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Wednesday A.M.
This morning I got to the hunting area early, well before light. I slowly creeped down a sandy lane that ran parallel - a few hundred yards away - to the shelterbelt where I roosted the tom last evening. I got about even with where I thought he should be, and took a seat in the darkness. Pretty soon, as dawn started to show on the horizon, I heard him gobble his first of the morning. I waited a while, as he continued to gobble. As it was getting lighter, I started doing some soft clucks, purrs, and tree yelps. He answered immediately, and then frequently thereafter. As it got lighter, I looked through my binoculars and could see him walking back and forth on his limb, strutting. I took that as a sure sign that there were hens roosted with him. He could only fly two ways - to my side of the shelterbelt, or to the other side, so I figured I had a 50% chance that he would fly down to my side. Well where do you think he flew down? To the other side, of course. I saw several hens fly down shortly after him. Since they were now out of my sight, I took that opportunity to make a quick plan.  here's the shelterbelt the tom was roosted in this morning I heard him gobble once or twice more before I moved, and I ascertained that for the time at least, he was headed down the sandy road that paralleled the shelterbelt on the other side. So, I got up and started speedwalking parallel to the shelterbelt, with the idea of getting in front of them. I walked about 500 yards down, then cut through the shelterbelt and came out on the side the birds had flown down to. I did a few crow calls and immediately he gobbled from about 150 yards away. So far my plan looked like it was coming together, and the turkeys were just working their way right down the road - the road I was now set up on in their path. I looked through my binoculars and spotted the tom strutting on the other side of a small grove of trees. There was no way or need for me to get closer, so I sat down amongst some "wait-a-minute" bushes, as there were no trees nearby. I did some soft yelps and the tom answered, but there was no way he was going to leave the two hens he was courting at the moment. He was strutting like crazy, and I could hear him drumming the whole time, even from almost 100 yards away. Slowly but surely the hens worked their way through the grove of trees and right towards me. I just waited, with my gun on my knee, looking at the bead. Soon, here he came, all puffed up with a white/blue head, gobbling every 10 seconds or so. From where I sat, 30 yards was about as close as they could get to me, so when he got there I rolled him, and the hens flew off into a big sagebrush flat. He was a beautiful bird, 18 lbs., 1-inch spurs and a 9" beard. I was pretty happy, two toms in two days, finished with the hunt less than an hour after daylight. I wish it happened that way all the time!  A short hunt and a beautiful bird Even though my hunt was done, the day wasn't over, and there were a few more interesting things to come yet. As I was carting my bird back to the vehicle and snapping some photos, I heard another tom gobbling. He was a long way off, but just for the heck of it I starting doing some very loud yelping and cutting. He answered within a few seconds. I thought he must be out in the sagebrush somewhere, but I couldn't see him. The gobbling was coming from the direction of the road, so I figured I'd see him when I drove out. Well, I got to the gate and hadn't seen him yet, even though I still heard him gobbling. Then I saw him - across the road! I had been at least 1/2 mile from him when I first heard him. Remember what I said yesterday about sound really traveling out in this open country? He was a thumper tom, too. He was strutting for a single hen. I checked him out with my binoculars and estimated his beard to be 12" and very, very thick. He was definitely a mature tom. There were also about 15-20 other turkeys out in the field, including a few nice toms.  Grandaddy Gobbler I heard from across the road I spent the rest of the day driving around with Creed Akers looking at turkeys and some of his different country. I saw probably 80+ turkeys today. While we were out driving around, something crossed the road. Creed said it was a Horned Toad, which he hadn't seen in this area in years, and I'd never seen one. He got out and caught it for a few photos. They're a neat critter - look like they're related to the dinosaurs.  more turkeys feeding  the Horned Toad we found We snapped a few pics and then let him go Right before fly-up time, Creed drove me by an area where a bunch of turkeys roost every evening, in some big trees in the yard of an abandoned homestead. He stopped down the road a little ways, and we watched as a long line of turkeys was continually crossing the road for about 5 minutes. When they were done crossing we drove near to watch, and there were a half dozen longbeards strutting their stuff before bedtime. That was pretty cool. Hunt Conclusion Well, that was the end of my hunt. I hope you enjoyed it, I'm sure I did. Panhandle Outfitters obviously has some excellent turkey country and lots of turkeys. Seven hunters (including me) the first week of the season killed fifteen birds, only one of which was a jake, all the rest were longbeards. One thing I liked about this area is that it was so open it wasn't any trouble seeing birds, even if they hadn't been talking much. The accommodations were very clean and comfortable, the food was great, and the hospitality was fantastic. The lodge looks out across an 800 acre beautiful lake. If you're looking for a good Rio Grande Turkey hunt, I would highly recommend Panhandle Outfitters. I've hunted Rio's in a number of places and this was one of the best. I'll be going back to hunt with them again for sure. Check back in a week or two to see more Live Turkey Hunts - this time for Eastern Turkeys!
Joshua Flournoy owns and manages the Livehunts.com web site. He also arranges exciting hunts through his business Longleaf Hunting Adventures. Joshua resides in east Texas with his wife and four children. |
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