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Colorado Merriam Turkey Hunt

2012-05-14T12:16:52Z

My wife Stephanie and I drove two hours to the San Antonio International Airport to fly to Colorado Springs. We were both excited to hunt turkey in Colorado as neither of us had hunted them there. Things started off slow at the airport because we had two problems.

]]> First, the lady at the ticket counter told everyone that the plane would be delayed because it needed new tires. Once the tires were fixed we boarded and made our way to the run way. The pilot came over the PA and said that we had to return back to the gate because the right engine wasn't functioning properly. Back to the gate we went. I was happy that they happened to notice this before we were in the air, I think Stephanie was just about ready to call off the whole hunt. We finally boarded again in about an hour and were on our way.

Once in Colorado Springs we drove out to where we'd be hunting after a stop at the " Big R" for our license. I was hunting on property where I had been well over fifty times. Tri-State Outfitters have what I consider to be the best mule deer hunting in the world. Not many places can average over 190 inches but they do it every year and have for a long time. I knew the elk hunting was incredible there as well. But, I had never hunted turkey there and try as I might, I couldn't remember ever seeing one there. However, Tri-State's owner, Bridger Petrini said that they were there so I believed him.

We unpacked our gear and waited on John to get in. I have known John for a long time and due to our flights being delayed I had asked him to go and see if he could roost some birds. When John got back he said that he found several birds. Excitement escalated again as Stephanie and I couldn't wait to get after them in the morning.

4:00AM couldn't come fast enough; I grabbed a cup of coffee and Stephanie and I headed out. We drove a short distance to where John told me that he had seen a good bird all by himself. We parked the truck and walked up and over a ridge well before daylight. I blew my coyote howler and a gobbler cut me off. The bird was in a tree about 200 yards away. Stephanie and I closed the distance to about 100 yards and set up. After letting things calm down for ten minutes I made a very soft tree call on my slate and the gobbler cut me off. I made one more and he gobbled again. By this time I could see fairly well and I started telling Stephanie which way I thought he would come in.

I heard him fly down and gobble one more time. For thirty minutes we waited and never heard or saw anything. Finally, he gobbled again, but this time he was 300 yards from us. I was discouraged and knew we had to move. Stephanie and I got up and walked over another small ridge toward where we could still here him hammering. Once we got as close as we could without being seen ( 200 yards) we set up again. This time when I called he gobbled and started coming closer.

I am not someone to call much. I feel that the biggest mistake most people make is over call. I would rather have a bird come in looking for me then know exactly where I am. I also think that the more I call the more he will gobble making the chance of real hens a serious problem. This bird would walk to within 40 yards of us but out of sight then turn around and walk back to his starting point. He did this over and over again for an hour. Finally, I whispered to Stephanie that I was going to call more. I tried every trick I had in the book including walking away. Nothing worked. We decided then that we would ease out and come back later. There was no way we could sneak into his comfort zone without being busted.

Jimmy had gone another direction that morning and when came in a around 11AM he said that he had seen a bird by the big curve in the road, That was our bird, he was still there. Later, around 1:00PM John stopped by and said that he had seen a bird by the big curve in the road. My plans of going out around 4 and sitting by the roost changed. Stephanie and I grabbed our gear and asked John to drop us off so we would have the truck well out of the way.

We set up on the edge of a small clearing about 200 yards across. We could see for miles to our left and about 50 yards to our right. I felt like the bird had heard the truck coming and had walked off into the timber in front of us. We had set there about 15 minutes and I had made one series of calls with me slate when we heard a gobble. " Steph, where was that," I asked? She said that she thought it was to our left. I looked out into the huge prairie and there was our bird at 450 -500 yards away standing there gobbling. How he got there I have no idea, how we didn't see him I don't know either. He slowly walked our way gobbling every minute or so.

He was so far it took him ten minutes to get to our set-up. When he walked between to big pine trees and Stephanie made an awesome shot. The bird was down and she was so excited. I love seeing her happy and I loved how it all unfolded. It's always better when you have a morning go like ours did and then go so perfect that afternoon.

I was putting my things in my bag when I heard Stephanie say something I turned around and to my disbelief there were two mature gobblers standing by the hen decoy strutting. Stephanie was standing ten yards from them and videoing with her Iphone. I walked up beside her and started videoing with my phone. They would spit and drum and rub against that decoy. At one point they were feet from us, I was talking in a normal voice and moving. They stayed there until John showed up with the truck. I guess it's true that animals do seriously dumb things in the mating season. I had a tag in my pocket and Stephanie's shotgun was right beside me, but, I didn't have any desire to take a bird like that.

John told me that he knew where a roost was that he thought was full of birds. Before daylight Stephanie had the video camera set up and we waited for a gobble. Again we were in a small opening surrounded by pine trees. After sitting there 15 minutes a bird gobbled straight across from us about 150 yards away. I made some calls on the slate and he answered. I stopped calling and he gobbled probably 30 times more. After about twenty minutes we saw him walk out of the pines and started walking in our direction. He stopped at about 100 yards, strutted for a minute, then came at a full run. I noticed two jakes coming from the right at the same time. All three birds got to my decoy at the same time with the big bird going into strut. I wanted him to hang around for a minute for the camera but he started to walk off. I took him at less then 20 yards. He was the biggest in body size of all the birds. It was another text book turkey hunt.

With luck, I will be back in Colorado hunting turkey again with Tri-state Outfitters. Just like everything else they hunt, they don't over hunt anything. They have enough land to give animals rest. Now, we wait two days in Colorado Springs then it's off to Wyoming. I sure hope we do as well there.

Kansas Eastern Turkey Hunt 2012

2012-05-07T13:20:46Z

It seems like every morning we try to hunt a roost here in Kansas there is a serious lightening storm in our way. This morning we walked into a field about ¾ of a mile to where we had roosted a bird. Just when we were about to owl call to him the lightening started popping all around.

