Americana Outdoors E-Magazine - May 2018

The first ever “Yamaha Turkey Bass Smash” was held by both the Marine and Outdoor Divisions of Yamaha recently. The event was a one-of-a-kind, sometimes serious, and always fun, competition held near Del Rio, Texas. Teams competing in the event were comprised of Yamaha Pro Staff mem- bers, Outdoor Writers, and Yamaha Representa- tives. Camera teams and staff from Americana Outdoors supported the event in various manners . The week started with target practice on the range to get everyone familiar with the Thompson/Center Encore Pro Hunter Turkey Shotgun . Once everyone got settled in for the night, they awoke to a hearty breakfast and packed lunches prepared by our resident Pro Chef Angel Middleton. The teams then packed and loaded up the Yamaha Vikings and Wolverine Side-by-Sides and off they went for the first morning of the event which was scheduled to be a nine hour day of hunting turkeys. The conditions for the day were less than favor- able for turkey hunting with temperatures in the 90’s and winds gusting to over 30 during the day. The hope from all the teams was to get on toms right off the roost but with the windy conditions, it made it difficult to call in the turkeys. Teams communicated with each other using a Garmin In- Reach Explorer Handheld GPS . This allowed teams to see where others were hunting as they moved and texted updates as cell signal was basically non-existent. Team Kriet scored first blood as John Geiger, Edi- tor-In-Chief of Game and Fish Magazine , smoked a jake while Pro Angler Jeff Kriet and Yamaha’s Brad Dreyer did the calling. With Team Kriet on the board early on, Team Mid- dleton and Team Palanuik both were on the move often, but having little luck; however, that changed late in the day when Skip Knowles, author and ed- itor at Wildfowl magazine, took a large tom with a little more than 30 minutes of hunting time remai-

Wade Middleton gets everyone dialed in with the Thompson/Center Encore Pro Hunter Turkey Gun.

Teams get ready and load up their Yamaha Side-by-Sides with all their gear before heading out.

Jeff Kriet plays mind games with the other team using the Garmin InReach.

Team Middleton poses with their last-minute Tom along with their Thompson/Center Encore Pro Hunter Turkey Gun