Outfitter Review On Webbed Feet Down

Part 1: THE HUNT

KANSAS GOBBLERS
By Dan Wennerlind

Knowing that Mike had already harvested 35 gobblers this season, I was a little concerned that there might now be many left on his properties, but Mike assured me that he had not been skunked for as many years as he could remember and he wasn’t about to start with me. That boosted my confidence quite a bit. I sure the heck didn’t want to be the one that broke the streak that’s for sure.

I pulled into Mike’s driveway in the great town of Woodston, Kansas (located in the north central region of the state) just after noon on a gorgeous Monday afternoon. I was expecting to get settled in and have a chance to see a few of Mike’s properties and maybe get out for a late afternoon scouting mission to put a few Rio’s to bed for the next morning. Boy was I wrong. As soon as I pulled in, Mike showed me to my room and asked me how long it would take me to get ready to hunt. I said I could be ready in about 15 minutes if need be. He said he was going to get his truck ready and to put my gear in the back ASAP and we were off….

Being that it was late in the day we started driving the back roads looking for Toms strutting out in the fields and along the tree lines. I asked Mike how many acres we had to hunt? He pointed with his finger in a big circle and said 35 miles in every direction. Wow!

Mike has a much different way of running his outfitting business than most and I would come to appreciate all of the hard work he puts in year round. Being that Mike is a FULL TIME outfitter for turkeys and whitetails, he does not have another job. His entire year is devoted to scouting out every area within a 70 square mile radius around his house. He also enjoys building and maintaining his landowner relationships with all of the farmers in the area. Mike is basically a hired hand for anyone in the area, free of charge. If you are a farmer in need, in the 7 month off season, Mike is your man! From the moment we got into the truck, Mike’s phone was ringing off the hook from his landowners who needed help with this or that. I could see how Mike was serious when he said we have the ability to hunt almost any field in a 35 mile radius, in any direction of his home.

Right off the bat we spotted a hen in a tree line not far from his home, but she was all alone so we kept moving. We first headed south and hit up a couple “Hot Spots” Mike had been seeing turkeys in over the last week or so, but the temps were warming up quick and the birds were sure to be in the shade at this point in the day. On our travels Mike showed off several of his top whitetail food plots and stand locations. I was even more impressed when Mike shared with me that they have had an over 90% success rate with all of his whitetail hunters over the past 3 seasons as well and his hunter’s average 165+ or better bucks with his largest buck being a massive 231″ monster taken several years ago! In addition to Mike working year round with his land owners, he also works year round maintaining his food plots and making sure his whitetail herd is well taken care of. Being in the midst of a major drought right now Mike has taken the initiative to put water troughs on all of his properties to ensure his deer all have an ample and clean water supply year round. Mike said he has not had one case of blue tongue yet.

Back to the hunt, after a couple hours of driving the back roads without success it was time for a lunch break. We headed over to the turkey lodge and Mike had his full time deer camp chef Stella fix a most enjoyable fresh deli sandwhich lunch with a fantastic maccoroni salad. It really hit the spot on this scorching hot day.

Around 4:30 pm we were back at it, hitting the back roads. It only took us about 20 minutes to find a group of 7 Jakes out in a field. We stopped and scoped them out for a good 10 minutes to make sure there wasn’t a big tom mixed in with the group but Mike was not about to give in and take a Jake this early in the hunt. I asked Mike how he intended to hunt the birds, if we had spotted a Tom in the group, being it was late in the day and they were out in the middle of the field.

Now it was getting late and I was eager for Mike to give me a first-hand demonstration on how successful he is at using the Scoot N Shoot decoy. But as the sun started to drop further down in the sky and no Toms were out and about on this steamy evening, it just wasn’t in the cards. In fact on the ride back, we heard the high temp hit a whopping 102 degrees! It was no wonder the birds weren’t moving this evening.

That night over a delicious steak dinner prepared by Mike’s wonderful wife Lori, I had a chance to get a better feel for Mike’s overall operation and asked him what the plan was for the next morning. The answer I received was another head scratcher, at least for the moment….

