ehunt

After a great hunt on the San Carlos Reservation earlier in April, my dad and I were ready to get back into the woods chasing turkeys. When we pulled into camp Thursday afternoon the snow started coming down, we knew we were going to be challenged with weather this weekend. Friday morning we were up at 330 a.m. and with the temperature at 14 degrees and snow on the ground, we were not sure if the birds would be gobbling. To our surprise they were talking pretty good and we were soon set up 100 yards below their roost. There were 2 gobblers answering back at every call but they started moving to our right. We called back and forth for about 20 mins when to our surprise a loud gobble came from our left and he was close. We quickly changed directions just in time to see a hen followed by a strutting tom coming our way. The hen started towards us but saw something she didnt like and veered up the hill taking the tom with her, and at 70 yards he was just out of range. So we headed back towards the original birds only to find out they had 8 hens so they were not leaving. Saturday morning we were joined by my brother Darren to video the hunt for us. We were set up on the same birds and once again they moved to our right with their hens yelping. We quickly got up and tried to make a big loop around them to see if i could call in the hens. When i thought we were close i called and had a different gobbler answer back. We cut the distance in half and set up the decoys to see if we could bring him in. At first he would gobble back but it seemed like he was moving away from us. I started calling more aggresive and soon he was moving to our right but was closing the distance. After about 20 mins of calling back and forth he was closing in but had made a 180 degrees circle around us. Finally i was able to see him circling to my right but I could also see my bro out of the corner of my eye so i knew i needed to take the shot or he would be in the way of a shot. At sixty yards with just his neck and head sticking above a log i took the shot and had my second bird of the year! Sunday was our last day to hunt for my dad so we had to get it done. We headed back to the same area and with nothing gobbling we had to quickly change spots and try to get a bird to shock gobble. After a few spots nothing was sounding off so at about 530 we arrived at a spot that we knew held turkeys but we had never had any luck in there. After some agressive yelps followed by a gobble we heard a bird a long ways off. At first we all looked at each other and pointed in a different direction. So after 5 minutes we heard it again and were confident it was south of us so we headed that way. We covered about 500 yards and i called with no response, so we moved another couple hundred yards and this time after i yelped i got an answer. I set up the decoys and moved back behind my dad and brother. After calling a few times we heard a bird a few hundred yards from us but to our left, so i called a few more times. Within five mins i could see a tom strutting 150 yards through the trees. I whistled and let my dad know he was coming. The tom never gobbled but strutted back and forth for a few mins until he saw the decoys, and then he was on his way! He covered the distance quickly and at 30 yards my dad shot and killed his first bird of the year, he was pumped! This was an old tom with an 11 inch beard and sharp spurs! What a great few days we had killing two toms in three days, and for me being able to hang out with with my dad and bro! It just does not get any better!

looks like Bigfoot!

prayers sent!

Great pics!!!

Thanks for the info..do you know what it costs to shoot?

Very sad!! Our prayers are sent for his family and fellow cops!!!

not too sure what time they will open friday but Im going out tomorrow to help broken arrow archery set up for the friday rush so I will let you know what time they will open when I get back! Thanks!

We just bought my dad a yamaha 2000 tonight for his B-day!! Had a horrible experience at cabelas with their customer service which was strange!! Anyway hope he loves his gift!!!

Does anyone know what time it opens Friday? We are going to shoot a few courses....

Nice!!! I need to get me one of those!!

Gino stirring the pot...in africa!...does this surprise anyone?????? Nice brotha!

ok i will give one a try..... even though i should not even be thinking about getting a new bow right now!!!

Trader! will you have it by Friday so i can try it out?

Thanks again Devan for the scope!

Great letter!!! That is awesome, cant wait to see what they do now!

How sad!! I will send in a check this week to help out!

Awesome man!! Sounds like a great trip!!

Killer...Thats awesome!!! Great post!!

Great pics!!! Welcome home pal!!!

I agree that sending them back is just a temporary fix to the problem because most of them will be back. What we need is the Federal Government to step up and help us secure our border!

If you need more help, call or email me. 928-200-0544 Ok thanks!

Amanda, I will check out my computer and try to figure out how to download so i can get the video on here. Jim, sent you a pm.

we did get most of my dad's hunt on video, but i have a camera with a disc and am not sure how to load it on my computer??

I think he does, and from what i hear he has some wild stories to share!

Great job!! I love the pics too, great way to show the beauty of a spring tom!!