First morning, we, like, get out of the car, and they're already, like, gobbling all over the place. So, of course, you're like, oh, here's what's gonna happen. Our friend looks at me, and he goes, do you care if the first turkey kills a Jake? And I'm like, I don't even know what that means. He's like, sit down.
He's just like, and here they come running. So the first turkey I killed was a triple bearded Jake at 60 yards with a 20 gauge. Like, what? Pretty impressive. From that point forward, I'm gonna turkey hunt. It's gotta happen. Like, looked for good from that point.
Triple beard. Triple beard. Welcome
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Welcome to the ASCEND podcast by Ducks Unlimited. Today is another awesome episode. I'm Adrian. Finding a Tom amongst all the hens was the hardest thing we did all week. And I'm joined by our other three podcast hosts. You guys hopefully know them all. If you don't, you're slacking. You need to go back and watch all of our other episodes. We're ready to talk all things turkey. So who's excited? Whoo. I'm alright. Three hands. In bad three hands. All the hands.
That's alright. All the hands. Tell me your first memorable turkey hunt.
I was hunting with a girlfriend,
and she took a bunch of new girls out hunting in Illinois. And, oh my gosh, right at sunrise. It's just walking in the field, and we're like, man, it's five minutes. So we shoot it. We're over here, like,
videoing, and I'm like, oh, yeah. We got it. Oh, no.
Blah blah blah. At that moment, that turkey just rose from the
grave, just put him in shock.
And right at that point, my friend
goes, Julia, your turkey is running.
The turkey, like, literally, like, this on the game camera, like
Did you know how that was running? Shot? Like, where is this gun?
Literally, the guns? Like, I was sitting over there. I was so excited.
I was
like, yeah. Me and the girls for the first time ever. No boys. Blah blah blah.
Yeah. Turkey. The turkey sale.
I'll show you. Boys. We learn the second you shoot it. Oh my gosh. Go get the dengue turkey and then come back. And
then so
right after that thing for at least a mile uphill.
I was like, oh my god.
Take another shot.
What species was this? Like, species Oh, man.
This is just an eastern. Mhmm.
I've never seen an eastern turkey.
I know. Big.
I hear that the eastern turkeys have the loudest gobble.
They get close, and you feel it, and you just, like, you feel it vibrate, and, oh, it's the best.
Every morning, it was like, oh.
Oh, good. Ever.
They say easterns make you a turkey hunter. I've heard that saying.
Oh, do
that. Eastern and Mary Ann's have definitely been my hardest. I don't know. I feel like I just get hard turkey hunts. Like, everyone, I'm like, man, worked for that. Was hard. Like yeah. I completed my grand slam,
so I've killed all four of
the turkeys. But definitely my first one, Little Rio behind me right now.
Yeah.
We were hunting West Oklahoma, and there's nothing out in West Oklahoma. If you've ever been there, there's literally nothing there. And so me and my friend were getting up at 03:00 in the morning and driving there. She's six months pregnant. And we go to this property. It's a 6,000 acre ranch, and it's just me and her. Day one was like a bust. And I was like, man, like, we stay there all day. Like, we roosted these birds. We, like, leave there.
And I'm, like, pretty devastated because I've been turkey hunting for years, and I'm not really a turkey hunter because there's no turkey. And so she calls me up. It is literally at the last weekend of season, and she's like, hey. You wanna go back out there? And I was like, you
know I do. Oh my gosh.
We end up being on this wide open field, and we see a group of four toms together. We're like, how do we get to another crawl? She's six months pregnant. We're crawling. She's, like, belly crawling on the side. And I shoot one, and the other ones fly off. She and her karate mode jumps up, shoots one. It lands in the creek, and she's like, takes off running after it, gets over there. She's like, I'm gonna shoot again. No bullet.
She's like, Bethany, run me your shotgun. And I'm like, running over there. So, yes, I always have another one loaded because this happened. But, yeah, we doubled first turkey moment. It was, like, one of my favorite hunts.
And it was just hard, though, because, like, it was we're going back to tackle this huge property again. It was hot, but it, like, really just taught me, like, you know, it's just not always easy. It's not that this little thing that happens. You know, like, I'm just gonna put my decoy out here and call these birds.
Which species do you think is, like, the dumbest?
Rio. They're just loud. It's like they're like, let's, like, call. Like, gobble at that. Like, other I don't know. Like, the they gobble at everything. The Jake's are more, I feel like, I don't know, regressive, dumb, unpineapple.
Alright, Erin. First most memorable hunt.
