Kansas Turkey Hunt

     My neighbor invited me along on a hunt for Rios in northern Kansas and I graciously accepted.  We spent three days hunting and the weather cooperated for about one half of a day.  We had rain, snow flurries, and lots of wind.  The temps ranged from 65 down to the upper thirties.  Did I mention it was windy?  We stayed with Jim Zadina who also runs Tall Grass Upland Game Farms.  From the amount of roosters I saw and heard, I'd bet the pheasant shooting is a blast. 
     Thank goodness we were blessed with half a day of calmer winds and sunshine.  This was all it took to get the birds out and about and talking.  We hit the woods hard for four hours and came home with three nice toms. 

My first Rio and a limbhanger at that!

Bird #1 of the afternoon.  Came in on a string and gave us quite a show.

With a little yelp from my friends.

My neighbor Serb with probably his 50th Rio.

Beards

Our excellent hosts, Jimmy and Jeff Zadina.

All smiles after a tough, but successful hunt.

Birds #2 and #3, didn't gobble much, but came a struttin'.

1 1/4"

All three birds came in at 20 lbs.

Jeff's 2010 Archery buck.  This pic does this buck no justice, absolutely the heaviest buck I've laid hands on.  The mass is so great, it shortens the tine length and spread.  Mainframe 4x4 with matching kickers, Jeff said it grossed around 160".