Mike said that sunrise was about 5:30am so we would be getting up around 6am. We would have a little breakfast, take our time getting ready and then should try to be out the door before 7am. Now I never question the guide but I had never hunted turkeys like this before.

Mike made it clear that for those who truly want to get up at 4:30 am and sit in a blind, that option is available as he has several ground blinds pre-set in prime turkey locations but he feels the odds are against you. He said you only have a 50 / 50 chance the birds are going to fly down in your direction and then it’s not a sure thing they are going to come into your set up, no matter how good of a caller you are, late in the season. Mike said he usually uses the ground blinds for his archery hunters but for the traditional decoy hunter Mike can definitely offer that style of hunt. I was just fine with not having to get up at 4:30 am.

Mike said he would rather wait until the birds are on the ground and visible in the fields and then he puts the stalk on them. He said his success rate using this tactic is basically 100%. I had to wonder was Mike just an old fashion road hunter or did he truly believe in this method of hunting. I would soon find out…

This time we left the Scoot N Shoot behind. I asked Mike why. He said that this old bird was a very subordinate bird and he had killed two other Toms already off of this property this spring and each time they used the Scoot N Shoot this Tom ran the other way. “He is a sissy” Mike said so we will need to put the sneak on him.

Luckily for us, with the drought everything was bone dry and all of the small crick bottoms that ran through pretty much every wood line offered us a quick and easy path to the birds. Within 10 minutes we were directly below the 4 birds. Mike slowly crept up to the field edge and motioned for me to join him. He said the two Toms were right out in front about 30 yards away. As I made my way up the bank the larger Tom made his way over to one of the hens a little further out in the field. However the smaller bird, which in this case, the more dominant bird puffed right up when Mike gave a call. It offered the perfect shot at 35 yards out and with one shot I had my first Rio Grande turkey!

I was elated but I think Mike was even more excited than I was. We made our way back to the truck and we were both all smiles. But, being that this was a two bird hunt we were only half way there. Mike said now we were going to make sure we got a big dominant Tom for my second bird.

He said of course they do but since they can’t see us they don’t know what we are so although they are on alert, they are not scared yet. Again we crept up to the bank of the crick bed and with a couple calls from Mike, the big red head was at full attention, right at 35 yards again. Mike said this is your bird! It was a big mature Tom with a 10 inch beard hanging down. I clicked off the safety on my Mossberg 735 12 gauge and with one more shot I had another clean kill and my second Rio Grande Tom turkey in the books! This bird was a big Tom and came within just a couple points of receiving the Kansas Trophy Turkey Award.

What a hunt. Within 25 minutes we went from not seeing any turkeys to having 2 birds in hand. We took about 20 minutes and did a nice photo shoot along the crick bottom to remember this incredible hunt.

Driving back to town Mike spotted yet another group of Toms with a hen out on a field edge. These were both big mature Merriams turkeys. Since Mike always waits until the end of the season to fill his tag, after all of his hunters are done, and being I was the last hunter of the year I told Mike to grab my gun and let’s gettem!

Since it was still early in the day, we had a chance to meet up with one of Mike’s regular customers- a husband and wife couple from Colorado, The Barleys. Brian Barley shared with me several of his favorite hunting stories over the years as we had lunch together. In fact during the past 2 turkey seasons Brian and his wife were able to tag team a pair of big gobblers at the same time during both hunts. Incredible!!!

Brian also showed me a photo of the 207 Whitetail buck (seen above) that he took hunting with Mike a couple seasons ago. And his friend had harvested one of a pair of twin bucks Mike had been watching for 3 ½ years that scored 167. Another hunter in camp that same season harvested the other twin that scored 164 within a hundred yards of where the first one was shot. It just goes to show that Mike has a great handle on all of the wildlife in the area. And again these are ALL Fair Chase hunts!

