We had another wet turkey trip again. But at least this time, it was wet early and then dried out nicely at the end of the trip. We had to hunt hard for the birds this year, but we were successful in doing so. Just as we arrived, it started to rain. We bought a large tarp this year to completely cover the camper. This helped a bunch. We had to expand to a second camper this year as the size of the group grew to 8. Bob rented a second camper out of Norfolk that we used. We got camp set up and took a drive in the rain. Even though it was raining, we did manage to see quite a few birds out in the fields.

Thursday morning dawned overcast, but with no rain. The rain would hold off for 3 hours. Bob, Matt (first time turkey hunting), and I started out on the Promised Land. For the first time ever, we did not hear or see a thing up there. On the way there, we had dropped off Luke along Bazille Creek where we had seen some birds the night before. We radioed Luke and he had at least 7 different gobblers down there. That was all we needed to hear. We took off to head over there. As we approached from the North, we could

hear the birds near Luke. For the second year in a row, Luke was able to fill his tag on the very first morning with a nice Tom. He called him away from a large flock of hens and toms. After we loaded the bird in Bob's vehicle, we took off along Bazille Creek. Soon we spotted a tom and 3 hens that we saw the night before. Luke dropped Bob, Matt, and myself off and we set up to try to call the tom in. The hens wanted nothing to do with us and headed away from us when we started calling. The tom didn't know what he wanted to do. Finally, in full display, he headed over the hill, following the hens. Our only chance was to try to sneak/rush him over the top of the hill. I told Matt and Bob to take off as fast as they could. As Matt crested the hill, the hens appeared 40 yards to the right running hard. The tom was bringing up the rear. As the hens began to fly, I whispered to Matt, "The left one, the left one". He snapped the gun to his shoulder and made a nice 40 yard shot for his first tom. By now, it was starting to rain, which it did well into the night.

Just like Thursday, Friday dawned overcast, but dry. Bob, Jay, Matt, and I started out in Walker's Draw. We had an opportunity at first light with a tom and 2 jakes, but they took off with hens. We were able to sneak within 35 yards of the birds, but I wanted Bob and Jay to get a shot at them and we ended up screwing the whole thing up. I know, I know, a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. A little further up the creek, we ran into 2 hens and 2 jakes. Jay tried circling to the East and Bob and I went West and crawled along the creek bottom. Matt found a vantage point and kept us informed of where the birds were. 1 jake and 2 hens fed off East, but we were able to pull one jake towards us. He approached slowly and would not come in range. However, we also got the attention of 2 more jakes. Bob and I were set up down below the creek bank right along the creek. Matt did not know exactly where we were set up and the 2 jakes came in right on top of us (10 yards) without us knowing. By the time we saw the birds, Bob tried a long running shot at one, but was unsuccessful. On the way back to camp, we saw a track that could have been nothing other than a mountain lion track. Pretty neat!

Koz did not show up into camp until 11:45. He had started the morning up in Koziol's Canyon after some birds that we could hear from camp. He was unsuccessful on those birds and worked his way west. He heard a gobble and set up for an hour and 15 minutes. The bird would occasionally gobble, but never approached any closer. He finally gave up and started heading to camp. As soon as he left, a crow cawed and the tom shock gobbled much closer. He quickly sat back down and a few minutes later, he watched the huge fan crest the hilltop in front of him at 12 yards. It was a beauty. It was also the first tom that Koz has called in by himself. Now, his canyon can officially be called "Koziol's Canyon". Roy and Kent showed up around 1:00.

After a quick lunch, we headed back out to hunt in the now warm sunshine. Jay and Koz headed over to Walker's Draw. Bob and Matt went to the Promised Land. Roy, Kent, Luke, and I headed to the East Ground. Bob and Matt did finally see a tom over there, but better yet, they spotted a male and female coyote sitting near their den. Matt tried a predator call with his diaphragm and the female took off on a dead run right for them. Bob sat down in front of Matt to get ready for the shot. Matt did not have a gun. After a minute without seeing the coyote, Bob looked back at Matt and saw the coyote staring at Matt 6 yards from him. She took off before Bob could get a shot. We had no luck on the East Ground and started heading back to camp. On the way, we took a look at another piece of public ground. There was a flock of birds a half mile out in the open pasture. Luke kept us informed of where they were at and we took off to get around the other side of them. After 45 minutes of cat and mouse, Roy was able to get close enough to them to harvest a jake. While we were standing over the dead bird, I spotted 5 jakes 2 miles away. We met up with Bob and we took off after them. We ended up screwing up on the 5 jakes, but we found another flock nearby. It was now getting near sundown and the birds were getting ready to go to roost. Kent, Bob, and I made a quick attempt to get in front of them. Roy watched them and used the radio. We were able to sneak in front of them, but they were still going to move to the north of us. Our only chance was for Roy to get them to change their path. He was over a half mile away. He took off on a run and was able to turn them back. But the darn toms ran back out into the open pasture. Three or four jakes tried to get to the heavily treed draw. I had to make a quick run over to the draw, but I was able to get off a quick shot just as they disappeared into the draw. I was able to collect one of the jakes. Jay and Koz had fun with "Lefty" all afternoon. He was set up on the left side of the canyon and would answer their first call, but would shut up each time they would set up. So they would give up and go looking for another bird. He would then gobble again at them. So they would head back to try again. No luck. Finally, as it neared sundown, Lefty decided to cross the open creek bottom to head to roost. Jay made a quick sneak down the bottom of the creek and was able to get into gun range just as the tom headed up the side of the draw. Lefty was a nice-sized tom.

Saturday morning was a beautiful morning. Bob, Jay, and I set up on about 10-12 birds that had several gobblers in the flock. We had a perfect setup and only had to wait for them to fly down into our opening. But as usual, it didn't go as planned. They flew down on a hillside and headed away. We tried to follow to find a way to get in front of them. As we followed them over the hills, we came into radio contact with Kent, Roy, and Koz. We were able to let them know where the birds were heading and they were waiting for them when they arrived over a mile away from where we started. Kent collected his first turkey, a jake. Bob, Jay, and I headed to another piece of ground. We spotted another group of birds and Jay kept watch on them while Bob and I moved into position. The birds were not quite where we expected them to be and they caught us off guard. After freezing awhile, they settled down and we belly-crawled over to an oak tree. At the same time, the birds appeared over a ridge and Bob was able to harvest a jake.

We had a great season. 8 hunters with 8 birds. In the last two years at Santee, that gives us 14 hunters with 17 birds.