My 2012 Archery Gould's Turkey

[Gr8 White Jr]

Being that it has been a year since my hunt I figured its time to stop slacking and type up a story about my 2012 Gould's turkey hunt.

 

I had been putting in for no other turkey hunts but Gould's turkey hunts for several years in hopes of building up enough points to eventually draw a tag. When the 2012 spring draw results came out and I found out that I was one of the very few lucky individuals to draw a Gould's turkey tag I was in disbelief. I couldn't believe that I had drawn one of only three tags for this hunt. Knowing that this may be my only chance to ever take a Gould's turkey I decided that I was going to hunt with my bow.

 

Opening morning came and my two good friends Justin (Gotcoues) and Regan (Azwest16) and I were up early, in the truck and headed out to where we planned on hunting for the day. The plan was that Regan would do the calling and Justin would run the video camera. We parked the truck as it was just getting light and hiked into an area that we knew held a lot of birds. When we reached a rock outcropping that overlooked a thick stand of oaks Regan let out the first hen call breaking the morning silence. Almost immediately a Tom answered back below us in the distance with an eager gobble. With excitement filling our minds, the three of us hiked down below into the thick trees toward the sound of the gobble. The hillside we were on was very steep so when we came to a small flat shelf we decided to set up and let Regan work his magic and do some “turkey love talk”. I set up under a big oak tree with Justin about 5 feet behind me and to my left, and Regan about 20 yards behind us.

 

The flat shelf that we were on only extended about 30 yards in front of me before it dropped off and continued the steepness of the rest of the hillside. This was perfect! We knew the big Tom was further down the hillside which meant that he would not be able to see us until he crested the steep slope onto the flat shelf we were sitting on. This meant he would not be able to see us or where the sound of the hen (Regan's calling) was coming from until he was already in bow range. This was important being that we were not using a ground blind or any decoys.

 

Regan started working his magic and the Tom was firing back with almost every hen cluck from Regan's call. After a few minutes of calling we almost abandoned our set up to try to move in closer on the Tom because it sounded as if he was getting further way. We had a short discussion about our next move and decided to stay put for a few more minutes. We thought that there might be two Toms gobbling making it sound as if the first Tom moved further away. We stayed patient and Regan continued with the calling. Within a few short minutes it was very apparent that the Tom was heading toward us as we could hear him getting closer with every gobble. The adrenaline started flowing and my heart was pounding as I could hear the gobbles get so much louder and clearer as the big Tom's head peaked over the crest of the hill. I had my release hooked and my bow in front of me ready to draw as I waited for the Tom to continue toward us and out of the scrub brush. The Tom held up in the thick bushes as if he was hesitant to commit to coming all the way in. Once the Tom was in view Regan cut off all calling and remained completely silent. He knew that if he called now that the big Tom would have him pin pointed and the game would be over. Being that the Tom could not see the hen that had been calling to him he was very slow to continue in our direction. Finally he walked out in the open and was perfectly clear for a shot. The problem now was that he was at 28 yards and there was nothing between him and I. I was in full camo minus a face mask, with a solid back drop to break up my outline but knowing how amazing the eyes are on these birds, I was afraid to draw my bow. The Tom put on an amazing show right there in front of us for several minutes, gobbling and strutting. My heart felt like it was going to explode as I focused intensely on the big bird, waiting for the right moment to draw my bow. Just as I thought that moment was never going to come, the Tom tucked his head behind his body to pick at his feathers. I knew this was my chance so I drew my bow immediately. The Tom let out gobble after gobble as I settled my pin on him. I released my arrow and watched the red laser of the eluminock disappear into the chest feathers of the big Tom. He jumped in the air about three feet, landed and walked away from us as if nothing had happened. Confusion set in quick as I looked back at Justin and Regan. I couldn't believe he was walking away. I jumped up and knocked another arrow as I saw the Tom heading through a small ravine. I didn't have time to range him so I drew back my bow and settled my 40 yard pin on him as he walked through a clearing. I released and watched as my arrow sailed right over him skipping off a tree. My heart sank as I watched the big Tom pick up his pace and run over a small rise on the side of the hill. Shortly after we heard the flapping of his wings. This gave me hope as I thought the flapping we heard was the big bird finally dieing. I thought maybe my arrow zipped right through him and he just had no idea he was even shot.