]]> I'm scared of lightening so the walk back to the truck was the longest ¾ of a mile I've ever walked. We literally slammed the truck door when the bottom fell out and it started storming and pouring down rain. We waited to the storm out then headed to another field we had permission to hunt. We turned the truck off and listened for a few minutes and heard a bird gobbling no more then 300 yards away down in a bottom.

We walked in near where we heard the bird and set up maybe 100 yards away. There was a small hill between him and us so we felt the set up was a perfect one. Long story short we called for over an hour and never heard anything again. I think I may have misjudged where he was and he possibly saw us as we walked in. BY now it was around 9 in the morning so we went to the house we were staying in and ate some breakfast.

Back out at 11:30AM we parked where we had originally walked in before the storm. Since Jimmy Brown, a friend and fellow guide at Mellon Creek Outfitters had never taken an eastern I asked him if he'd like to set up near where we had heard the bird gobbling the evening before. Jimmy thought that the birds would be in a different area of the corn field so I went to the spot I suggested to him. I had been there about five and a half hours without hearing anything when I thought I heard a gobble to my right. I turned to Dave, my camera man and asked him if he heard anything. Dave was like me, he thought that he had heard something but wasn't sure.

After a few minutes I made some louder calls on my slate and for sure heard a gobbler at what seemed like 400 yards away and down in a valley. Slowly the gobbles got louder and louder. The bad news was by the sound of things the bird was walking past us not to us. Jimmy text me right about this time and said that he heard a bird. I knew it was the bird that we were calling to but didn't mention that to Jimmy. Once the bird made his way to directly in front of us at about 200 yards he stood and gobbled about ten or so times. All of a sudden I saw a tail fan sky lighted on the ridge in front of us. The big tom walked in full strut right to within 33 yards of where we were set. My second eastern of the season was a done deal. I looked at my phone and saw where Jimmy had text, " He's coming my way." I text him back," He isn't coming your way anymore." I received a text from Jimmy but it isn't something I can write here.

Nebraska Turkey Hunt 2012

2012-05-01T23:34:37Z

Day 1- We woke up early and went into to town to meet with the land owner. After meeting him we got in the truck with him so he could drive us to different properties around the area. I can't begin to say how many turkeys we saw but well over fifty on out first drive down I-80.

]]> The first farm we looked at was a freshly planted corn field on one end and a cattle feed lot on the other. We saw seven gobblers and a lot of hens around this property. We left there and looked at a place they called the elk pasture. Again, we saw birds but continued on to the last place we looked at for the day. This place was along the Platte river and it looked good. Rolling hills with huge trees mixed with corn fields seemed to me like it would have been a turkey's paradise. We finally found the birds on the neighboring pasture but felt pretty sure that they were roosting on the property we had permission to hunt. The weather was starting to turn bad so we went to the landowner's restaurant and ate breakfast. With the rain coming down we decided to just go to where we were staying and wait the bad weather out. Around 3:00PM the rain eased up so Jimmy went looking at other places while Steve and I went to the elk pasture. We had seen some birds near the entrance and let them walk away hoping for a chance to call them back. We set up and called for a little while and never heard or saw anything. The wind was howling so I thought it made sense to move closer to where we had seen the birds last. Steve saw two big toms strutting out in a field. We quickly set up and did everything I knew how to do to bring them in but they were henned up. Oh well tomorrow's another day.

Day 2- We woke up this morning to thunder storms and pouring rain. The rain never let up until 3:30PM so we were in the house until then. Once it stopped, we went to the property west of town and found the group of birds in the same place they had been before; on neighboring land. They were within fifty yards of the land we could hunt so we decided to try it. We made it to within probably 150 or 200 yards of them and set up. Jimmy called to them for nearly an hour but the birds have so many hens with them it was pointless. We did hear them gobble enough to know that they were walking away from us. Without permission to hunt the land they were on we picked up our things and headed to the house.

Day 3- Up at 4:00AM so we could get to the feed lot area before daylight. I blew my coyote howler and a bird gobbled about 100 yards from us down near the river. We grabbed our things and headed in to set up. To me, it was a perfect set up; we had two toms gobbling within 70 or 80 yards of us. Right before fly down we started hearing hens and if someone wanted to tell me that there were twenty hens with these gobblers I wouldn't argue.

It didn't take us long to figure out that we were wasting our time with these two toms. We got back in the truck and drove down towards the cornfield. Once we arrived at the gate going to the corn field we saw several birds about a half mile away. With no way to get near them in such open country we decided to leave them along and come back before daylight in the morning. As we drove down I-80 Jimmy thought we should check out the elk pasture. As we pulled up to the gate going into the elk pasture we saw 4 jakes, 2 hens, and 2 long beard. We stopped just close enough to make the turkeys walk off and to my surprise the jakes and hens went one way and gobblers another. This was the break I had been looking for.

Steve and I grabbed our gear and walked down a fence to where we had last seen them. After getting set up I started calling every half hour or so. Around an hour later I saw one bird come running by from right to left. The bird moved so far to the left I couldn't see what he was doing so I just watched Steve. I knew when Steve started slowly raising his gun that good things were happening. I heard a bird drumming and saw Steve's finger move onto the trigger. BANG and I didn't hear any flopping. Next thing I know I see a bird standing right near the decoys. I asked Steve if he had gotten him and he said that he did. Steve said," The other bird is still standing there." I got on my hands and knees and started crawling to Steve while purring on my mouth call. I grabbed Steve's gun and took the second bird. Nebraska Double in the books. We hunted another piece of property that evening but never saw anything.