As I packed up my gear and got ready to head back home to Colorado I couldn’t thank Mike and his wife Lorie enough for the excellent hospitality and incredible turkey hunting! This was one to remember for sure! And like Mike said- “This ain’t your Grandpa’s turkey hunt”! Now I get it Mike!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MIKE ADAMS OF WEBBED FEET DOWN OUTFITTERS FOR BEING NAMED THE 2015 HUNTTHENORTH.COM OUTFITTER OF THE YEAR!

Part 2: THE REVIEW

We have known Mike for over 3 years now and have hunted with him on both a Colorado spring snow goose hunt as well as the Kansas turkey hunt. Mike is a fun loving guy who knows what it takes to not only be successful day in and day out, but also how to make the hunt a lot of fun, even on the slow days. Mike has expert knowledge of the game he is pursuing and in our opinion is an EXPERT turkey and whitetail hunting outfitter. We gave Mike a 5 / 5!

On this particular hunt, we did not need to use a lot of equipment. However what we did use and the tactics Mike uses to be successful were top notch. It was evident that Mike has this turkey hunting thing down to a science. With the option of calling the birds into his Scott N Shoot decoy or sitting in a high quality ground blind if you are an archery hunter or more of a traditionalist, everything Mike uses is top notch, including his deer hunting blinds and food plots. 5/5 on this aspect of the hunt!

Even though it was a very late season turkey hunt when after harvesting 35 gobblers off of his properties already this season, Mike was still able to put me on multiple birds and even take one himself after my hunt was over. In addition to that, the fact that Mike has fostered such good landowner relations, he can pretty much hunt any property he sees birds on as far as he needs to go. Mike has also boasted a 100% success rate over the past 100 turkey hunters and has a 90% success rate on his whitetail hunts. It doesn’t get much better than that- 5/5!

Mike has 2 different lodges set up for his hunters. One is for his turkey hunters and one for his whitetail hunters. Both lodges are very suitable for his groups of hunters. The turkey lodge also has a fenced in yard for dogs and has several bedrooms and was a very comfortable set up. The whitetail lodge is also a very nice property nestled in on a 160 acre parcel of intensely managed whitetail property with food plots and ground blinds. Mike also has a chef on site for his hunters with home cooked meals included in all of his hunt packages. The food was great on the turkey hunt! Both lodges were very roomy and comfortable set ups for Mike’s hunters- 4/5!

Mike’s turkey hunt package for a 3 day All Inclusive hunt is only $800.00. This is an absolute steal in this hunters mind. Many of the other turkey lodges with this caliber of hunting charge well over $1,200 for a 3 day hunt package. In addition, Mike also offers the opportunity to harvest a w2nd bird for an additional $50.00. (NOTE: For the 2015 season Mike is only offering 1 bird hunts due to the fact that the drought in the area has the bird numbers down and Mike wants to see those numbers rebound again before offering his 2 bird hunt package). Also Kansas turkey hunting licenses are available over the counter to that aspect was a non issue as well. This one is a no brainer- 5/5!

Overall I had a blast on my Kansas turkey hunting trip with Mike Adams. He was also very accommodating in rescheduling my hunt after I was unable to make the trip with less than 24 hours notice. The kill was just the icing on the cake. The best part about the hunt was spending a couple days with a wild cat named Mike Adams! I fun loving guy who knows more about turkeys and whitetails than most will ever learn in a lifetime! 5/5 for the experience!

Part 3: Booking Information

Contact Information For: Webbed Feet Down Outfitters

Outfitter: Mike Adams
Phone: 1.888.568.1984
Email: webbedfeetdown@huntthenorth.com
Website: webbedfeetdown.com

Additional Hunts Offered

In addition to Mikes World Class Kansas spring turkey hunts, he also offers:

• Trophy caliber fair chase Kansas whitetail hunts
• Colorado spring snow goose hunts
• Colorado elk hunts

For more information on any of these hunts be sure to give Mike a call ASAP at 1.888.568.1984 as many of his hunts are pre booked each year from his repeat customers.

More photos from the hunt…