tomgobbler

thought i would throw this out early this year in case you wanted to change your hunting/scouting techniques accordingly. I'm offering to haul your camps in/out, and big game packing services with horses. hunt farther from the road, and get away from the croud and find the bigger game with out worring about what you are going to do once its on the ground me and my horses will haul it out for you. I hauled out 1 mule deer, 2 bulls, and 1 cow elk last year. what YOU DO, is harvest the animal and give me a call ASAP, so i can start gathering horses and gear and headed your direction.... while i am doing that YOU dis-embowel the animal, and then quarter it up, then remove any other meat you want, backstraps/lions/neck/rib meat etc.... and bag and pile that in even piles, the four quarters should allready be pretty evenly weighted. Then if you are saving cape or hide, begin to skin that off how you want it ( if you dont know how to field cape the head i can do that for you, but you need to do as much as you can while waiting for me to get there.) I need GOOD directions to you, which may mean you climbing to a nearby hill to see me coming, or meet me up a trail, so we can go back and find your animal. Last year i had a guy that said he was 5-6 miles down a dirt rd south of flag, and a had a little bull down 2 miles form the truck. well it ended up being 23 miles south on a wet/muddy/snowy/nasty rd, pulling a 4 horse trailer..... come on now you can get a little closer then that.... so i do need good directions to you. Then you and i load your animal, and my horses pack it out for you. Price depands on several things of course, location ( how far) and time. 3b/3c and 1 are close to me, the 4's and 27 not to bad.... then the units start getting farther from there.... keep in mind there are some places i can not get to, that you 4 wheeled into with your jeep, pulling a 4 horse trailer is a lot different.... especially in bad snowy weather.... also keep in mind that there are places that you got to while hunting that i can not get to on horse, very steep and rocky is tuff, also very thick stuff that you crawled through.... but generally i can get pretty close with my horses... if you have questions then give me shout. good luck to tag holders. tommy

i've got a steer or two that i was just getting ready to bring in and grain for a month and then butcher, was checking to see if any of you fellow CWT, members would like some good beef, these steers are all natural, no growth hormones or any kinds of shots, have been organic grass feed, and will be grained for about a month to pollish off and then butchered... if you have baught hamburger or steak lately it is exoensive, so here is a good way to get some good beef.... you pay for what ever you wanted, plus processing... 1/4 of an animal, 1/2 an animal or what ever... i can have it processed anyway you like all hambuger or what ever.... this burger is better then store baught as i have a lot fo the "good" cuts put into the burger, so you are gettign the better meat in the burger.... anyway these sale out fast so thought i'de offer it to anyone interested....price would of course depend on how much you wanted.... but i've got several steers i can bring in to finish off, or just do the one for me, makes me no difference, just thought some of you might be interested in some better beef. thanks tommy

124 2/8

Well after helping 4 other people get turkeys from the san carlos, to the youth, and then the first hunt, MY tag was finally here.... BUT a really good friend of mine and his dad had tags in a unit that wasnt the same as mine, so i opted to go with them instead, my friend couldnt make it but his dad came up, so him and i headed out. It was one TERRIBLE day, 55 mile an hour gusts, you couldnt of heard a turkey if he were standing in the bed of your truck..... ( not that they are cooperating much anyway) Anyway having a really good knowledge of the area and were the turkeys like to go, him and i put our heads together to figure out were they might be on a day like this were we had seen them in the past. about 10:00 we were able to get him with in range of 6-8 turkeys feeding turkeys. and he sealed the deal. ( hopefully he will e-mial me the picturtes off of his camera so i can add a few of them) So this morning with the wind a lot less, i headed to my unit to try and see if i could outsmart these dang things.... this has been one of the most frustrating springs i have ever had turkey hunting.... i have seen over 35 gobblers ( in the 3 weeks i 've been hunting them) and 95% of them were by themselves, with little to no gobbling... i have seen that many single hens by them selves as well, i can not figure out what is going on this spring.... i have called in 4 gobblers, and been involved with 7 being taken this year so far ( well now 8 !! ) Anwyay back to my story i figured i would really have to get my game plan together if i wanted to harvest a nice mature bird.... so i started out on my favorite road ( has never failed to produce a turkey) and heard one gobbler, gobble 3 times on the roost and then NOTHING... typical for this year, they have been kicking my butt..... SO i said to myself ( after 2 hours of trying to get another bird fired up) if they are not going to play your game then you will have to play theirs... SO i know of a little tank, that has green grass all around it that they like to come strutt in, and eat dandylions ( yes if you did not know turkleys LOVE dandylions) anyway so i headed for that tank hopeing to find them already there , or i was going to set up in some brush and wait them out.... well as luck would have it they were already there as i slipped down the little 2 track to peak around the corner to take a look.... 1 gobbler, and 4-5 hens feeding on the back side of the tank in the grass.... ok now how to get with in shotgun range with out them seeing or hearing you... going around behind them was out of the question as it was pretty thick, BUT very NOISY as it is terribly dry.... so a frontal approach.... well lets see, if i go from this tree to that bush, then get on my belly and belly crawl for about 85 yards i should be able to keep the tank bank ( about 2feet high, so not much of a cover) inbetween us, as long as they stay in the back, and dont work around the sides.... So off i went on my belly, i could see the white fan of the strutting tom from time to time over the top of the bank, and was afraid of getting busted..... but after what seemed like eternity on my belly, ( with my heart beating so hard it was kicking dust up into my face) i finally made it to the base of the tank, so i slid my gun up through the grass and ever so carefully and slow up over the edge were the muzzle would clear everything i raised up just enough to get my eyes over the top and there he was strutting 68 yards away.... DANG TOM that is a long ways, BUT i have killed predators that far with this gun and these shells so why not give it a try, your not getting any close, your out of cover, and they are going to feed out the back edge into the trees... ( or so i thought) .... So with my mossberg loaded with 3 1/2 #4's and a high viz sight i centered that gobbler as best i could with a great rest and i let-r-fly.......!!!! well the grass exploded with turkeys that instantly took flight mine included, wow did i miss, i watched as he only got about 1/4 as high as the other turkeys and only went about 30 yards, then crashed to the ground flopping for a minute, and was done. i jumped up, had to cross a fence and get over to inspect my trophy.... a NICE gobbler 10" beard, 1" spurres and beautiful fan...... did i call him in... not this time, but when you can belly crawl and sneak up on 6 turkeys i think you have accomplished about as much..... and was kind of fun too.... good luck to yawl!!! I was by myself as everyone else had to work or were busy today, so i went alone, so had to get pictures when i got home, my daughter tried to take them, they came out ok.... tommy