Day 4- UP at 3:30AM just to get to where we needed to be by daylight. As we set up right where we had seen the turkey walk under a gate the evening before birds started gobbling. As I listened I know I heard two behind us, two beside us, and another in the distance in front of us. The birds flew down and started gobbling and we could hear the hens as well.

I wasn't too worried because the fence around the field was net wire and the only place the birds could come in without flying was right by this gate. Steve and Jimmy were set up literally feet from the gate. First came seven hens followed by two huge gobblers. All of the hens walked under the gate and out into the field. The gobblers walked up and down the fence and gate but never came through. These birds acted like they couldn't get through it even though we had watched them walk right under it the evening before. After a while the hens turned around and left pulling the long beards with them. FRUSTRATING!!!!!

That afternoon I set up on a piece of property a few miles west of the feed lot. Jimmy and Steve headed to the feedlot area where they would split up and hunt. I called for maybe an hour when I received a text from Jimmy saying that he heard gobblers in the distance and he was going to get closer. About an hour later I received a text that he had gotten a bird with a double beard. With nothing happening at my location I told Jimmy to bring the bird and I'd take photos. We spent an hour taking pictures and then drove into to town to freeze the bird. On our way back to wait on Steve we saw two giant toms in a field near where I had been set up. These gobblers were with hens but we decided to give it a try anyway. I crawled and walked well over a mile this afternoon and never even made them look. The good news is that Steve scored on a fine gobbler. All in all we took four very impressive birds making Nebraska a huge success. It time to leave for eastern Kansas and I hope we have good luck there.

Mellon Creek Outfitters Last Group

2012-04-23T12:49:19Z

Our last group of the year was a group with Mossberg Shot Guns. They had bought a turkey/hog hunt to try our their new shot guns. This group consisted of Linda Powell, Mossberg's head of media relations and three outdoor writers. Linda and one of the writers would be hunting with me for turkey.

]]> On the first morning, I wanted to hunt a bird on the far end of the ranch that Walter Parrot and I had listened to one morning a couple of weeks before. We arrived at the place before daylight and I blew my coyote howler. I tried for five minutes to get the bird to gobble so that I could set up on him but he never did. With daylight approaching quickly I moved to a field where I knew birds were roosting. As we set up the birds were already gobbling. We got ourselves tucked in under some brush near a fence close to where I usually watch these birds walk out. At fly down the gobbles went more or less silent. It is awfully late in the year for the birds to be with hens but that was sure what it sounded like. Calling sparingly for two hours I never saw anything and only heard two half hearted gobbles. I was getting ready to suggest to Linda and Holt that we move and try and find some birds when I noticed a tail fan to our right at about 400 yards. I looked through my binoculars and sure enough there were two birds in full strut. I looked to the left of them and there was a third. Thinking that we still had a chance I sat back down and started calling a little more aggressively. After a half an hour the birds never moved so I decided to sneak out of there and go find some more willing gobblers. As I stood up I saw what the problem had been all morning, standing with the gobblers were eight hens.

We got back in the truck and I started driving and glassing trying to locate a bird. Down here I feel like this is the best tactic after hunting a roost because there is so much country it would be impossible to take full advantage of it by walking. After about twenty minutes I found four jakes and two long beards by themselves about a thousand yards away. We moved in closer and set up along a gravel road. Knowing that these birds like to travel the roads when the grass is soaked from dew, I thought if we were on the edge the bird would come right in. I called with my slate call softly but nothing gobbled back at us. It wasn't long before one of the long beards made his way up onto the road and started our way. He came slowly stopping to flap his wings and strut. At forty yards, Holt took him. All were really excited and the hunt was beautiful with the sun turning the bird's breast feathers into a prism of color.

Mossberg Day 2

On the second morning I went to a roost area where I knew there were at least 25 gobblers. As we set up they were hammering away no more then 150 yards away. The birds must have gobbled 150 times but they never came our way. Finally after two hours they gobbled off out of hearing. After yesterday's experience I know they had hens with them. We jumped in the truck to start looking and didn't go a mile before we found two gobblers strutting in the road. We quickly moved the truck and came back to where we had last seen them. They had run off into the brush parallel to a pipeline. I figured of we set up on the brush where the pipeline and the road met they would either come out in the pipeline and come to us or come out in the road. On my first yelp they answered and started our way. I had positioned Linda so that she could shoot at towards the pipeline or the road. These birds came straight through the thickest brush you can imagine and started gobbling ten feet behind us. They were two close for us to turn on so we just sat there hoping they walk to the decoys. They ended up walking within three feet of our cameraman and started putting. I let them walk off to fifty yards and quietly called to them. They stopped and started coming again and just then a whitetail must have gotten downwind of us and started blowing. That was the end of that.

For the afternoon hunt I took Linda and Holt to the same hay field we had hunted on the first morning. I knew there were at least five gobblers in there and I also knew how three of them walked back to there roost. We had been there about an hour when I saw three tail fans in the grass about five hundred yards away. The wind was howling so there was no need in calling; but if these were the birds I had been watching for weeks they'd be close before long. Sure enough they crossed the road and went under the fence right where they always had. When they got to 250 yards I called to them and they gobbled and started strutting. At about 175 yards out they saw something they didn't like. I'm not sure of someone moved or if it were reflections off of eye glasses or what happened but they turned and walked away. I got more aggressive with the call and they started gobbling again. The toms made a semi-circle and started back in again, this time from our right. They got to 70 or 80 yards and hung up behind a mesquite tree. By now the hens had showed up and were standing next to my decoys pecking the decoys on the head. The gobblers walked around to behind our set up and were 25 yards away but we couldn't turn. Two more toms showed up and joined the gobbling. The birds stayed behind us drumming and gobbling for thirty minutes then slowly walked away tot here roost. So close yet so far.