 

Regan, Justin and I quickly headed in the direction the Tom disappeared to. As we climbed up and over the small rise we realized the bird was nowhere to be found. We searched and searched only finding a pin drop of blood. We hiked up and down the hillside and around in circles trying to hold on to any hope that we might find the Tom. After searching every possible place the bird could have been laying the three of us met back up to discuss what had happened.

 

After reviewing the video it was pretty clear that I made a huge mistake when taking the shot at the big Tom. Just like a deer hunter with buck fever so focused on the antlers that he sends an arrow through the rack of a big buck, I shot for the big beard on the turkey. Stupid mistake and I knew better. Before the hunt I researched online and watched several videos about archery shot placement on turkey. I knew where to shoot a turkey, I just plain messed up. If the turkey was facing straight on then shooting for the beard would have worked, but he wasn't. The Tom was quartering to me to the right. A combination of aiming at the beard and my shot going a few inches high and to the right, I barely nicked the top left side of the Tom's “shoulder”/breast. Because he was strutting and had his feathers all puffed up it looked like my arrow hit him solid when in reality it caught mostly feathers. As we talked about what happened we realized that the flapping sound we heard earlier was the Tom flying off of the steep mountain and out into no mans lands. I was crushed and feeling very down about what had happened but after a pep talk from Regan I did my best to shake it off and we moved on to try to locate another bird.

 

We hiked further down the ridge and were on another Tom in no time. Regan worked this bird with some amazing calling for almost an hour as it circled completely around us staying just out of range. At on point I did come to full draw on this Tom as he came just under 40 yards from us but I didn't feel comfortable with the shot. I let my bow down and watched as the Tom walked off and out of sight. We decided that to let the Tom walk and take a break for an hour or two. We got comfortable in the shade, ate lunch and after taking a mid-day nap we hiked out back to the truck.

 

After getting back to the truck we headed to our “plan B” spot and hiked in a little ways on another steep ridge. As we were hiking in Justin was checking all the settings on the camera and realized we only had about 15 minutes of battery left. Without an extra battery I was terrified that if we got on another bird we would not get it on camera. We decided that if we got on another Tom, Justin would not turn the camera on unless he could actually see the bird. This was disappointing but we had no choice.

 