i ended up with a remington 700 30-06, with a 3x9 redfiled scope, with the raised rings were you can see through them and use the sights. nice shape, has a few scratches on the stock, but very clean gun, action and everything great shape. $600.00 i also have a mossberg pump 12 gauge, great shape as well, EXCEPT at some point someone broke the stock, as seen in the picture and glued it back together, and when you run your finger over it you can feel it, and see it, but is shoots great. shoots 3 1/2 shells. a new stock runs about $40 if you want to replace it. but it functions fine. and you can use it as is with no problems.... $300 neither gun has had very many shells through them, both older but just been sitting in the guys safe, great condition on both. thanks tommy

MatthewP and his brother in law, and i found ourselfs on thursday morning as the sun was starting to break the day, sitting under a couple of pine trees, listening to a couple of San Carlos turkeys sound off, unfurtantly the weather was terrible, windy, rainy, nasty.... and those two birds would not coporate for anything, they just didnt sound to interested, and didnt gobble much.... BUT through the day we were able to put 3 NICE gobblers on the ground, with matts brother in law having the longest beard at around 10 3/4".... and he got his about 8:00 that morning, at about one, after lots of miles traveled, and hearing a lot of wind in the trees that was about it, but finally as matthew and i got out of the truck about 1:00 to try again even with the wind blowing we made a few hen yelps, not really expecting to hear anything, like the last 50 times we had gotten out of the truck, as we made a few calles a gobbler answered just over the top of ridge in some cedars, and before we could even set up and get ready, 3 hens and 3 gobblers came over the top working towards us, we both grabbed our guns and with a quick, you take the left, and i'll take the right at about 55 yards, the 3 1/2" winchester #4's did there job, and we had 2 gobbelrs on the ground! as we get up to the first bird the one matthew had taken we looked at it and it had 2 BEARDS! i was totally jealous, out of all the birds i have taken i had always wanted to take a multiple bearded gobbler, but was thinking this is so awesome, and could'nt of happened a nicer guy, as matthew is one heck of a friend! it had a 10 1/4" thick main beard, and 7 1/2" second beard for a total of 17 3/4" of beard NICE.... well we get up to the second bird the one i had shot and take a look at it, and low and be hold it has 5 BEARDS!!! yep you read that right 5 BEARDS!!!! i couldnt believe it, i really didnt know what to say.... out of the couple dozen gobblers i have taken, and the 50 or so i have been a part of, i had only called in one other turkey with multiple beards, i had called one for my buddy a few year ago in NM that had 3 beards....and now to have 2 on the ground at the same time with multiple beards was trully amazing! after getting home and looking on the NWTF websight and doing a ruff score on my bird, he will be somewhere around the top 55 or so of all time merriams gobblers!!!! what a once in a life time bird! and to have shot him at exactly the same time as my buddy took his bird just added to the greatness of the moment. i cant thank matthew enough for letting me tag along on this turkey trip, i'm doing a coupe of lifesize mounts on these birds to capture the moment forever. but those few seconds will be relived for a long time to come, as i will probably never beat 26 5/8" of beard on one bird ever again. thanks matthew for everything!!!!! here are a few pictures of the beards i tried to take when i got home, matt will have to post the pictures of in the field off of his digital camera in the next day or so! i put a piece of paper behind the beards to try and get them to stand out better. i hope you like them good luck tommy

here is a picture of ben, then phil, matthew, and then me on the far right. opening day about 2:00, or should i say opening day for us

