Fall Turkey on San Carlos

[CouesWhitetail]

I spent a couple days on the reservation with my husband and we enjoyed some gorgeous weather, bright stars at night and wonderful food cooked on the campfire. Didn't hardly see a soul out there either. Nice!

 

The first evening and morning I tried hunting an area where I know there are some turkeys, but I don't know exactly where the roosts are, and I never saw anything but tracks. We did enjoy some amazing porterhouse steaks cooked to perfection over an oak-fueled fire along with a perfectly roasted onion that had been wrapped in tinfoil and stuck in the coals for about 40 mins. Wow, that was a great meal! We also shared some elderberry/cherry wine made by a friend of ours that really added to the meal.

 

I scouted some more areas after packing up camp and found a place with a lot of sign. I thought I knew where they would roost so I set up that evening and it almost worked out but they roosted about 100 yards down the drainage from me. It sure was exciting though when right around dark I started hearing the birds coming to roost. While I was sitting there waiting for turkeys, I heard the sound of elk antlers fighting at a nearby tank. As I hiked out in the just-barely-visible light, I could make out the shapes of two elk and one started heading right toward the tank where I was. I stood still and let him walk up within about 75 yards. I could hear the mud sucking to his legs as he tried to take each step to get to the small pool of water. And I listened to him drink for awhile. I decided to head out and the elk spooked into the woods. The 2nd elk was standing very near my jeep and it just stood there while I got closer and closer to it in the dark. Finally it decided to move off and I got back to camp to enjoy some porkchops and with homemade prickly pear bbq sauce and some great homemade beer by the same friend that made the wine. YUM!

 

The next morning I was excited to get setup early but I wasn't completely sure how close I could get without spooking them. Where I set up the night before was between the roost and the tank. I figured I would setup near there again and hope they came to water. But when I got to the dam and there was no wind to hide any walking noise, I decided I would set up on the tank side in some rocks so as to not risk spooking the turkeys. A pair of Great Horned Owls called loudly with all kinds of calls while I was sitting there in the predawn darkness. Then about 20 mins before sunrise as it was getting light, two coyotes howled very close by. They were very loud and one was to my left maybe 70 yards and one was maybe 200 yards to my right. I couldn't see them, but that's how it sounded. A third coyote called much farther down the drainage on the other side of the turkey roost. Now, I started to wonder if the turkeys would even come my way after hearing the coyotes right near me. But it was too late to change plans, so I sat there trying to stay warm with temps in the upper 30's. After daybreak I heard some wing beats and turkeys calling, but not a lot. And then it sounded like they were closer so I got my gun up and was getting ready. The problem with my setup was that when the turkeys showed themselves they would be perhaps 20 yards or less away. My hope was that they would walk down to the tank and put a little distance between me and them. I had a big boulder and a juniper tree hiding me fairly well but my gun would stick out in front of the boulder when it was up and ready, so there was a good possibility they would see that at such close ranges.

 

After about an hour and a half of daylight...still no turkeys showed and I hadn't heard any in quite awhile. I started getting really cold and was thinking it would be nice to get up and stalk the birds so that I could warm up. But in my experience with turkey hunting, getting up when you think there are no birds around you can frequently lead to spooking birds that actually were there but you didn't hear them. So I sat there shivering and wondering if they would ever head my way. I did some hen yelps hoping to attract some birds in. Not long after that I peaked through the juniper tree and saw lots black turkey silhouttes moving around in the forest....Yea!!! And they were coming my way fast. So I got the gun up and took the safety off since I figured the birds might end up being really close to me with the way they were coming. Waiting there with my gun up getting colder by the second, I tried to use mind over matter to keep from shaking in the cold. Because the turkeys would see my head turn under the juniper, I couldn't watch their progress, but I could hear them getting louder and louder. Eventually I detected movement in peripheral vision probably less than 6 feet to my left side (just the other side of the boulder). Then a line of young turkeys walked out and down toward the water. Now I had the problem of picking out one and not wounding any others. Fall turkey is for any turkey, so although a gobbler would have been great, I knew I wouldn't have the luxury of waiting for the whole flock to come by me or they would spook. A few seconds later and an adult hen broke file and came right around the boulder to look at me. Clear shot at 5 yards so I took it!! She was down right away. The rest of the birds scattered and I was elated to have my bird! I felt kinda bad since I had a 3 inch mag shell in my 12 guage and an extra full choke and she was so close. I wanted to be ready for a long shot if I needed it, but I guess that wasn't necessary!

 

There was lots of great fall color on the reservation. The skunkbush sumac, regular sumac and gamble oaks were all changing colors. It was really a treat to see all that color out there. The turkey population seemed to be doing great with lots of young born this past summer. My bird didn't have a lot of fat on her, but she seemed healthy.

 

Loved spending the time with my husband at camp. The dogs enjoyed the trip also...with the exception that Sunshine got caught in a leghold trap (still legal on the reservation). That was a very terrifying few minutes until we got her released and she seems none the worse for wear. Wow, not pleasant at all.....

 

here are some pics:

[Az_Outdoors]

Outstanding! What a beautiful bird. Congrats Amanda!

[The Coues]

Very nice turkey! Congrats!

[Jimmer Negamanee]

What a great trip! Beautiful bird. Thanks for the story and the pictures. I'm sorry about Sunshine getting trapped. Hope she's none the worse for wear.

[bonecollector]

Congrats on the bird. Nice write up thanks for sharing.

[Ernesto C]

AMANDA!.....you the .....BEST!! You are my idol

 

Ernesto C

[Millhouse]

As always, enjoyed the write up. Congrats.

[lucky2hunt]

Alright Amanda! Way to go, gorgeous bird!!!

[billrquimby]

A big buck and a big bird ... what a year you're having Amanda. Congratulations.

 

Bill Quimby

 

[Basser15]

Great job on the bird Amanda. Congratulations!

[CouesWhitetail]

A big buck and a big bird ... what a year you're having Amanda. Congratulations.

 

Bill Quimby

 

 

yes, it does feel like I am having a great year!! Last year wasn't my best hunting year with several tags unfilled, but this year seems to be going a lot better.....Maybe it's because I started off getting my Javelina on Jan 1!

 

thanks for all the kind words everyone

 

 

Amanda

 

[Chef]

Congrats Amanda! For some reason I didn't get your picture messages as I was out helping on some coues hunts. I did get the food ones though!

[Browning'sCustomMeat]

Awesome!! Congrats on the bird...impressive year!

[CRAZYBUCK]

Awesome bird amanda congrats

 

[lacouesniper]

DANG! You get around during hunting season.