We continued down the ridge a ways and stopped to try calling. Justin was glassing down a few hundred yards below us and spotted a hen nested in some thick brush. Regan let out a hen call and a Tom answered back way off in the distance. He sounded as if he was way beyond the hen that Justin had spotted so we decided we needed to cut the distance. We thought that maybe the Tom knew the hen was up there nested so if we could get between them then maybe we could fool him into thinking Regan's calling was the hen. We headed down the ridge in a hurry as we knew the Tom was far off and it was getting later in the evening. After getting past the nested hen we stopped and Regan let out a few hen calls so we could check the location of the Tom. The Tom responded immediately and we could tell he was headed our way as he sounded much closer than before. We continued to move down the ridge another hundred yards or so and stopped to check the Tom's location again. Again the Tom responded immediately and to our surprise he sounded as if he was right on top of us. We were amazed at how much ground the Tom had covered in such a short period of time. We scrambled to set up right where were at before the Tom got with in view. It wasn't the most ideal spot but we didn't have a choice as the Tom was moving in on us fast. Regan called a few times and every time, the Tom would go nuts gobbling over and over again. In no time at all I could see the red head of the Tom sticking up over the brush in front of us. Just like the situation earlier in that morning, now that we were in view of the Tom Regan stopped all calling to keep him from pin pointing us. The Tom stayed in one spot with only his head in sight and must have gobbled 20 plus times over the next several minutes. My heart was pounding at an unbelievably rapid pace as I waited for what seemed like forever for the Tom to commit to coming in. Just as I thought the Tom was never going to come out from the brush and present me a shot I heard a hen clucking up the heck behind us. It was the hen that Justin had spotted nested earlier. As soon as that hen started calling back to the Tom he finally broke from the brush and started heading toward the hen calls. Justin turned the camera on and hit record as the Tom was headed for an opening. I drew my bow at the perfect moment as the Tom walked behind a big pine tree. He walked out into the open and I settled my pin on him waiting for Justin to give me the okay to shoot. Even though it was only a few seconds that past it felt like I was waiting an eternity for Justin to give me the word that he had the Tom in view. As the Tom walked from right to left at just over 20 yards I thought that I was going to miss my opportunity if I waited any longer. Everything felt right at that time so I slowly squeezed the trigger on my release and watched my arrow hit the big Tom like a ton of bricks! I immediately dropped my bow and was on my feet chasing the big bird down as he was flopping and fluttering around down the hill. He only went about 25 yards from where I had shot him at and he was done for good. I was overwhelmed with excitement as I realized that I had just taken a Gould's turkey with my bow. To top it off Justin confirmed that although he did not get all the gobbling that lead up to it (for sake of saving the battery), he did indeed get the shot on camera. Woohoo!!! We had just enough battery to film a conclusion to the hunt video, finishing up right as the camera went dead. We took some still photos with our trophy bird and then started the hike out.

 

What an incredible day spent out in some amazing country with two of the best hunting partners a guy could ask for. Regan's expert turkey calling is hands down the best I have ever heard! I have spent hours in the woods with hens walking around me and I am very familiar with all the different sounds that hens make. Regan's calling is EXACTLY SPOT ON to a real life hen! On top of that to have Justin behind the camera keeping his bearing and focusing nonstop on getting that perfect camera shot every time was icing on the cake.

 

I couldn't be happier with the Tom that I had shot. He ended up weighing right at 24 lbs, had 1 inch spurs and a 10 inch beard. Another neat thing about this bird is it had been banded by Arizona Game and Fish. He had a small metal band on one of his wings. Just an added trophy an already trophy class bird. I am having him mounted in full strut so as soon as I get it back from the taxidermist I will post pictures of the mount.

 

A HUGE thanks to Regan and Justin for all their help on this hunt. Regan's expert calling is what brought this big Tom into range allowing me to take it with a bow. Because of Justin's filming I will be able to relive this hunt for the rest of my life. Justin also spent too many hours to count editing and creating an awesome video of the hunt. Unfortunately the video is too long to post on the website. I will see about getting it shortened so I can share it with the site.

 

Thanks to those stuck it out and read another one of my long stories. As always thank you to Amanda for such an amazing site where we can share our passion and love for the outdoors with others.

 

-Tracy

 

 

 

 

Justin and I with my trophy!

 

 

 

 

Regan and I with my trophy!

 

 

 

 

Making it legal!

 

 

 

 

Hiking out with my trophy!

 

 

 

 

The three of us with my trophy!

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the band that was on the Tom's wing. It has a number on one side and says "return to AZ Game and Fish" on the other side. I called AZGFD when I got back from my hunt and let them know that I had harvested a banded bird. They gentleman I spoke too took the information, thanked me for contacting him and said I could keep the band. I was happy to hear that!

 

[hunter1026]

Post a pic of the band that's cool

[singleshot]

Good write up, great pictures, really nice bird.

[2 Full Curls]

This was a really great write-up with fantastic pics. Congratulations on waiting-for and filling such a unique tag. Thank you for sharing your success with us

[bowhunter4life]

Awesome writeup and a great archery turkey, cannot wait until the day I draw a Goulds tag!

[ibowhuntaz]

^{Great write up Tracy, That is an awesome looking bird.}

 

Ron

[IA Born]

Great looking bird and way to do it with bow!

[bonecollector]

Great story! Congrats on the Goulds with your bow and getting it all on camera is awesome.