Lady Yelpers Invade Big Sky Country
By Brenda Valentine
First Lady of Hunting®
May, 2007
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Scarlet Orr found the terrain and the turkey hunting
to be much different from her native Tennessee. She
tagged two fine birds.
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The long awaited trip to hunt Merriam’s turkey near
Big Horn, Montana, began on April 24th for a group
of women nicknamed the “Lady Yelpers”. Frequently, I
put together groups of lady hunters who enjoy
exploring new territories and pursuing different
game. No one in the group besides me had hunted this
area so it was to be a new adventure for all
attendees of the 2008 “Brenda Valentine Ladies
Turkey Hunt”.
The adventure started immediately for three of us
who were flying out of Nashville. Due to mechanical
problems, the first leg of the flight for Becki
Walker, Scarlet Orr, and myself was delayed for two
hours. This caused a domino effect for the remainder
of the trip which stacked up to a 13 hour difference
in arrival time. We spent a total of 22 hours trying
to get from Nashville to Billings, however, the
bright side of the story is that during the long
hours of airport lounging we met some very nice
hunters from other parts of the country to swap
stories with. It was a weary crew that came off the
plane at 12:30 a.m. mountain time but we were no
less weary than our host, Mr. Edwin Borman, who was
patiently waiting to collect us and drive us out to
the ranch. Our plans of stopping in Billings to pick
up hunting licenses was put on hold till morning;
right then the most important thing on everyone’s
mind was sleep.
Becki, Brenda, & Scarlet packed and loaded for
the trip to Montana with the Lady Yelpers.
Thankfully, our hunting companions—Rhonda Glisson
from New Mexico and Treva Campbell from Virginia—had
arrived in a timelier manner. They were able to get
unpacked and settled in, buy licenses, eat a divine
dinner, and get a good night's rest. When we finally
came trudging in to the lodge around 2:00 am I left
a note for those early rising turkey hunters not to
bother trying to wake us, we would catch up later.
The good folks at
Commando Game Calls and
Montana Decoy had outfitted each person with
a variety of turkey calls, T-shirts, caps, and hen
and
gobbler decoys. Additionally,
Winchester Ammunition made sure we were all fully
loaded with Winchester Extended Range Turkey Loads.
With all the new gear to try out everyone was
anxious to see some of the beautiful Merriam’s I’d
promised were roaming these hills.
Scarlet and Brenda put these fine birds on the
ground the first day.
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This fine gobbler was the third wild
turkey specie for Brenda in the spring
2008 season toward her Grand Slam.
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A quick trip to the nearby hardware/general store
got us squared away with all necessary hunting
licenses and turkey tags. Now it was time for
Scarlet, Becki, and me to hit the turkey woods. Ed
was our guide, however, I was the designated turkey
caller. It took one raspy yelp on a box call to
ignite a lusty gobble from a thick stand of
cottonwoods along the river. We all scrambled for
cover while pulling up face masks and double
checking shotguns. Within 10 minutes I had a bossy
old hen so mad she was spitting and the fever high
on a raft of gobblers as yet unseen but coming our
way through the timber. I gave instructions for each
of my hunting partners to wait for the shoot signal
since I felt sure there would be opportunities for
each of us to fill a tag if we remained patient.
Sure enough, a long-bearded gobbler with a blood-red
head and snowy-white fanny feathers came waltzing
toward us in full strut. For a few seconds we sat
there afraid to blink while enjoying his beauty.
This was the first Merriam’s Scarlet or Becki had
ever seen and the vivid colors of this specie was
simple breathtaking. I was barely whispering for
both of them to hold fire until I could coax other
birds from the cover. Soon, four more swinging
bearded gobblers were racing each other for the
lead. When all five birds were out in the open at a
distance of 25 yards, I gave the nod to shoot. Two
birds fell and three flew away in confusion. It was
hard to believe we’d only been hunting for 30
minutes and were already walking toward the road
with two big strutters flung over our shoulders.
Guides and hunters alike know the heart of the lodge
is Shelley's kitchen.
Shelley Mitchell is the LIC (Lady in Charge) of
Tulloch Creek Outfitters. She handles everything
from booking clients to training the kennel full of
upland hunting dogs, but another place Shelley
really shines is in the kitchen. Her meals are to
die for as my friends were about to discover. She
served up homemade breads and deserts each day with
a variety of the ranch-grown beef.
On the morning of day two, Treva shot a very nice
longbeard with the help of her guide, Adam Berg.
Rhonda’s guides, Rob Snook and Cody Glisson, called
in a big bird for her but for some crazy reason her
shotgun clicked and failed to fire. I was able to
bring another flock of Toms in range for Scarlet and
Becki. Scarlet dropped her second bird and we
discovered that Becki’s shotgun was shooting two
feet high. During lunch that day we took Becki to
the range and got her sights lowered and confidence
boosted. Rhonda also got her shotgun woes resolved
and we three were off to the hills for an afternoon
hunt with Adam.
From left to right, Brenda, Rhonda, & Becki on one
of the turkey-rich areas of the ranch.
Becki rechecks her shot pattern.
The next day was one of choices. Each lady had to
decide whether to keep hunting or take a trip to the
nearby Big Horn Battlefield. Ed, Cody, Scarlet, and
Treva took off for the land of Custer while Rhonda,
Becki, Rob, and I drove back to a place where we’d
gotten into turkeys the day before. We had some
close encounters with birds that day but for various
reasons none rode home in our vests. There is no
telling how many turkeys we scared off that we never
knew about from the constant story telling and fits
of laughter we had echoing off the hills.
At dusk we made our way back to the lodge with no
real regrets of the day, for the real purpose of the
hunt had been more than fulfilled. I wanted this
group of gals to leave their day-to-day world behind
and experience life on a working cattle ranch in
such a beautiful part of Montana. I wanted them to
shamelessly enjoy juicy cheeseburgers and hot fudge
brownies like they did before the days of eternal
dieting. I hoped everyone would shoot a turkey and I
really wanted everyone to learn more about turkeys
and increase their confidence about hunting them.
But the most important reason I gather groups of
lady hunters to occasionally join me in hunting camp
is to share the fun and laughter while bonding
friendships and making memories that will last
forever.