Mossberg Day 3

This morning I set up on a roost and I got tight. We were inside 75 yards from the tree with five long beard gobbling to every owl or coyote. At fly down the birds gobbled and they were so close I could them drumming. After five minutes they walked out into the pipeline we were on and turned towards the decoys. Linda took a beautiful bird at 26 yards. We took photos and started driving and looking. As we turned a corner on a long ranch road I saw a gobbler way in front of us. As I was looking at him with my binoculars the hen he was with walked off the road to the right and he went left. This is perfect; we'll drive up to where they were unload our things and I'll hide the truck. We set up off the road to hide ourselves a little better and I called softly on my slate. A bird gobbled at least ¼ mile away but I knew it wasn't the one we had just seen. Although the bird in the distance was closing the gap I heard drumming really close. We couldn't see him with the brush in the way but we knew he was close. Finally he strutted into view walking down the road to an open area where we could see. Holt made a great shot at 22 yards and got his second and final bird for his hunt. We set up on another bird that morning trying to get Linda tagged out but it wasn't to be.

Mossberg Day 4

Found a roost before daylight and walked in to within 75 yards of the tree. It was a beautiful sight watching the old bird gobble from his limb. I made a soft tree yelp and he answered me. I went silent and figured this would all be over in just a few minutes. As the sun started to light the sky I saw one hen in the tree, then another and another. Man, I better think of something. I decided to play a fly down cackle with my mouth call in hopes that the gobbler would fly down early, before his hens. I knew if they flew down before him I was not going to have any luck. When he heard the fly down cackle he gobbled at least ten times back to back. Unfortunately he never flew down until his hens did and they flew straight in the opposite direction and out of sight. We started driving and looking and finally found birds about 10:30 AM strutting. There were three nice gobblers in the road so we drove around hide the truck and snuck in to set up. I couldn't get any closer then 300 yards without being busted so we set up. As soon as I called they answered and after 20 minutes I realized that they were not coming. I crawled on my stomach through water and thorns to move a decoy into a place that they could see it. The saw it and came our way at a dead run. They stopped at fifty yards and turned around and slowly walked back. Once again I crawled through water and moved the decoy even higher up on the road. This time they came again except now they were at 30 or 40 yards. Linda had a mesquite branch in her way and couldn't shoot. I couldn't see them but she later told me that if they had walked two more feet she had a shot. After they walked back I decided to move and reset up inside their comfort zone. We walked way around and snuck out to the edge. I called and they gobbled and walked off. I knew better but I didn't give up then. I moved on them again and set up even closer. Again they gobbled started our way and turned back around. I tried one more time but this time they were gone and silent. It was a long drive back to the lodge, I don't take failure easily.

I had one afternoon to get Linda a bird and also to make sure Mellon Creek Outfitters could still say that they were 100% on all species every year. I thought long and hard about where to set up and finally decided on an area called the Estaque Pens. This area had big oaks and big hackberry trees, plenty of water and good hard roads that they use for strutting. Also, I knew of two roosts in the area. HuntOnly's own Steve Johnson and Tom Bateman had taken three gobblers at the same location a few weeks prior. I set up in the exact spot that Steve, Tom and I had set up before. After about an hour two jakes walked out and seemed shy of the decoys. I was wondering why they were shy when all of a sudden I heard drumming coming from the left. At a full strut and coming fast was the biggest gobbler I'd seen all year. Linda steadied her shot gun as the bird slapped my decoy with his wings. She couldn't shoot because the bird was spurring the decoy so bad he wouldn't hold still. Finally, I putted loud enough that he raised his head and Linda got him. 11 inch beard with spurs over an inch and quarter long. We took to the last hour but we pulled it off.

Linda got the biggest gobbler of the season and Mellon Creek Outfitters can still say that since the very first client walked through the door seven years ago every single one has taken what they wanted. I am not certain of the exact numbers but it would be very safe to say that 220 deer hunters, 100 turkey hunters, 50 bobcat hunters, and twenty duck hunters, have all gotten their game.

Goulds Turkey Hunt

2012-04-17T11:11:30Z

From the Mellon Creek Outfitter lodge to the Coronado National Park entrance was a 953 mile drive. We arrived to clear skies, moderate temperatures, and 55 mile per hour winds. I thought for sure the tents we were sleeping in would blow away.

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Not more than twenty minutes after we arrived in camp I looked down a draw and saw my first Goulds gobbler. He was feeding along the edge of a deep bank and he looked really different than any bird I'd ever seen. He looked a solid six inches taller than any turkey I'd ever seen an his white tips were very noticeable.

Before the first two hours had passed I'd seen two more and heard another. My hopes for the hunt couldn't have been any higher until 6:00 o'clock rolled around. Clouds started rolling in from the west. With the clouds came a cold 30 degree wind chill and sleet. I'd planned for what the forecast had said; forty degree mornings and seventy-five degree days. I was wet and freezing.

That night we had to cook our supper in a horse trailer to stay somewhat dry. It seemed it would never stop sleeting so I called home on my satellite phone. First I called my wife, no answer. I then called my son, no answer. I finally got hold of my mother and asked her to check the weather for Animas, NM. She said that it would be clear by morning.

We hired a local who knew the area and he had put up our camp. The tents we A Frame tents with canvas as walls needless to say we slept in 30 degree weather soaked to the bone. Why I didn't think to sleep in the truck only further confirms my insanity. I doubt seriously that I slept more than five minute the entire night. After one of the top ten most miserable nights of my life 5:00AM arrived. We had a cup of coffee, grabbed our vests and walked west down the draw we had seen the birds.

