Well I'm back in from one stellar hunt for the Gould's turkey.
After flying from Tampa to Tucson we crossed the border in Douglas, Arizona and took the 10 hour ride to the hunting grounds located in Chihuahua, Mexico. The nearest town to the hunting camp is Casas Grandes which is located about two hours away from the camp.
The outfitter has multiple camps he conducts hunts on and the one I hunted was a remote cattle operation located in the beautiful Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. This particular tract was huge and on the order of 50,000+ acres. The area is an extremely arid desert environment which recieves about 12-14" of rain each year. Because of the dry conditions finding grazing areas for the cattle is tough and they allocate roughly 50 acres per head of cattle, by comparison here in the states that number is sometimes one head of cattle per acre. Combine this with rough terrain and a poor road system and negotiating the properties is pretty tough.
We arrived at the camp around midday on Saturday and got unloaded. We took the time to choose a shotgun and take a few test shots and we were off to the woods.
The turkeys are located in very small pockets and cover a huge amount of ground from roosting to feeding/watering sites each day. Like anywhere else the gobbling activity is strong on the roost and the hour or two following sunrise. Doing the "run and gun" strategy is extremely difficult as the terrain is quite rugged. The key strategy we found is hunting near water holes and pastures and/or supplemental feeding areas the cattle grazed in. Hunting the Goulds reminded me somewhat of the African hunts you see on television where hunters sit near watering holes awaiting game.
So Saturday afternoon I was taken out by a young guide to a draw which led to a watering hole. I began calling every 5-10 minutes with a Clint Corder slate call combined with a Lon Trice striker. I didnt know this at the time but this call was going to see a lot of use over the next two days! Anyhow, a short time later two hens answered and sprinted up the draw to me. The first impression of the Gould's is how tall they are, you read about it in the books but the fact is their legs make them look like ostriches. Only a moment after they arrived and started clucking nearby a gobbler fired off from 30-40 yards down the draw. He arrived in a half strut fired off one final gobble and I took the shot at only 8 steps nearly decapitating the bird with a load of #5's. I didnt realize this until it was too late, but my inexperienced guide eased the bird into an ice chest full of drinks for the return trip. Thus my first bird was soaking wet for pictures
The tom tipped the scale at 19.5 lbs and sported 3/4" spurs and a 11 1/2" beard... RkLu
I started off Sunday with a run and gun hunt, we set up near a roosting area that had no less than five gobblers firing off. It became clear that they were with hens so we set up about 150 yards off and began calling with the same Clint Corder slate. This kept up for some time when suddenly a gobble fired off from behind me and to my left. As a left handed shooter, this is not good! I tried turning to my left to get a shot and spotted the gobbler in full strut drumming like a fool about 40 yards off. He spotted me moving and let off an alarm putt, I quickly put the gun up and fired a shot. The gobbler let off a series of gobbles as if mocking me as he walked not ran away following my miss... *cry*
That evening the guide steered me along with another hunter who wanted to video the hunt to an area he saw several gobblers in earlier that day. We arrived to a watering hole and set up. The amount of strut marks was incredible if you laid them end to end it would go for miles. I brought out the old faithful Corder call and started my calling, the action was slow for an hour or so when we spotted a few hens working their way past the water hole. They disappeared up the hill and a short time later I heard yelping from the hillside above us. I fired off some excited cutts and yelps and a group of jakes sprinted to our set up. They were fighting amongst themselves and pecking at whatever browse they could find. From the corner of my eye I spot a big bodied bird following the jakes, and it was a big longbeard.
I yelped a few times more and laid the call down to ease the gun up. My hunting partner Keith was located a short distance behind me and yelped a few times more and the gobbler fired off and slowly eased toward us. The gobbler methodically looked around the area and concealed himself amongst the trees until finally giving me a shot at 15 yards. This time the #5's hit their mark. This hunt was recorded and I hope to have a copy soon..
This was an interesting bird, he weighed in at 18 lbs and sported a 10" beard. The tom had absolutely no spurs which according to Lovett Williams occurs in a third of Gould's toms, the bird also had a full fan of 22 tail feathers instead of the 18 feathers that normally occur.
I cant say enough about Rio Sonora Outfitters and Brad Fulk. The hunting was stellar and we harvested 12 quality longbeads in only two days of hunting. I normally would be reluctant to tell anybody about an opportunity like this, but lets face it the Gould's isnt something you'll do every year. If your interested in a Gould's hunt I highly recommend RSO..
I'm going to create another thread for other photos from the hunt and a third gobbler I called in for another hunter...
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