One of the few Rio Grande turkey hunts I did this year was with friend and client John who brought his daughter Kali. Hopefully it would be her first opportunity to take a gobbler. We had limited days to hunt as the season was coming to an end and neither of our schedules would match up. We finally decided to make it work the second to last day of the season. Luckily, my buddy Dave, who donated the hunt at a DU Banquet, gave me the skinny on the birds the night before.
We got out of the truck, geared up, and John hit the box call to see if we could get a bird talking. No answer, so we continued to hike to a couple spots I thought the birds would be hanging around, stopping to call every 100 yards or so. After going well over ½ mile, we finally got a gobbler to answer John on his box call. The turkey was way across and field and lake so we tried to hustle and sneak around to the side he was on. Well, we got busted, and that bird was gone!
Plan B. Keep looping around the backside of the property to find another bird. 30-45 minutes later we’ve got another hot bird. We cut through a thick stand of cedar, down a little cut, and up a ridge to get set up. After only a few minutes of calling once we are ready, here he comes to check it out. John worked his magic on the call and got this bird within 45-50 yards. Kali is shooting a lever action .410 so we wanted a closer shot. This bird would not commit and finally eased off down the road. We decided to pursue and cut him off. There is a lone peacock on this place and that’s when it started giving us attention. It would come close to check out our calls and was messing the turkey up. Although not helpful with the turkey hunting, it was incredible to be within 10 yards of a wild peacock. It was very tempting, but not what we were after, and I don’t think Dave would appreciate it!
It was almost lunch time now and we thought our day was over. As we started hiking back to the trucks, we turned a corner to find a monster gobbler in full strut in a little cleared area. Our game plan this time was to split up and give chase. I snuck around a thick patch of cedars to corner and push the bird back to John and Kali. I was able to get within 30 yards and waited for them to close in. As I watched the bird walk down an embankment towards the lake, John and Kali came walking up. I stopped them with hand signals. They had not seen him slip below the ridge so I motioned to where the bird went. I had a great seat to watch it unfold. They were able to sneak up to the ridge, peek over, and Boom. Kali got her first gobbler and it’s a great one! 10 ¾ inch beard, 1 ¼ inch spurs, and over 25lbs. When you think the hunt is over, it can just be getting started. She definitely earned this one with all the hiking through thick cover and up and down the ridges and draws. Congrats Kali and John!
We got out of the truck, geared up, and John hit the box call to see if we could get a bird talking. No answer, so we continued to hike to a couple spots I thought the birds would be hanging around, stopping to call every 100 yards or so. After going well over ½ mile, we finally got a gobbler to answer John on his box call. The turkey was way across and field and lake so we tried to hustle and sneak around to the side he was on. Well, we got busted, and that bird was gone!
Plan B. Keep looping around the backside of the property to find another bird. 30-45 minutes later we’ve got another hot bird. We cut through a thick stand of cedar, down a little cut, and up a ridge to get set up. After only a few minutes of calling once we are ready, here he comes to check it out. John worked his magic on the call and got this bird within 45-50 yards. Kali is shooting a lever action .410 so we wanted a closer shot. This bird would not commit and finally eased off down the road. We decided to pursue and cut him off. There is a lone peacock on this place and that’s when it started giving us attention. It would come close to check out our calls and was messing the turkey up. Although not helpful with the turkey hunting, it was incredible to be within 10 yards of a wild peacock. It was very tempting, but not what we were after, and I don’t think Dave would appreciate it!It was almost lunch time now and we thought our day was over. As we started hiking back to the trucks, we turned a corner to find a monster gobbler in full strut in a little cleared area. Our game plan this time was to split up and give chase. I snuck around a thick patch of cedars to corner and push the bird back to John and Kali. I was able to get within 30 yards and waited for them to close in. As I watched the bird walk down an embankment towards the lake, John and Kali came walking up. I stopped them with hand signals. They had not seen him slip below the ridge so I motioned to where the bird went. I had a great seat to watch it unfold. They were able to sneak up to the ridge, peek over, and Boom. Kali got her first gobbler and it’s a great one! 10 ¾ inch beard, 1 ¼ inch spurs, and over 25lbs. When you think the hunt is over, it can just be getting started. She definitely earned this one with all the hiking through thick cover and up and down the ridges and draws. Congrats Kali and John!
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