After our hunt in Hulett, it was a quick drive up to Broadus, Montana to hunt with Mike Zmek, owner of Blue Rock Outfitters.  We met Mike at the Eastern Sports Show in Harrisburg, PA earlier this year, and after he told me about his property, I eagerly booked a turkey hunt for this spring to celebrate mine and Annetta's 21rst anniversary.  He has 150,000 acres in Southeast Montana  and Northeast Wyoming that he guides whitetail, mule deer, antelope, prairie dog, and turkey hunts on.  No matter what terrain you want to hunt, he probably has it.  He has the high hills filled with ponderosa pines; he has open sage brush country, and he also has a bunch of land along the Little Powder River with giant cottonwoods.  It is an amazing place to say the least.

    Annetta, Jesse, and I rolled into Mikes camp, which is right next to the Powder River, on the 16th of May, ready to hunt the following morning.  We went out, scouted a bunch of ground, and then went into town to get our turkey tags.  That’s when we found out the bad news.  To our surprise, the Montana season had closed that day.  Through the course of all of the different states I hunted this year I screwed up on the Montana dates.  I thought it closed the 18th but it actually closed the 16th (big brain fart).  As I mentioned Mike has property in Wyoming so we purchased Wyoming tags instead, hopped across the border and hunted his Wyoming property.
     The best thing about hunting the Northwest is that the Merriam’s turkeys there have pure white tips on their feathers.  The next best thing about them is that if you know how to call, they come right in.  They simply don’t get messed with as much as the birds back in the Midwest.  We took the day of the 17th to scout out some more ground in Montana, and then we headed to Wyoming.  I figured while I was there I might as well check out the antelope hunting prospects.  I found out that Mike has some of the best antelope hunting ground in the country.  This got me excited to go back in the fall and shoot one while they are in the rut. 
    Before the fall however, we needed to finish up turkey season, and we went out on the 18th to shoot a couple Wyoming gobblers.  The special thing about May 18th for us is that it just happens to be our wedding anniversary.  It might sound strange to some people, but for us there is no better way to spend our anniversary than to be hunting turkeys.  This day was different though, because we didn’t just hunt turkeys, we both killed turkeys! Annetta killed her bird bright and early in the morning, and after a nice little nap in the mid-day, I went and smashed me a bird in the evening.  The trip was not exactly how I had planned it but it finished out perfect.  Happy Anniversary to us!!

Annetta's Turkey comes strutting in

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