138 1/8

i have a son that i really need to get the saturday field day part, that is all he lacks, anyone in the whitemountains areas help. thanks tommy

yea i'm having a hard time, as well brent, getting the same thing they dont respect the on line... well if they ever offered it in our area maybe we would get the real version, and if the game and fish is goig to offer an on line version then THEY should ALSO offer the field day. it pretty crappy to have to drive to phoenix to get it doen when there are some many kids here in the whitemountians needing it. i have looked and watched for classes in this area for awhile with nothing.... IF the GAME AND FISH mandate you have something then they should really offer opurtunities to get it, in a resonable time and distance.... but what ever, i need to get him through the field day some where some how, so now we have two, and i know of a few others, anyone williing to do this before turkey season ?

ernesto i agree with that! not nearly enough tags well trapping season is nov 1st through the end of feb... although i started calling a little in october.... but manely this was from nov 1st through about the 25th or so of feb. so about 4 months fo work....

tastes like chicken! you should try it! not a chance, have you ever skinned/smelled one of those nasty things....

Andrew, very nice write up and great pictures, it was a pleasure to meet you and your family, what a great hunt that was for you guys! congrats to all! tommy

your pm box seems full it wont take any new messages?... anyway are these all offset? center swival? az leagal, or going to take some work to get that way? any idea on how many total you have? and any idea on what you'de take for all of them? thanks tommy

Hoping you have a great day my friend! tommy

The Southwest Fur harvesters are having a youth trapping camp, ANy youth between 10-17, It will be a 3 day camp with instruction given to the youth, all the meals will be provided for the three days. it is being held Feb, 19-20-21, and this will qualify for the trapping class to get there trapping license. It is being held on the Chauncey Ranch which is located by cordes junction. Anyone interested can give Don Rohla a call, Pm me for his # if you need it. this will be a great camping/trapping trip to take your kids to, they are limiting the number of youth to 12. they are providing all the trapping equipment needed, and all meals.

yea thats perfect. thanks tommy

Good luck to all javy hunters! Anyone that is going to throw out there javy's I'll take all heads/skulls that you dont want. Capes good enough for shoulder mounts, ( NO split briskets) .... I also would like all the glands you want to save. The gland is located about 3-4 inches up the back from the base of the tail. if you look through the hair, you can see a "nipple", that is located right in the middle of the gland, so as your skinning you'll know were it is, if your careful the gland will come off in one solid piece, Or cut out a big cirlce ofhide and i can remove the gland myself. thanks in advance and good luck me and my 11 year old have the HAM hunt, his first big game, so should be fun. tommy

havent you guys ever spread gland on your toast? makes you a heck of a javelina hunter ...... puts hair on your chest ! just kidding, i am expermenting with a guy from texas on some lures we want to try.... so trying to come up with a few, as it takes quite a bit to make any amount..... so me and my sons pigs wont be enough for what i want to try....

My brother indid up with 2 LIVE cow buffalo, ( long story) anyway he needs to get rid of them, it is some of the best meat you'll ever eat.... you can come shoot one, or come and haul it home to shoot, you keep everything hide, head, meat ect.... there is a good meat processor right down the road from the house here, or you can take it home to the processor of your choice. These cows are some were around 800 lbs. around 3 years old. Or take it home and keep it for a pet. $1200.00 per cow. thanks tommy

Sadie, very nice! congrats on a great buck! tommy

clay when you get doen with them send them on to me

my uncle called last night and asked if i wanted to go calling this morning, so waking up to wind and rain, i about stayed in bed, but decided what else do i have to do, so off we went, Stand 1 nada stand 2 calling a big flat and about 7 minutes in caught the first dog coming from about 1/2 mile away, ( i love being able to watch them for awhile) it came in for ever and got to baout 150 yards when i dumped it, about 1 1/2 " behind front shoulder, 55 grain V MAx out of my 223, that thing flopped hard but then got up and ran 150-200 yards befor piling up, at first i thought i had a bad hit, but when i got to it and the 2 foot circle of blood under it i vouldnt belive it had ran so far. stand 3 nada stand 4 sage brush cedar bottom, and a dog cam out of the thick stuff to about 125 yards and stopped broad side so i let one fly, square through both shoulders, dropped like a ton of bricks. stand 5 and 6 nada, wind had really picked up so called it a morning. besides 2 wet coyotes is about all a guy can stand to skin in a day anyway dang stinking things tommy

here are some birds i did, you can check out my turkeys in the turkey section. tommy

congrats NIce buck, and always nice when a plan comes together after a long stock. i'de of let teh smoke out as well! no hesitation. nice job tommy