It was a crisp 29 degrees and my fingers were numb. I blew an owl call and heard two different roosts light up. We walked to within 150 yards or so of the closest one and set up. I made a quiet tree call and the gobblers responded. Great, I thought, at fly down I'll have my Goulds. I heard the birds fly down and start gobbling. They began to walk parallel to us and slightly away. They gobbled at every call but acted like they had hens. When the birds got to 300 yards or so I switched to by box call. One bird out of at least four immediately turned our way. He gobbled probably fifty times as he made his way to us. At around eighty yards he stopped and turned to walk around us. Seeing him strutting in the sunlight was an amazing sight. Goulds look so much bigger and their white feathers are gorgeous. He walked almost a full circle around me but never committed. I thought it was wise to just back off and let the sun warm everything up. Mainly I wanted the sun to warm me up because my hands were so cold I couldn't run my slate. I walked back to camp and had more coffee.

At around 9:00AM I walked back down the draw with a plan to just set up and cold call. I found a huge oak with a good size opening in front of it. I had been set up for about an hour when I heard a gobble. I looked across the opening and there stood a huge gobbler about 100 yards away. He walked under a tree and started strutting and gobbling. The Tom hung up there for ten minutes until I made some very quiet purrs on the slate call. This time he walked to within sixty yards and started parading back and forth in front of me. It seemed as if there was an invisible wall that he was walking up and down. He did this in full strut for well over twenty minutes.

Then this gobbler stood in a regular relaxed stance for seven minutes on my video camera absolutely motionless. My left arm was in knots holding that shotgun. Finally he stood up and turned to walk away. I grabbed my slate and started a fighting purr. Right then he strutted, gobbled, and came back. The bad thing was he came in to a place I could not turn and shoot. There he stood at thirty yards and I couldn't turn on him. As he turned around in full strut and his tail fan blocked his view I switch to left handed. I feel as awkward as a barking cat doing anything with my left hand but this was a now or never kind of deal. I putted with a mouth call, his head went up, and my Goulds was a done deal. Without a doubt this was the most exciting turkey hunt of my life. I'd try and sleep frozen again of that's what it took to relive that hour the bird was in front of me. We got I all on video though so I can relive it as much as I want.

Having some bad luck cat hunting....

2012-04-12T13:57:01Z

I guess I'm just having some really bad luck cat hunting right now. Yesterday while training MMA my trainer accidentally tried to push his finger out the back of my head via my left eye. Being hard headed I didn't go to the doctor even though blood was coming out of my eye socket. I went by my mother's to say hello and she took one look at my eye and started giving me the third degree.

]]> Well, long story short I decided it would be easier to drive to the doctor then listen to her. Luckily, I have a very good friend that happens to be an eye doctor. I had torn the conjunctiva in my eye in two places and the doctor prescribed some drops and said all will be well. The best part is I don't have to listen to my mother about not going to the doctor.

At midnight my eye was hurting badly enough that I couldn't sleep so I stepped outside on my porch to look at the weather. It was cool and still and the coyotes were howling in all directions. I told my wife that it looked too good to lay in bed so I drove to my pens and loaded my hounds. The dew had fallen and the moon was really bright I thought it would be a good night.

I really thought my chances were good because I have not been doing any good in the early morning hours. I hunted from midnight until 3:30AM and never did any good. Springtime is tough in this part of the world but I should be doing better then I'm doing. I'll just keep at it things will turn around.

This evening I'm supposed to take my wife for a second rio turkey. Turkey hunting rates right up at the top with everything I do. In two days I leave for New Mexico........I finally drew the Gould's tag. Then Mossberg will be at Mellon Creek Outfitters to turkey/hog hunt. This hunt is being filmed for TV. Once through with that turkey becomes priority; I'll be leaving for Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Montana to turkey hunt & guide until the end of May.

Sixth Turkey Hunter of 2012

2012-04-12T12:12:58Z

Jon Gloor, was new to turkey hunting when he accompanied Jimmy and me to Florida this year. We thought that he would make a good guide for MCO so we took him along to see if he might be interested in turkey. He was, so once we got home we started showing him the ropes.

]]> After a hunt or two Jimmy found a bird that was way out of the normal areas. This gobbler was all by himself so we asked Jon if he would be interested in hunting one himself. It didn't take Jon long to make it very clear that he was ready. Jimmy dropped Jon and me off around 4:00PM and drove off to go scout other areas of the ranch. I made my first call about fifteen minutes later and didn't hear anything answer. Honestly, as early as it was I didn't really expect to hear anything.

Around five o'clock Jon looked at me and said he heard a bird gobble while I was calling on my slate. I listened carefully and I thought I heard one but, with the wind blowing like it was I wasn't certain. I grabbed my box call and yelped a couple times on it with a little more volume. There was no mistaking the big bird this time, he turned a powerful gobble loose. Looking across an area with brush about three feet tall with my binoculars I could see a blue and red head every now and again bobbing up and down. He'd stop and gobble, then move our way.

Within five minutes the bird was walking into our set up at full strut. He came in to our set up in the one direction where weeds were tall. All we could see was the very top of his tail fan and his head. But, as he moved around searching for the hen he had heard he walked right out into view. I putted a couple times and telescoped his head up. Jon's first Rio was in the bag and man was he excited. I took some pictures of Jon and his bird as well as some close shots of the iridescent feathers. I know Jon had fun and I guarantee that we have another seriously addicted turkey hunter.

Fifth Group of Turkey Hunters

2012-04-12T12:04:13Z

The next group was Walter Parrot and Jerry Martin with Bass Pros 100% real hunting. Jerry and Walter do a TV show at Mellon Creek every spring. These two guys are great turkey hunters and great guys. I always love going hunting with them because each time I do I learn a little more.

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On the first afternoon the guy with me took a great bird with his bow at 15 yards. The following morning Walter got a bird with Shelby Fischer, another MCO guide. Jerry scored with Jimmy on another location. After that, we switched out, I went with Walter and Shelby took the guy I was hunting. Walter and I went to an area on the north end of the ranch and roosted some birds.