Okay. My most memorable hunt was when I first was learning how to duck hunt. We it was in Wyoming. I'm on a boat with some my girlfriends. The guide is rowing us. We're fishing, and I shoot this duck, and it runs up onto this island in the middle of the river. I get out. I don't bring my gun. That's a mistake. Always bring your gun.
I get out, and it's, like, five degrees too. And I crawl under these bushes to go get the duck. I'm losing my hat, my sunglasses, all the things. I get up from the bushes, and I'm, like, putting my hat back on and my sunglasses. And I look up, and there's, like, 50 birds looking at me. No duck. There's no duck anywhere. I just put my hands up because I don't know. These turkeys are like they have it out for me at this point. Like, it's them versus me.
Like, a whole crowd of 50 turkeys just, like, staring me down. And I get back, and the girls in the boat are like, what happened? And I was like, there's, like, a city of birds on that island. They don't believe me. We move on. I get home. I tell one of my girlfriends from New York that's super into turkey hunting and is a good caller. And so the following fall, we go back down there, and she's like, oh my gosh. There's, like, a 100 birds roosted on this property. And I was like, I know.
And then they just fly over to the island. And then when you go try and pick up your mallard that you didn't kill and she's calling and calling, and she's like, I think that there's gonna be, like, 50 birds that fly over here because they're just which they did in a gigantic group. And so we immediately try and, like, pick one bird out of the group each, like, as they're they have all landed. And we must have been just a bit out of range, but I unload three. No birds.
She unloads three, and she's like a good shot and no bird. And they just, like, bust and fly everywhere. More birds are coming up. There's white tailed deer going across the river. It is total chaos.
So she gets up, and she she's killed a bunch of turkeys. This would be, like, my first, like, actual turkey hunt where I'm not like, oh my gosh. There's a turkey. So she runs around and pushes it out of the bushes, and here it comes in one shot that's down. And it was running right at me, and it was a big old Tom. And I just no one believes that story. And then so every year, I've gone back and followed a turkey island and taken somebody, and they're like, wow. This is real.
Sounds like a magical island. I know. Right? Yeah. We were like, I'll go with the island. Do you Yeah. I volunteer if you need a person.
So I'm gonna just share my first turkey hunt ever. I've had deer hunted for several years, but for some reason, my husband was like, you gotta come turkey hunting. I'm like, I don't wanna. No idea why. First morning, we, like, get out of the car, and they're already, like, like, gobbling all over the place.
So, of course, you're like, oh, here's what's gonna happen. At this point too, I, like, I had shot that shotgun, I think, once to be like, oh, yeah. I know how to shoot it at a target. So we get down. We, like, cut some cedar bush limbs.
We back up, and we're in like, tucked in these these cedar bushes. And this huge gobbler comes out, like, a 100 yards away up the hilltop on the other side. And for probably I mean, it was, like, forty five minutes probably. He's just strutting and gobbling and strutting and just back and forth on top of that hill, back and forth. Like, literally forty five minutes we're watching this happen.
And so all of a sudden, like, six Jakes just come running in and, like, attack him, just, like, flog him. And he's there, like, care you know, cackling and carrying on attacking this tom. So he finally flies off. Our friend looks at me, and he goes, do you care if the first turkey kills a Jake? And I'm like, I don't even know what that means.
So he's like, sit down. He's just like, and here they come running. Those six Jakes just come running up to the to the decoys. So I shoot one. Actually, missed the first one. He, like, reaches up, jacks another shell in. Shoot. Hit the second one. We're all excited. So my husband had been laying, like, weird on his side to watch all of this stuff happening.
His whole leg is numb. He takes off running, like, about falls on his face because he can't feel his leg. He's, like, leaping on one leg up the hill. So we get there, and it's all exciting. And, like, very few people believe this part of the story, but we get up there, we're all excited.
And, you
know, like, when we set everything up, it's like it's about 35 yards. That's pretty good. So we get there, and and our friend looks back, and he's like looks at my husband. He's like, dude, that's not 35 yards. So we walk it out, and it was, like, 60 yards. So the first turkey I killed was a a a triple bearded Jake at 60 yards with a 20 gauge. Like, what? Pretty impressive. Yeah. From that point forward, I'm gonna turkey hunt.
Like, it's gotta happen. Like, you're you're hooked for good from that point forward.
What kind of calls do y'all use?
Ceramic over glass, and the ceramic is really cool because it works wet. So, like, you know, you're sitting in the grass in the morning, you can still use the ceramic side.
I've got a question for you. With do you have you ever tried a mouth call?
