Little Creek Calls

I would be all for making the Goulds seasons open a few weeks earlier. I think the San Carlos works out because it is farther south and not as high in elevation as most other turkey units. As for the Merriam hunts I think it is fine and more about access and open roads that determine season dates. In unit 1 and 27 they usually have to plow through deep snow drifts to get the roads open for the youth hunt. The rim road in 4A usually opens the weekend of the youth hunt. In 12A you can’t access the entire mountain because of snow drifts. If the seasons opened any earlier there would be people getting stuck trying to get places. Elkaddict, the earlier youth hunt and pressure has made it a little more difficult for the adults hunts. When they stop calling after fly down it is because they fly down to hens and there is no need to call any more. They gobble from the roost to call the hens to them before fly down. I would suggest to try to get just a bit closer and use softer calling. A good rule of thumb is as close as you can get but still out of sight from the tom. Also stick with it and don’t give up after fly down failure. I have killed lots of birds between 8AM and 1PM when most hunters are back at camp eating breakfast and lunch.

Daylight hours trigger the breeding cycle and not the weather. I was up in unit 1 over the weekend and there is still quite a bit of snow in my usual hunting areas. No tracks or sign in several spring roosting sights. I was really surprised at how much snow was still on the ground even covering meadows no grass showing. I was also surprised at where we found the turkeys and all the turkey sign, they still have a ways to go before breeding. The birds and sign are still down in the lower elevations. We saw grouped up toms with gobbling which is normal and usually starts around the first of March.

Cole does a great job. He dipped a Mule deer skull for me last year. If I were to do another one I would defiantly use him again.

Thanks for all who ventured out in the rain and attended my seminar on Saturday afternoon. I enjoyed meeting some of you and teaching this seminar. I can’t wait for the spring season to get here.

Got the pictures added.

I will have them for you to play with in the store but we will do business in the parking lot. Also on the boxes I wont have any available for you to take home today just samples but I can take your order and have them back to you this month (March) sometime.

They must be privately owned. NM department of game and fish don't offer buffalo or bison tags.

10 guage 3 1/2" shells, Wow! You could take down a hole flock of Turkey with that combo. The only problem would be packing them out with your broken shoulder. Seems like a great price if someone is looking for a little extra gun. I love my 12 gauge BPS.

Congratulations on your 29 Javelina Tommy. That can be a difficult unit for pigs but it looks like you found the right the right spots.

I agree with you Adam. It seemed a lot better when it was at the state fair grounds and everything was organized and separated. Now it feels like there is not as many local business and everything is so mixed up on the floor of Cardinals stadium that if you are looking for a particular booth it takes forever to find. It also seems like there are too many unrelated booths taking over selling time shares in Florida and cooking gimmicks and other non-hunting and non-fishing junk. The seminars they offer are fun and informative but are harder to listen to in the big open noisy over crowded stadium. At the last one I attended the dog trials were fun to watch as was the archery shoot off.

No sign up required, just show up. I look forward to seeing you there.

I didn’t win with the three calls I sent in. There are lots of calls that are entered I would guess my 3 calls were probably competing against 600 to 800 other calls. They don’t give full results just winners so if you don’t win you have no idea how you did. Mark if you are interested in having me make you a natural wing bone call keep the bones out of one of the wings from your wife’s Gould’s turkey from NM. The bones I would need are the shoulder bone and the two bones out on the next joint (humerous, unla and radius). I have a friend that makes fly rods wrap the joints or transitions like you would a fly rod in the thread color of your choice. I will also be changing my cleaning method this year and will have Cole at CMC Skulworks use his beetles to clean the bones to get a higher quality product then with traditional boiling. Personally I have never been very good at using wing bones or suction calls but they look great and are a great way to remember your hunt. They are also the oldest type of call dating to and created by the Native Americans.

Here are a few pictures of the three calls I am sending back to the Nashville and the National Call Making Contest.They are Copper over Glass in a Pecan Pot, Slate over Slate in a Shoestring Acacia and Crystal over Glass in Claro Walnut pot.

