Well, I was lucky enough to be one of the two people drawn yesterday in the turkey raffle. I will now get three additional turkey tags, and get to start hunting April 1st instead of the 15th. If I'm ever gonna try for the grand slam this is the year. I've killed several birds, but they've always been Rios and Merriams on this side of the hill. So, if anyone has any leads on Easterns on the west side, I'm all ears.....

Can't help with the Westside information, sorry. Where do you usually hunt here on the east side??

Let's see;

Klickitat
all over the Blue Mountains
Lake Roosevelt
South of you, but north of Spokane

Obviously, not every place every year....until this year. It's a safe bet that I'm gonna burn a lot of $2.69 a gallon diesel this spring....

my uncle live on deer lake, and says that him and his but get a turkey every year there. he also told me that there are three types of turkey there too. but i can't remember the names of them.

i've also seen alot of turkey around there to, bunches of turkeys up to 10 at a time.

backlash,

I sent you a PM...and while I tend to think that good turkey spots might be more of a zipperlip than good steelhead spots, read the PM and then shoot me an e-mail if you have any more specific questions.

The last westside turkey I shot came out of a county that kicked out a total of SEVEN birds that year, so all the good information in the world isn't going to guarantee you a bird over here, but I'd be happy to play a part if you did!

Fish on...

Todd

You've probably already heard about the Johnson Creek birds and there are quite a few but there are some other populations in that area that don't get much pressure. The north side of the Vail tree farm holds birds. There are birds out past Johnson creek if you cross the river at the wildlife area and also the south side of that forest out past Bucoda and the coal plant. A mountain bike is a must for these areas, although it's been a couple of years since I went out there so I'm not sure what kind of access there is these days.

I've also heard rumor that there are absolutely herds of birds up near the Wynochee reservoir but I have never been up looking for them. Supposed to be the largest population of Easterns in the state and in pretty rough country so they don't get much pressure.

Hope this helps. You'll have to post some pics of the trio when you get them!

Thanks for the advice. I pretty much have the gameplan together except mother nature isn't cooperating too well. 90% chance of rain and blowing isn't exactly 'good' turkey hunting weather, so it's looking like I'm gonna hunt this side of the big hill this weekend.

I'll keep you posted as things progress, hopefully with some pictures of success.

I just got notified of a new fee they want to add on for turkey tag. Right now the 1st tag comes with your small game license, but they want to charge an additional $12 for the tag on top of the $30. This is on Senate bill 5232 & the money is not dedicated to any particular purpose. The Legislative Hotline is 1-800-562-6000 if you want to call & OPPOSE. I heard at the committee hearing there was no opposition to this bill. So my take on it is they will vote for it & they get more money for the general fund.