Yes. And so I think I know what you're gonna ask. So do you, like, gag?
Me or, like, no. I don't gag at all. It's just Oh. My mouth is just messed up for this, so I have a slate call.
Oh, yeah. Do it either. But I've learned that, like, elk calls with, like, the reed, the, like, the hard reed at the top
Mhmm.
Mhmm. Like, I
can do those. But just turkey calls, it never sits right. I don't know if it's the shape of, like, my mouth.
A couple things I've learned, which I'm not good at it by any stretch. But number one, I feel like you have to put it real like, further back in your palate than you think you should. Mhmm. Number two, I try to do too much. Because, like, when you watch videos or read how to do it, they're like, make this sound.
You know? And they're like, say the key. But I'm like, my tongue doesn't sit there. I think it's just more getting air to move and then figuring out how to move your tongue to get it to do different stuff. The main reason I wanna learn how to use one better is so, like, if I get one close Mhmm. Then you can just stop. You don't have to be like you can put that down and be like Yeah. And then you're still ready.
I feel
like you could just make your sound that you're making right now without the call.
One time this has happened more than once, but one time we were hunting, and my husband and were sitting there. I think a friend was with us, and we were like, nobody else is supposed to be here because we could hear, you know, like, call. And we're like, they are terrible. Like, that sounds awful. That doesn't sound that's awful. Why? And then all of a sudden, this hen comes out of the woods. We're like, oh. Oh. Oh, well, apparently, she's pretty good at it. I don't know.
She's fine. She's leading the path.
The worst calling I have ever heard came from an actual hen. So, yeah, as long as if the if the tums are hot, you literally could just be like, and here they come. Okay. So before we get to our next question, let's take a little break. We're gonna break to hear from our sponsors. Welcome back to the ASCEND podcast by Ducks Unlimited. The four of us are here talking all things turkey. So, Bethany, what caliber gauge, I guess, shotgun do you use? 12 gauge. Nice. Julia? Oh, come on.
12 gauge girly over here.
Same 12. So I pretty much steadily rock a 28. I love a 28 gauge.
Of course you do.
Yeah. The best shot in the world. Just the creme de la Croix.
Yeah. So triple beards.
Triple beard. I was
only 20. I do take, like, more than three shells, though,
just in case. Mhmm. You never know when you have Tack us with one. No. Was kidding. That's right.
Yep. You just sneak
it and get the other four. Okay. Next question. What is your favorite turkey hunting snack? Turkey. JerkyJerkyGirl. There we go. Jerks. Nuggets. Fish jerky. And I like
to open it, and I have it in my pocket already. So I have a snack pocket. Pocket snacks.
Oh, yeah.
That's smart.
I like that. That is really smart.
Why she's killed so many, y'all. We need take snaps.
That's right. Open your jerky.
The jerky.
So we got her jerky Pop Tarts.
Definitely bone broth or, like, some type of broth. It's cold turkey season. I got snow, whatever will keep you warm.
No hot cocoa with marshmallows? No. I I always have coffee. So coffee and jerk. I'm an angry elf without coffee. I too feel that.
Oh, boy.
Coffee and Pop Tarts.
It has to be in the Pop Tart container because I don't like smush Pop Tarts.
I know.
That's a thing.
You need the little Adrian's thing.
I do.
I have it.
I pop it. I'm like, yep.
For what I've learned, it's pretty leak proof too. Just just saying because
I have tossed it into the water,
and it's floating. Well, that's good to know. Soggy Pop Soggy Pop Tarts. Not soggy nor broken.
You go. Flavor.
That's right. I don't know. So my favorite snack, I'd like to say it's, like, you know, some kind of organic, you know, fruit something, but, no, it's probably Pop Tarts. That'd freeze in my bag.
The Pop Tarts? The any any type of fruit.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. You'd be, like, breaking your teeth trying to
eat it. You can wedge it in between a hand warmer. I have done that before.
ASCEND snack hacks. Yes.
Old Pop Tart Secrets. Alright. Now what is aside from toilet paper, what is the other most essential item that you take with you turkey hunting?
Binoculars. Gnat spray. Those mats you put your sleeping bag on? Okay. So I have some that I've just ripped apart, and I sit on them so my butt doesn't freeze.
That is a good idea. Yeah.
So I always have a rangefinder of some sort, whether it's the binoculars that that have the rangefinder or one because what's 30 yards? What's 40 yards? You know? So your vest doesn't have a you don't have a vest, Erin, you said? You don't have a vest or a vest?