The following morning we were set up before daylight. Two jakes came in first and we let them wonder off. Next the three big toms we had roosted came in. They walked in silent and never strutted and that doesn't make for a good TV show. With that, we let them walk away.

That evening we set up on two different groups of birds and nothing was going our way. Walter's flight left the following day and if all went right we had time for a quick morning hunt. We drove to an area that hadn't been hunted and started to owl call. Before we had a chance to call the coyotes started howling. The birds were right where I thought they would be. We walked down a pipeline and set up along the edge. At fly down the birds flew straight away from us and went silent. Even so, Walter kept calling every now and then and in about an hour we heard a hen yelping. The hen walked in and right behind her was three more hens, two jakes, and a long beard. Walter took the long beard at 20 yards. This was a huge bird with a beard 10 inches long and spurs an inch and a quarter long.

Hunting with Walter and Jerry is always a great experience for me and this time was no exception.

Fourth Group of Turkey Hunters

2012-04-11T12:00:43Z

Huntonly was the next group. Steve Johnson, Tom Bateman, and Jason Mills showed up for their turn on the screaming rios. The weather was bad the first morning with thunderstorms and rain. With the bad weather came quiet birds and the ones we did hear wouldn't cooperate. That afternoon we set up and called; heard a few and even had one close but never sealed the deal.

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On the second morning, I set up where I knew birds where roosting. The birds were supposed to be back in the brush about 100 yards from our set up. The storm had changed that and at first gobble I realized that they had moved; even worse they had watched us set up. I decided to stay put. Five long beards flew down way early. I could see them strutting but it was too dark to tell their size at 60 yards and too early to shoot. We watched them strut and listened to them gobble for about fifteen minutes. Finally three of them walked straight away with one staying in the field strutting.

Ten more minutes and the three came back . Once the three made it back they all got together and slowly walked in to where I had been calling. Tom Bateman took his bird with a great shot. The other birds walked off and I tried to bring them back in but they followed hens away. Just when I thought we would get up and see about finding another bird for Steve I heard gobbles to our left. Within two minutes I could see two big strutters coming down the road. Long story short Steve got both birds in one shot. Three fine long beard down in five minutes. As we were taking these birds Jason had taken a great bird with Jimmy about three miles away. A couple days later Jason got a nice bobcat with the hounds and got to experience brush country first hand. A great group of guys that I enjoyed hunting with very much.

Back Trax Tracks

2012-04-10T15:50:37Z

Snow started falling just after sunrise with no real course or direction, other than hitting the ground and everything attached to it, including me and they were large flakes, breathless; just float falling, without the slightest breeze.

]]> For a while it was fun thinking about all the possibilities one could conjure up about fresh snow, would it make the deer move, would it be good for a still hunt or tracking and then I heard a shot, then another from the same direction, both shots along ways off, then the woods went quiet again.

Snowflakes without any wind to whirl them about started piling up pretty fast and I got an itch to do some snooping around, try out my amazing still hunting abilities, or at least the ones I hoped I had, but first I thought I'd head back to my house and see about a warm up and a sandwich.

I crawled out of my stand, stretched, took a look around and headed one soft stride at a time out of the woods. I made big boots prints without any sound and that gave me an idea to do some still hunting north of my stand inside a 300 hundred acre boreal forest flat, surrounded with some small intermittent creek ridges.

It had stopped snowing so I changed my sitting coat to a hiking jacket, put on lighter boots and filled up on some warm soup.

Walking back to the stand I saw only my tracks partially snow flake filled and maybe a hundred yards away and north of there I stumbled into a set of deer tracks, with fresh dark red blood flecks alongside only one side of the deer's tracks.

These tracks to me, indicated the deer was walking without difficulty, and seemed to be moving along at an easy pace.

Right there, I wondered if this was the deer, from the two shots I had heard earlier this morning.

I followed the tracks without moving as far as my eyes could see. Then I moved up along the tracks watching ahead along an imaginary direction I thought the deer was going.
I leap frogged along, looking, watching, and then moving, Always staying with the easiest deer tracks I ever followed. After an hour I had to wonder, how much blood is in this deer. It never stumbled or missed a stride as far as I could tell.

As I moseyed southeasterly in pursuit of this deer, it occurred to me, I didn't know, was it a doe or a buck.

Those Tracks went right up to a balsam stand and the tracks didn't enter the pines, it skirted its edges, like you or I would walk next to a fence, then the tracks at the last green pine angled down a slope and out of sight.

I eased over to my last visual, knelt down, saw red drops and looking up, tried to gaze downhill.

Without moving I scanned the far ridge, lots of up and down tree trunks, brush I wished I could see around, mounds of snow making tipped trees or stumps look like white colorless gnomes.

Every branch with two to three inches of white fluffy duff and one brown spot that was lying in the opposite slope, a buck, head up, feet curled underneath itself. The bucks head was rotating slowly as if he was noise and nose checking any breeze.

I easily counted eight points and raised my rifle. I dialed the scope in on a hump just about half into a slouched brown shoulder and touched off the shot. That buck just slumped.

During the night it snowed no more than an inch so I took off for the deer's back trail. It was a mind bender back tracking a deer I already had, but I wanted to see from whence it had come, and hoped I wouldn't get shot in the process.

Moving without my rifle, in the deer woods, felt goofy, and at the same time, for the first time, relaxing.

From where I first found the track, the deer coming my way, was moving much as it was yesterday, and I was just as excited tracking the ghosted day old tracks of today, as the actual of yesterday.

For better than an hour I wondered about, spotting the occasional, now day old blood. Then the blood stopped or should I say because of yesterday it hadn't started yet, but the tracks kept going backwards and with them I went.

