Turkey Hunting - Mountain Bike Style

Spring comes a bit later for Wyoming than most areas in the lower 48, and that has most of us in Lander scratching at the door to get outside to feel the sun on our skin. Spring is our first real chance to restock our vitamin D reserves, but it also has another meaning - it’s turkey season! Last spring, a good friend from Jackson, WY suggested we try out an area of public land that we hadn’t hunted in the past. With lots of old logging roads and a ton of terrain to explore, we thought what better way to cruise the landscape than with our mountain bikes! Hunting public land isn’t always easy, but when you can cover ground in half the time it normally takes to search new spots, a bike is a great way to explore the landscape.

"When exploring new territory, it pays to be on the move - we covered ground, honed in on key spots, and eventually found success."

Wyoming isn’t know for it’s turkey hunting - and that’s a good thing. Because every season we have lots of turkeys seemingly to ourselves. The Black Hills of northeast Wyoming lights up with gobbling birds, rivaling any turkey hunting experience I’ve had in the traditionally prime turkey territories of the southeast. Covering ground on our bikes was the key to honing in and finding these birds. The density of birds wasn’t particularly of note, but once we found them, the quality of the hunt was stellar. Similar to elk hunting during the rut, chasing vocal turkeys can give you that same sense of excitement. We keyed in on ideal habitat, used our ears to do the exploring, and just as with any hunt, took advantage of any opportunity that came our way. When exploring new territory, it pays to be on the move - we covered ground, honed in on key spots, and eventually found success.