I'm I'm trying to go ultralight. Right? Because I might put in, like, six mountain miles in a day chasing Miriams and, like, you know, figure eights because I'm impatient. So
I need to have a nice staircase. Better. Come with you.
I know. Right? So do you use, like, a chest pack?
No. I just have, like, a little, outdoor backpack.
I have to have a vest, and I have to have a seat. Because, you know, most of time when you first sit down, you're not you don't, like, take your time, and you're like, oh, this looks like a nice spot. Like, most of the time, it's like, you hear the gobble, and you're like, you just gotta throw your butt down.
So We should talk about ticks. I'm gonna have ticks this year, and I don't know what to do about that.
So you gotta treat your clothes for sure. Mhmm. It I mean, all is quite horrible because it's all chemicals. But so Sawyers makes a permethrin spray. And, basically, you just, like, spray your clothes down, leave them hanging for, I think, it's, two or three hours so that they dry. Yeah. So it dries on there. And it'll last a few washings. Anytime I take a bathroom break, I check, Bathroom break. Okay. Pulling down, looking everywhere because, you know, with the alpha gal stuff going out, like,
that's more scary to me.
Wait. What's alpha gal?
Yeah. Is he getting a new one?
He can eat red meat. You can only eat fin and feather.
Yeah. So you thought that was super allergic.
Part of Lyme disease.
No. No. It's different. It's from the I think it's the lone star tick, which is like It's from ticks. Ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah. And it But does it wear off over time? I think supposedly there's some treatments you can do. Yeah. Yeah. But
And I think some people have had, like, variant reactions. Like, some people, it's full blown anaphylactic. And some people just get, like, really upset stomach and over time. But then they was like, what are
you willing to risk? So, yeah, the the Sawyer spray for sure on your clothes. Some places make, like, little bands that you can, like, wrap around your pants to keep them from crawling up.
I've seen that, like, duct tape, like, meme. Yeah. They're like, oh, no ticks are getting on me, and it's like his half his leg is, like, wrapped in duct tape.
Yep. Big socks. Just anything you can do to limit their ability to crawl.
Yeah. Drop your tick comments for tip pro tips in the comments.
Yeah. Does anyone take Clorox baths after they're hunting? A what? Maybe
that's just thing. Cool I don't, but I know what you're talking about. They throw Yeah. Some Clorox in the water.
Clorox in there, and then they're like Yeah. I just do it all the time, because I'm pretty sure that's so bad for you.
They do say too.
We do
not give health advice on this.
No. No. Health disclaimer.
Disclaimer. Random thought random facts about the lone star tick. They do not need a mate to multiply, so they basically, like, can clone themselves. And they actually, like, hunt. So they can smell, sense, whatever, life with for from, like, 40 yards away. And then, like Crawl to you? Like, crawl to you.
Yeah. I'd shoot that too.
We need some spray or something, though.
Just kill them all. Bomb the house. Somebody was saying one of the really good ways to get rid of them is, like, a controlled burn. Okay. Last question. Tell me what you're most excited about this year at Turkey Hunt.
I'm so excited that I get to bring Nate, who's my fiance, to Turkey Hunt for his first time. I don't know when I did it. Oh. That's kinda what I did. You know? Chills just everywhere. And so I'm excited to see if he has that moment.
Oh, definitely awesome. Alright, Bethany. Probably my excitement is getting there's a few of my kids that are really hungry to, like, get back out there. So, like, I always love the opportunity to hunt with them. Alright, Erin.
I've never been out on opening day, so I'm super excited to hunt for myself on opening day rather than trying to help somebody else for the first time. I don't know if anyone's come with me. I think they're a little intimidated that, oh, she's going she's going for blood this year. And I'm like, yes.
It's right. You're just calling it.
You're like, it's going down. With me.
That's right. That's right. So, guys, definitely tag d u ASCEND as the Instagram handle. Whenever you go out on your turkey hunt, whether you are successful in making a kill or you just were successful in having a really good time, we'd love to see all of your experiences. Tell us your stories.
Our mission is to make ASCEND a community of women who just wanna build each other up and share and enjoy each other's experiences and successes. Be part of our community. Make sure you're following us. Like this episode. Comment on this episode and tell us your favorite story because we want this to be the biggest thing out there for you ladies who love the outdoors.
Thank you for listening to the ASCEND podcast. New every week, the conservation driven podcast one week and our adventure video series the next. Watch the ASCEND adventure episodes on the Ducks Unlimited YouTube channel, and be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited. Until next time, follow your outdoor story wherever it leads you. ASCEND.