AZ Rio Grande

[azcouesfanatic]

This year I was fortunate to draw one of two tags for Rio Grande turkey's in 13B. It is a long way to go for turkey's but I thought it would be cool to have a merriams, goulds, and a rio all from Arizona with my bow. It was also the last animal I needed to have harvested all 13 AZ big game animals. The turkey's were transplanted into the unit by AZGFD personnel within the last five years and they are doing great. They came from Utah and there were about 150 birds transplanted. Since I was the only person with the tag I opted to let the weather pass and headup on Sunday morning which turned out to be a great idea since it snowed 6". I met Brec Bundy in Saint George and he drove me up to the area where the birds were at. Brec was kind enough to transport me into the area and let me borrow a quad to get around on since I flew into Saint George since it is a 12 hour drive one way. Brec is a great guy and if you are ever fortunate enough to draw a strip tag you should check out his operation (muledeeraddiction.com). As soon as we got into the area where the turkey's are supposed to be I crow called just for fun. Immediately I was answered by a gobble. We drove down the road a little farther and set up on the gobbler. Unfortuantely he did not come in so we set up camp. Brec showed me around before heading out. Prior to arriving in camp I had spoken to Luke Thomspon of AZGFD and he provided mewith several areas to try. Just prior to roosting time I drove down to a tank to check for tracks and would it you know it there were 10 birds standing on the ridge just above the tank. I knew the birds would be roosting soon so I stayed quiet and waited for them to fly up. I was able to watch them fly up and my game plan was set for the morning hunt. I planned on getting up extra early since I was solo hunting because I wanted to set up the blind and decoys well before daylight. Due to working night shift I had only gotten one hour of sleep in 48 hours and I slept an hour longer than I wanted. I rushed to get ready and ended up getting set up in time without the blind. The watched the birds pitch out of the tree at about 150 yards and they immediately began coming my way gobbling. The lead tom spotted my dave smith jake decoy and he was ready for battle. The tom came in on a rope and immediately began attacking my dave smith decoy while the other 8 birds stood around and watched. One of the jake's actually climbed on to my dave smith hen and tried to breed it. In my haste to get setup I had tucked into the over hang of a tree to stay concealed but the problem was I was using my bow and I had limbs in the way blocking my shot. After 5 minutes of the tom destroying my decoy I decided I was going to have to make a move. When the tom turned his tail fan toward me which was blocking his line of sight I scooted back 4 feet so I could get a clear shot. Obviously the other birds saw this and started putting but it was too late for the tom. One well placed arrow from my Elite Energy 35 tipped with a Grave Digger broadhead and it was all over. As you can see in the picture my arrow zipped through the tom and stuck in a giant pine tree.

 

Enjoy

[Wrk2Hnt]

Nice looking bird, he didn't even have a chance.

[Couestracker]

Way to go! Congratulations on a nice Rio. How many bonus points did it take to draw a tag?

[azcouesfanatic]

I had 6 points but really with only one tag it does not matter much.

[couesmagnet]

Nice bird, looks like the area around twin trick tank in those clearings. Congrats

[Big Browns]

Awesome hunt! I hope to get a rio one day. Congrats!!!!!

[bigorange]

Awesome! Drove through that beautiful country earlier this week...will hopefully draw a tag one of these years.

[2 Full Curls]

Well done and thank you for sharing. That's a very pretty bird. But bigger congrats for finishing the AZ 13. I'm guessing you are one of, if not the first?

[azcouesfanatic]

Thanks 2 Full Curls!! I am not sure if anyone else has the AZ 13. I know of one person who just needs a RIO to have them all with a bow.

[sandman]

Amazing accomplishment. I would love to harvest all 3 species with a bow. Congrats

[Little Creek Calls]

Congratulations! This is the first report I have seen or heard of someone hunting the Rio’s in AZ. Beautiful bird, almost looks like a Merriam. In fact if I were taking a quiz I would have got it wrong. I have shot 4 Rio’s in Hawaii and the cream band at the tips of the tail feathers wasn’t near that thick. After rereading it today the difference between the two (Merriam’s and Rio’s) besides terrain is size and color. Rio’s are similar sized to an Osceola’s and Merriam’s similar to Eastern’s. In the birds I have shot the tail feathers are 1 to 2 inches shorter on a Rio. Rio’s are supposed to be lighter in color and Merriam’s darker black. The wings might be the best way to tell from your picture and rio’s have wider black bands on wing feathers.

Again congratulations on a beautiful bird and a Great looking Rio!

[bonecollector]

Pretty awesome to get the AZ 13 and all with a bow makes it that much sweeter! Congrats on a nice bird.

[tjhunt2]

Brian, you certainly have had a great year. I don't know how it could get any better. Congratulations on your accomplishment which is quite awesome to say the least. Thanks for sharing Brian. What's next on the list? Thanks for sharing.

 

TJ

[billrquimby]

Congratulations! You obviously not only are an accomplished hunter, but you also are one lucky son of a gun. Drawing all the required tags, especially the two sheep tags and the Rio Grande turkey tag, is an accomplishment in itself.

 

Bill Quimby

[azcouesfanatic]

Everyone thanks for the kind words. I have been very fortunate to draw some amazing tags and that my father introduced me to hunting at such a young age. Bonecollector, just to clarify I do not have all of them withg a bow most are archery but I have a couple with a gun.

 

Thanks again