on with all these hunts, was there something that you did, a way that you approach your hunts that or just the way you did things that you look back now and wow, I was completely wrong on that. Have you uh what kind of the learning process of hunting turkeys? How has that evolved?

SPEAKER_01 23:15

I so when I first started hunting easterns, a lot of people I talked to said they're really quiet, they don't gobble, you you won't hear any hens, they're very cull-shy, all this stuff. And I believed that for a handful of years, but the more I hunted Easterns, more I actually got on birds and actually got birds, I found out that that was completely wrong. Okay. They're very vocal off the roost. If they don't have hens, they're very vocal. I hear a lot of people be like, oh, another silent morning in western Washington. And when I was out that same morning and I heard birds, so I don't think it was a silent morning. I just don't think you were with ear with an earshot of a bird.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Of a bird. So it's more of there's just not many of them.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Yeah, they're very far and few between. And that's one more challenge, I guess, makes the success that much sweeter.

SPEAKER_02 24:03

Yeah. So would you say that that was so that sounds like that was just a myth of or a wrong belief that a lot of people have. And I know because Dave talks about those same things with black tail honey that we believe this, but it's actually not true, and he explains why that's not true. So it's just it's not true. It's just there's so few of them that you have to just be in the right spot to actually hear them, and most people aren't potentially in the right spot. Correct. But as far as everything else, it's just been not necessarily that you've that was wrong. You've just gotten better in your skills. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's just you get to become a better caller or more experienced with using different types of calls, things like that.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Yeah, better caller, like decoy setups important, which like I didn't know any of that when I first started. I'm like, I'm just gonna go throw these out here. But turns out, you know, use different decoys and positionings throughout the season, and facing them certain ways does certain things to the actual birds, and just knowing all those things just makes you more successful.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

Uh-huh. Okay, so it's just it's one of those, it's like anything, it's that learning process as it evolves. You just get better. Okay, I gotta do it this way or that way, and yeah. And it's and I just keep comparing this to blacktail hunting. It's oh, they didn't come into my spot this certain way, I should have hinge cut something. Absolutely. Yeah, you just learn those little it's little nuances and tricks, and you have the general idea, but then you when you start adding those, the nuance, and that's where it just takes years, it takes boots on the ground and experience.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Tons of mistakes. Like I teach this in my class, but learn from every hunt. If it didn't pan out, and it's like, why didn't it pan out? If you were successful, why was it successful? Learn from your mistakes, like makes you a better hunter.

SPEAKER_02 25:55

And you've purely done the spring hunt, yeah, and you because you can hunt turkey in the fall, yep, but you've just purely done spring hunts.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Yep, just the spring.

SPEAKER_02 26:05

Yeah, because there's other things to hunt in the fall. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

I like the springtime. I like because they're it's their mating season, they're goblin, you can call them in, they're strutting. I heard their vocal in the fall too. I've just never hunted them. Yeah. Like you said, I'm hunting busy hunting elk or deer or whatever else.

Calling And Gear That Changed Everything

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Yeah, and that's scratching that itch of I want to get out hunting. Oh, absolutely. But spring comes around, we don't have spring bear anymore. So, okay, there's turkey. That's your option. Or if you want to go do some predator hunting, you could do that. But yeah, there's limited options on what you can do. So has your and we've talked about this, I don't know, in like the previous when we did your episodes, which were I believe I those ran February of 2025. So if you want to go back and listen to Alex doing a we did a three-part series about turkey hunting, but your calling and how that's evolved over the years.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Yeah. So for a lot of years, I used what's called like pot calls. Uh, very user-friendly, easy to use. I've killed a ton of birds with them. And I like I said, I've used those for probably 10 years or so. And then, but it wasn't till a few years ago where I almost had a hunt ruined because I didn't have a mouth call. Because this bird had me pinned at a hundred yards, and I couldn't use my pot call because that requires hand movement. So if I try to keep calling to him, he would have sold the movement and not come in at all. So it was from that hunt where I always use a mouth call now, or at least have one ready just in case. Ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

So yeah, that's so what about gear? How's that evolved as far as figuring out what's the right if you're gonna use a one of those turkey chairs or weapon or anything at all? How's that all evolved in the last 15 years?

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Yeah, so my weapons stayed the same. I still use my Browning 12 gauge or 20 gauge, so that stayed the same. I used to use just a backpack and throw my stuff in there and evolved into a turkey vest. So now I can carry my decoys and it has a butt pad, so I could sit for a little bit longer.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

Yeah, that's important.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

It is very important. And then a handful of years ago, I switched to if I'm not hiking miles, I'll pack my turkey chair. But now that's another game changer because now I can sit there a lot longer. Yeah. And then same with my decoys. I used to use just the foam decoys for uh the first 10 years, and and they work. I've killed a lot of birds just using those, but since I started using the uh Avian X decoys, they're very realistic, very lifelike, and they are a little bulky, so that's kind of a downfall. But the hunts that I've gotten out of them, it's worth packing the extra weight and bulkiness in them. Like the first year I used them, I had an Eastern come in full strut from a hundred yards all the way to my setup, and I dusted them at eight yards. Wow. And then that's nice that same year I had a Merriam actually come beat up my decoy, which I've never had before. And this year with my hunt, Jade's hunt, all three of my hunts really. And then Jade's hunt, hers came in full strut and was chest bumping the decoy. Okay. And then Bose Hunt, we use my bird, my decoys, and he came in full strut, and just the hunts you get or that I get now for from using these decoys is there, it's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

Yeah, and I would imagine how you're how to use and which we've just talked about, but how you're using all of the equipment. Yes, yeah. It's how to set up, where to set up, all of that type of thing, where yeah, I'm sure that's all evolved as well.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

It has.

