Turkey season is always highly anticipated for me and the Spring of 2011 was no different.  I received my new Mathews z7xtreme at the end of March and waiting for the opener was much the same as a kid waiting for Christmas morning.  I had hoped to hunt Turkeys in Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma but only accomplished two of the three.  The season was still an extreme success as I was able to kill three toms on video and have some great hunts with my best of friends.

These Wyoming Merriams were fired up well before opening day.

The first weekend following the 6th of April in Oklahoma has become a new found tradition with my friends Tony and Trey.  The birds are plentiful as are the laughs and good times.  My flight to Oklahoma City was delayed four hours in Denver and after a two hour drive we finally arrived and went to sleep around 4:30am.  Three short hours later we woke to a rising sun and the smell of Folgers brewing in the pot.  Before the strike of noon there were three Rios in the back of the Duramax.  The afternoon hunt would be my first chance to put the new Mathews to the test.

The Oklahoma red dirt was our hot and dry home for the weekend

Trey and I set up the Double Bull blind and turkey decoys on a flat where the birds generally pass through on their way to roost.  It was 98 degrees when we left the truck and one degree less than it would take to melt a human body on the inside of the blind.  After an hour of heavy perspiration we had a few birds working.  A group of curious jakes spotted the B-Mobile and quickly came to investigate. 

The biggest of the birds was sporting a five inch beard and with three tags in my pocket, he was worthy of my new bow’s first test.  It also gave me an opportunity to try out my NAP Gobbler Getter broadhead.  The bird stopped at 22 yards and my NAP Quikfletch disappeared behind the wing bone, bird number one was in the dirt.  The rest of the evening supplied more jakes but no long beards.  The majority of the rest of the trip I spent behind the camera, but the birds escaped our efforts. 

My first bird of 2011 and the first harvest with my z7Xtreme.

Click here to see the video of this hunt as seen on Bowhunting.com's exclusive web show.

The following weekend Bowhunting.com Pro Staff member Dan Schafer traveled to my house in Wyoming to chase Merriams.  We had a fantastic hunt and were lucky enough to take four long beards in two days!  We really put our Lost Camo to the test on this hunt as most of the birds were harvested on spot and stalk hunts. 

Dan's spot and stalk Merriams in Wyoming!

Tagged out!

Click here to watch the video of mine and Dan's Wyoming turkey hunts, as seen on Season 2 of Bowhunting.com's web show.

Unfortunately other commitments kept me from hunting Easterns in Kansas but hopefully next spring I’ll pick up right were I left off in 2011.  Now it’s time to start stickin’ wild hogs and Alligator Gar in the South!