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| My good friend Maverick Engelhart of Maverick Design produced this poster for the Hunt. |
Man do I love turkey hunting in Wyoming! The landscape is just how I image the old west looked in 1876 when General Custer and the 7th Calvary marched through this place headed west to meet their fate at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The abundance of wildlife is amazing....deer, antelope, elk and turkeys are around every corner. Not to mention the host community of Hulett knows how to throw a party, after all they have been doing it for a while, this was the 10th Annual Old West Invitational Turkey Shoot. Each spring, the Old West Invitational Turkey Shoot (OWITS) is held in Hulett, WY, with Devils Tower National Monument as the backdrop. The event is a cooperative effort with a two-pronged goal; raise funds for two great non-profits and promote wildlife conservation in Wyoming.
We were paired with two hunters for the hunt: Paul Bennick is an Army veteran from Buffalo, WY and Ryan Bronson is the Director of Conservation and Policy for Vista Outdoor. Both Paul and Ryan are accomplished hunters (which makes guiding so much easier). Ryan nailed it when he described turkey hunting as, "a series of 50/50 events", he explained his theory this way, "50% of the time the setup is right and the bird goes this way and not that way, but the other 50% of the time, nothing goes right and the bird gives you the slip". This hunt proved his theory as the early morning setups were nothing more than a front row seat to a symphony of gobbling and a good nap followed by frustration when the toms would fly down from the roost and follow hens off in the opposite direction of our setup. However, on back to back days we were able to call birds up out of the same draw allowing both Paul and Ryan to tag out. CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO
Low and behold Paul's bird scored well enough to get him a belt buckle placing 3rd overall in the Hunt. Buckles are awarded to the top three teams with the biggest bird (hunter, guide and landowner get buckles for each place). Ben collected the 3rd Place Guide buckle!