For another twenty minutes, just tracks, then deer tracks with boot tracks, alongside bounding deer tracks, with boot tracks back tracking back the way they'd' come from, that were minus any blood.

Well, before I got to the start, or end of my tracking, I saw up in a tree, a very blaze orange hunter starring back at me. I waved, he waved back, and I left the tracks and walked toward his stand. He met me not quite half way.

He asked what I was up to, so I told him my story, about what I thought was his deer. He said he aimed right at the chest, with the first shot, he wasn't positive on the second volley, and I told him he must have aimed an inch or two lower than he imagined because that's where I found his bullet hole.

I told him the deer must have traveled the better part of four miles all together, and hadn't even begun to leak until a half mile from where his boot prints left the track.
He said he tracked it looking for any hair or blood and when he didn't see anything, he thought he missed. Couldn't believe he missed, but with a running deer and no sign of hit, he gave up. I asked him if he wanted his deer, he didn't think it was truly his, I didn't really feel like it was completely mine. We shook hands, with me keeping, our deer. The trout whisperer

4-12-12 Morning Cat Hunt

2012-04-10T15:45:59Z

Another 60 degree morning in south Texas during the month of April. That is something one doesn't see very often. Started hunting this morning just as day was breaking. The sunrise was beautiful coming up behind a huge thunderstorm in the distance. The colors were spectacular with gold, red, and orange all over the sky. I stopped for a few minutes to video the sunrise.

]]> My brother had gone hunting this morning as well and had a cat get away from him right before daylight. After hearing this I thought my chances would be good since the cats were obviously moving. About an hour after daylight one of my hounds started a trail about 150 yards from the road.

After a few minutes four or five hounds were trailing on it pretty good and were just about to really get going. The next thing I hear is total silence. After sitting there for about ten minutes I hear Candy start to bark treed. Candy locates at least 95% of all the cats I tree. This time however she was just barking every minute or so. She acted like she could smell that the cat had gone up but she couldn't be certain which tree he was in.

I marked her location on the GPS collar and walked to where she was. Just like I thought she was running around in an area about 50 yards square smelling. There is no doubt that cat went up but that stand of hackberries was tall and full of vines and leaves. I never found the cat anywhere. I guess my brother isn't the only one to have a cat get away this morning.

We go through this every spring and most of it can be blamed on a lot of half grown kitten. In my opinion, these small kittens don't give off as much scent as grown cats do. Maybe it's just natures way of protecting the young animals, but they are hard to run and even harder to locate in trees. It's a tough time of year for running hounds in this part of the world, but one thing is for sure. I will be back out there before daylight tomorrow morning, that's what makes hounds good.

Third Group of Turkey Hunters

2012-04-10T11:57:32Z

Pete D'Amour MD from Indiana was my third client. I'd hunted Pete before and we have become good friends.. Pete loves turkey hunting and is a real pleasure to hunt. On the first morning we went to a new area and tried to shock some birds. We knew birds were in the area but I never could get them to gobble. We moved and set up where I knew birds where.

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On my first series of calls the dawn silence was shattered with gobbles about 150 yards away. With high grass between them and us all I could see was red heads running down the dirt road. They came to my decoys at a dead run. I took one look and realized that these were two-year-old birds. Pete likes big birds so I just told him to pass. We got back in the truck and moved to another area setting up on the edge of a dirt road where birds strut daily.

Within 20 minutes, Jon, an apprentice guide said that he saw a bird to our right. It was a jake so I wasn't overly excited. As I turned my head back to tell Pete that it was a jake, My eye just about fell right out of my head. Sixty yards away right out in the open was huge long beard. I said," Pete, don't move." I purred on my mouth call and he went into strut and started walking in. At 30 yards he saw something he didn't like and I noticed his snood draw up tight. I gave the green light as the big bird turned to walk away. Pete made a great shot at 43 yards and bird number 1 was in the bag. Awesome morning.

That evening we just went looking around because Pete likes hunting mornings better.

The following morning we went to where Jimmy had heard huge numbers of birds. I owl called and we heard one group off of the property. We moved and when I stepped out of the truck to owl call the birds were already gobbling. As Pete set up I put out my decoy and sat down to Pete's left about twenty yards. The birds walked into 15 yards and gobbled right behind us but they wouldn't come in. I let them walk away to about 200 yards and I called back to them. The birds gobbled at my call and turned around. The first time I saw them they were at 75 yards to our left. They walked out and started our direction. One of the birds hung up but the second bird never even stopped. As he walked around the decoy Pete made another great shot and his turkey hunt was done right then and there.

Morning Cat Hunt

2012-04-09T20:52:45Z

This morning when I walked outside at 5:00AM I couldn't believe what I was feeling. It's not very often that one feels a 57 degree morning in south Texas this time of year. Usually this time of year it's at least 70 degrees and rattlesnakes are crawling around.

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I turned the hounds out of the truck about six o'clock and started hunting down a long dirt road . I had high hopes when a friend called me and said that he had already caught a bobcat; usually when someone catches one everyone does. I guess the cats seem to move around the same times in this part of the world.

About twenty minutes after Stephen caught his I noticed my hounds smelling cat. When they smell a cats trail they start wagging their tails and obviously sniffing in a more specific area. I stopped the truck and walked out to them to see if I could see any tracks. Too much grass for tracks so I just watched them look for the trail. After twenty minutes they had not been able to find the trail so I went on.

Long story short, I hunted another four miles and never started anything. That makes two mornings in a row that I didn't catch a cat. There are two main reasons why I am not catching as many cats I should be. First, this time of year is hard on hounds due to pollen on wild flowers. Second, I had some really good dogs get old and need to be retired this winter. The old hounds are living the good life in my yard and the young ones have to try and fill their spots; that's going to take time. With luck I think by the end of summer I will have them to what the old ones were.