Toughest Bird And Strangest Turkey Moment

SPEAKER_02 29:27

So let's get into some stories here. The toughest bird you've ever killed and what made him so difficult.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

So this was probably my third or fourth year trying to hunt Easterns, and what made this bird to kill is it took me like 12 straight days until I finally got him.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

Wow. So you stayed on this one bird.

SPEAKER_01 29:47

On this one bird.

SPEAKER_02 29:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

And the habitat in western Washington is basically all the same over the landscape. So it's like these birds have the habitat they like pretty much no matter where they go. Yeah. And this bird would roost here in one morning, and I was not close enough to his to where he was roosted. I'd go set up the next morning, and he's in a completely different area. And so just playing that cat cat and mouse game with this bird, or he'd fly down close, but he has hens, and his hens are taking him a different direction, and just one thing after another of this hunt not panning out. Okay. But finally on day 12, just so the stars lined and was able to finally connect with this bird.

SPEAKER_03 30:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

So, well, and having listened how hard Easterns are, I I suppose it would be easier to know that's the same bird that you're chasing. Because it's not like there's a ton of them in the area.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Yep, he's the only one I was chasing. Yeah. There's yeah, there's so few and far between. I was just playing that game with that bird for those 12 days.

SPEAKER_02 30:45

Okay, because that's actually very telling to me listening to that, that how few and far between that you can you know that you were tracking the same bird for 12 days. Yep. As opposed to say if you were like Spokane area, there's so many you wouldn't necessarily know that this is the same bird. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. It's just a bird. All I'm sure there's a certain way that you could tell if by beard length or things like that, but it's just easters. Just easterns. Just there's only a few, and I know this is him. Did you name him? No, I did not. Would you, if you were in a situation like that, would you name a bird? Would you ever what could get you to name a bird?

SPEAKER_01 31:27

Probably that situation.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

So now I'm planting a seed in your head where you're gonna start naming a bird when he gets a little difficult. Absolutely. So we'll have to come up with some some turkey names. Yeah. Who was that? And this I and I'm completely dating myself, and it's I'm sure how old are you? 34. 34. Okay, so I've got almost 20 years on you. There was there's a I thought there was a cartoon turkey from when I was a kid, but now I might be thinking it might have might just be a vulture. But anyway, it might be a turkey vulture. So this might not be a whole thing, but it we should should find out if there's any cartoon turkeys, and there's your names. Okay, so oddest thing, and we'll wrap up here. Oddest thing you've seen a turkey do while out on a hunt.

SPEAKER_01 32:11

Same thing.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

Or a multiple. There might be multiple stories here.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

No, I just got one story that kind of sticks out to me. I was hunting Easterns that was set up in this clear cut before before dark off their roost. And once it became fly down time, they ended up flying to the opposite side of the clear cut of where I was set up in. But they did that multiple times. And I've never seen a flock do that. I've never seen any turkeys. I've seen them hop from limb to limb or tree to tree, uh-huh. But I've never seen birds fly across the clear cut, land in a different tree, and then fly back and forth. Oh. I have no reason why they did that. That was the only time I've ever seen that on a turkey hunt.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

So instead of when they're up to roof, they usually fly down to the ground. Yes. And you're saying they didn't they never came down to the ground, they just kept going from tree to tree.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

Yeah, but like back and forth across across the clear cut, not just tree hopping, yeah. Actually flying four or five hundred yards to a different tree and then back and back. And I've never seen that or experienced that.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

So that'd be interesting, just to see turkeys fly that far. Because you just think of them as a flightless bird. Yeah. They're obviously not if they're able to get up into trees. It's kind of like chickens, though, that yeah, they can go short distances, but to think of flying 500 yards. Now, are they really loud when they're flying?

SPEAKER_01 33:30

Yeah, if you're close to them, they're okay.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

I just think because grouse scare the crap out of you when you're walking along and you don't see one off in the bushes next to you. Because when they take off, they're making all kinds of racket. So I can imagine having a turkey flying across that is they gotta be making a bunch of noises.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Yeah, you'll hear them.

Mentorship Invite And Hunter’s Gathering

SPEAKER_02 33:53

The anti-owl, which you can't hear at all. Okay, we'll wrap it up here. Thanks for joining us. Now, I want to remind everybody if you are interested in some sort of mentorship or some maybe some turkey classes, send us an email, blacktailcoach at gmail.com, or go to the website. Uh, you can contact us through the website or leave a comment below. Tell us, do you want some turkey classes? We'll pass it along to Alex and maybe we can get some stuff going with just turkey classes. Now, the current way you can find out how to turkey hunt is by coming to the Hunter's Gathering. Dates are up for next year and registration is live. We're going to go into more detail about this here in the next couple of weeks, episode, I believe, at the end of the month. But if you want to get signed up for the Hunter's Gathering, you can do that now. And here and see, because there's field work as long as well as the class, the Turkey Tactics up at Hunter's Gathering. So, Alex, thanks for joining us this morning to record this episode. Congratulations on your 10th Washington Slam. You're the epitome of excellence. And thank you for actually being the type of person who wants to mentor others. Oh, absolutely. Because that in the hunting community, that's the most important thing. Yeah. And that's what we're always looking for is people who want to teach and mentor others and build up more hunters and everything like that. So thank you for joining us, and we will talk to you all next week.