Turkey Season Update

Alright the turkeys are getting the best of me right now, but I sure am having fun in the outdoors.

Opening weekend I went up the Hunt in the PA Grand Canyon area around Slate Run 2200 ft max. I wound up bunking at the Twin Peaks Camp which my Good friends Keith & Luke Kemp are members. We hiked up and down the mountains in the surrounding area covering 22 miles in three days. I hunted along side of Keith the whole time. He is the person responsible for teaching me all about turkey hunting. We tag teamed in calling in a Slate Run Gobbler on Monday and Keith Shot him! Over 20 lbs 9 1/2" beard. I blew our first hunt on Saturday morning when the gobbler caught me moving. I messed up also on our Monday morning hunt again while trying to shoot left handed... mistake I missed. After hunting turkey across this beautiful country I have drawn the conclusion that Upstate PA birds are some of the toughest birds to hunt in the nation!

I took this past Friday off and headed back to Slate Run solo to pack in and camp up high on the ridges and move camp each day based on what I was hearing. Now let me say that although these mountains are steep and big in PA terms it by know means is Colorado. My it sure challenges your conditioning to some degree! I covered 6 miles a day for two days up and down those mountains went toe to toe with three longbeards with them winning and passed on two Jakes late morning today. I carried my full load of gear as I would out west only with three days of food. I used my Sitka gear for both weekends and loved this stuff. I was able to layer and unlayer very quickly using my badlands 2200 pack. My new 22 oz Tarptent performed great. It gave me a chance to shake down all my gear and enjoy the the outdoors in a mountainous setting. I really feel in love with the Slate Run Area and mountain range. Although it is not the high mountains of CO it is the next best thing for us flatlanders of the East.

Stay tuned for more updates on my turkey season!!

D