Wild Turkey Chronicals numbers 2,3,4 Western Oklahoma Adventure
Velma Oklahoma, Friday April 15-
Good friend Mike Jordan (ATSKO) and I were heading for CDheyenne OK on Thursday but we made a stop to visit my good friends Jerry and Dawn Anita Plumlee in Velma on the way. I have known them since I was in the music business years ago when Dawn Anita was a recording artist and I was a struggling songwriter. We keep in touch. They have a horse and cow operation out of Velma and have complained to me several times about turkeys vandalizing their yard. I promised many times to show up and try to alleviate part of their problem and this time I was going to do it. We got in about 4 p.m. and Dawn Anita took us around to likely spots to check for sign. The last place we looked, about a quarter mille from her house, we found a lot of tracks and as we stood there looking down a turkey obliged us by gobbling 4 times. It was getting close to fly up time so we knew about where he would be in the morning. Dawn Anita and I picked and sang some old songs that night but Mike and I were up early and in position well before daylight. I had my Dave Smith decoys out and as grey light began to sneak in the wind picked up to about 30 mph. I called several times before he finally started gobbling but he fleww down, walked up and down the road in front of us for a while before coming over to grin down the decoys-his last mistake. Mike lowered the boom on him. We butchered him, left Dawn Anita the meat for her families Easter dinner and hit the road.
Croton Creek Adventures
We were headed for Croton Creek Guest Ranch and Outfitter out of Cheyenne , OK to get ready for a Media hunt that would begin on the 15th. The wind had picked up considerably since that morning from the 30 mph we endured during the hunt. I was raised in Florida so I’ve been through several hurricanes. I told Mike the hurricanes weren’t any worse than what we were driving in. We came by one semi blown over in the road and another blew over right in front of us so we were glad to get off of the interstate. We met up with our hosts Scott Sanderford and his lovely and talented wife Joni at what they call the “Social Barn” which is actually a large banquet hall complete with very tasteful western decorations , a stage , an excellent PA system and seating for a large crowd of people. Scott and Joni were both warm and friendly folks and we hit it off right away. Scott and Joni took us out scouting the next morning to show us where the 12 outdoor writers and Sporting Goods manufacturers would be hunting. Scott had done his homework. He had the turkeys located and patterned and was on a first name basis wwith most of them which means a lot of time spent in the woods before we got there. We got all of the writers in on Monday and I get to try out their PA system during my openoing night welcoming concert.
A real treat to get to use a good PA system on a turkey hunt
Under Armour was our clothing sponsor along with Real Tree and they supplied us with clothes that were well designed and so comfortable you hated to take them off at the end of the day. Knight and Hale was another sponsor and they supplied the turkey calls. Those Oklahoma turkeys believed the “White Liar”" calls every time. Remington brought their versatile and amazingly durable Versa Max shotguns for us to use and they performed flawlessly. I learned something new on this hunt. How to shoot a shotgun with optics. Trijicon, one of the hunt sponsors, mounted their RMR (Rugged Miniturized Reflex) sights on the Versa Max shotguns. Eddie Stevenson was there representing Trijicon and he explained the complicated sighting method using the RMR. Put the red dot on whatever you want to shoot and pull the trigger. Amazing! And easy, even for us old dogs. No worries about lining up the beads or whether your head is down on the stock, just put the red dot on what you want to shoot and fire. I don’t beleive a single bird was missed on the whole hunt and some were present who were prone to miss (I won’t name any names-they know who they are). I”d say 16 gobblers taken by 12 hunters in 3 days says it all.
Left to Right Scott and Joni Sanderford, Gary Sefton, Dodd Clifton-Kneeling-Eddie Stevenson, Jay Cassell, Jeff Johnston, Steve Hickoff, Mike JordanJ,im Casada, Mike Mattly-standing Mark Estrada, Mike Lambeth and Brian Lasley
Versa Max and Trijicon put him on the ground!
Western Oklahoma is big, wild country with plenty of wildlife to go along with some spectacular scenery. Croton Creek Ranch is a great destination for deer and turkey hunters as well as those who want to visit the Black Kettle National Grasslands and tour the historic sites and museums arounde Cheyenne. Scott and Joni will make you feel right at home.
Call Joni @ 580 497-6129