Turkey hunters have a tendency to lift there head a little before shooting causing them to shoot over the turkey’s head and miss birds. I have done this without realizing and seen it done and explained before. The red dot sights and enclosed sights like the one I listed above remedy this problem and help you stay focused. Red dots are more expensive and require batteries. I had a friend forfeit an early morning hunt to dead batteries, he should have carried spares but just saying it can and does happen. Using the factory bead takes out all sighting adjustments, where you pattern centers it centers and there is no changing it. Since switching to this new style of sights I have almost eliminated missed shots on turkey.

An extra full turkey choke and a good set of sights are most important in my opinion. Shotgun brand doesn't matter as much and your 870 Wingmaster will be great. For sights I like the HiViz TriViz adjustable sights. http://www.hivizsights.com/products/shotgun-sights/triviz.html You can buy them at Sportsman's or Bass Pro and they are adjustable left to right and up and down so you can truly sight in and center your pattern. I have tried several other sights and these are the best I have found. You have to be careful with the fiber optics, they break easily but if you do send HiViz an email they will send you replacement fiber optics and or parts at no charge (I have done this twice). As far as shot goes you will have to try a few to see what shoots best out of your gun and choke. I like #6. You get more shot on target. You can make up for the weight difference by going with Winchester extended or hevi shot but it will cost a lot more. Hevi Shot is currently offering a $20 mail in rebate when you buy 2 boxes of 5 shells. Winchester Extended are hard to find, almost impossible online but bass pro still has a bunch in the store but not online (they are my favorite). You don't have to buy the expensive stuff though, I have killed many birds with cheaper copper plated turkey load in #5 & #6's. Hope this helps.

I will be doing a seminar at Sportsman's Warehouse in Mesa on Wednesday April 2nd. I will have slate, glass, crystal, aluminum and copper pot calls; box calls and mouth diaphragm calls available for purchase at the seminar. There will be some hands on instruction on call use probably with box calls and pot calls. There will be a raffle with some of my calls. I will post more info as it gets closer. In the mean time if you are interested in getting a new call to start practicing with or want more info on calls you can send me a message and I will get back with you.

Vowell has a Crossfire for sell in the classifieds if you are looking to save a little money. It has a little extra magnification 3.5 x 10 and a 44MM objective (little more light with out having to go with high mounts). http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/46338-vortex-scopes-diamondback-crossfire/

Yea if it wasn't on a week night I might try and make it.

Jim is a great guy with a lot of knowledge and a good friend. It will be a great opportunity for people to learn more and get excited about upcoming hunts.

They all appear to all be tom’s except maybe the front one you cant tell. You can see spurs on the two of the non-stutters. These like most bachelor groups are sorting out dominance and pecking order by seeing who is brave enough to strut and not get beat into submission by the others. Is it a little early, probably not. They have been hanging out together since summer and are probably starting to get on each other’s nerves and getting excited for some female attention that’s up coming.

Thanks for the comments. The judging takes place February 13th and 14th at the NWTF national convention in Nashville. It would be nice to win the DD Adams award. I have thought about and looked into getting an electric iron to burn info into the bottom of my calls. If you are interested in purchasing a call or want more information just send me a message.

I know it's hard to tell because it only comes around every three years but what your best guess on how many points will it take for the muzzleloader elk hunt in unit 1?

In Arizona I have harvested 3 Mule Deer 2 Whitetail Deer 4 Elk 1 Javelina 15+ Merriam’s Turkey Looking forward to the day when I get lucky enough to draw a tag and hunt Gould’s Turkey, Antelope, Buffalo and Sheep in Arizona.

First auto loading shotgun and in production until the 90’s. Browning just rereleased the A5. Jace Robertson shoots an A5 in some Duck dynasty shows and in a few commercials. Great looking classic gun.

What 4 Primos DVD's do you have? I have a bunch but am missing a few.