Second Turkey Hunters of the Year...

2012-04-09T12:30:03Z

The second clients arrived from east Texas. Jeff and Nicholas, a father son combo was ready to experience turkey hunting. Jeff had been once, this would be Nicholas' first time and neither had ever taken a turkey. It was important to Jeff that he see his 11 year old son take his first turkey; so, on the first morning they wanted to hunt together. We went out the evening they arrived and tried to locate some birds. We heard one gobble and it was distant so I elected to hunt some birds in an area I knew.

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Before daylight we stopped well short of where we wanted to hunt. I knew where the birds were but I wanted Nicholas to experience the whole thing. I blew a howl on the coyote locator and the woods erupted with gobbles right where I thought they would. I knew right where I wanted to set up and we walked in and got everything just as I wanted it. With Jeff on my right and Nicholas on my left these birds would be toast shortly after fly down. WRONG!! Just like a turkey has done so many times in the past, they didn't do what I thought they would do. They flew down and walked directly away from us.

When it comes to turkey hunting I have a lot of patience so I just set tight. Every once in a while I would make some soft yelps and each time the old tom would gobble. After around an hour I noticed those gobbles getting closer so we set and waited. The bird got to within literal feet of being in view and turned and walked right around us. For ten minutes he was within 30 yards but we couldn't see him. Back in the truck we decided to go to a strut area that a big tom had been frequenting every day. When we turned the corner, sure enough, there he was. He walked off the road and we quickly set up. I put out a jake decoy and a hen.

On the first series of calls I hear birds gobbling in a different direction then where this bird had gone. Just then Jeff said that he saw them. They came fast and never even thought about hanging up at a fence. They quickly walked under the bottom strand and proceeded to whip my jake decoy. Jeff shot and then Nicholas. I don't know how their first turkey hunt could get any better. First time turkey hunt and to take a double with your son. I had two happy hunters on my hands but neither was as happy as me.

That evening they decided to split up. Nicholas went with me, and Jeff with Jimmy. Nicholas and I got set up and started calling about every thirty minutes. For the first two hours Nicholas slept without moving a muscle. Just when I thought the evening hunt wouldn't end as well for us as the morning did, a coyote howled. At the end of the howl came a gobble. The birds walked a half moon around us and I thought they had gone. We heard them gobble behind us and this gave me hope so I yelped at them and when they answered I shut the calling up. It wasn't long before I could hear drumming behind us. Four big long beards and a hen came in. The long beards were in full strut for several minutes no more then 20 yards away. I told Nicholas which bird to take and he did with a great shot. Just then I got a text from Jimmy saying that Jeff had gotten his second bird as well. Happy hunters for sure, especially when Nicholas took a nice hog that evening as well.

First Turkey Hunters of the year...

2012-04-09T12:00:37Z

First clients arrived and I couldn't wait to get into the turkey woods. A husband and wife from San Antonio, Tx that seemed just as anxious as me to get after it. After scouting for the better part of a month I had a god idea where the birds were. After Tim and Sue got settled in, we drove down to where I wanted to hunt to find where we could set up.

]]> When hunting a roost, I always like to have a set up in mind dur9iing the daylight; this makes things go much more smooth and quiet in the dark. We found a good place to set up but we were facing into the sun so we moved a little and cleared a place to set down. Once we were done we headed back to the lodge for dinner.

With breakfast at 6:00 we were in the truck and heading to the woods by 6:20. We walked into our set up and got settled in with about twenty minutes to spare before daylight. As we set there the songbirds started chirping and it wasn't long before the owls kicked off. With owls came the turkeys and they were blowing the leaves off the trees. I tried to count but I'm still not sure how many there actually were. I know I saw 8 walk out in front of us and at least that many gobbled off in the other direction. Four long beards and a jake came in close with the big birds in full strut. They circled around gobbling every few seconds or running the jake away. Sue was filming for her husband so I held out on giving Tim the green light. I watched the birds snoods and knew that we weren't in any jeopardy of missing a chance. Finally I gave the birds a good looking over and told Tim that the best bird was in the middle. Just after I said that the birds started circling and even confused me on which one I told him to take. Somehow he stayed on the bird I had said was best and told me that he was on him. I putted and their heads came up. A perfect shot and perfect hunt.

Sue decided that she would hunt the afternoon. Another guide at Mellon Creek Outfitters and I discussed where I should go for the evening set up. Jimmy had heard and seen a lot of bird traffic on the east end of the ranch. We drove down to that area and found a nice shady stand of live oak trees to set up under. After a little brush clearing we were set up and Jimmy was on his way to scout in the truck. I put out a couple DSD decoys in the clearing in front of us so if birds came out in either direction they'd see them. We had sat there about an hour when this hen started yelping and cutting to our left. Each time she'd open her mouth I'd cut her off and imitate her. This imitation really made her mad and she came in cutting and yelping her head off. She reached the decoy and pecked it while she slapped it with her wing. I'd yelp at every yelp and cut at every cut. It was quite the show to her so mad and aggressive. Just about the time she got tired of arguing with me, We heard a gobble at a fair distance to our right. I looked through the brush with my binoculars and saw two long beards coming our way. I grabbed my slate call and made a soft series of yelps and they hammered back. I knew they had heard me so I just set my call down and shut up. It took them 15 minutes to reach within 50 yards of us but they made it. They stopped just out of range and strutted for five minutes. Then for reason, they just walked off to the right and stood in the shade of a mesquite tree. I purred to them quietly and slowly they started back our way. At 30 yards the bigger of the two hung up and gobbled. I saw his snood drawing up tight to his beak and I told Sue to shoot. She did and made a great shot. Two beautiful old toms in the same day. Tim and Sue made some great shots and seemed to really enjoy their hunt. They are booked for next year.