Search the Community

On my 2012 New Mexico turkey hunt the birds were quiet-if there were any there to begin with-just couldn't locate any in the usual areas. I decided to go down a narrow canyon that had an intermittent flowing creek, as I've had luck there in the past. I hiked in well before first light and I setup about a mile and a half down the canyon, where a couple of side creeks joined up. As the sky got lighter, yelping with various calls into the otherwise silent woods, I realized I was less than 100 yds from where I took my first New Mexico turkey. Then I thought I heard something. I returned a yelp and heard it again. Couldn't tell what it was, but it was up on the Mesa above me and a long ways away. I kept calling, and then the sound got distinguishable.....it was a gobbler! Slowly but surely, he got louder and closer - he's coming in! The canyon bottom was narrow, and climbed steeply up to where the bird was coming from, but I picked this spot because it rolled off the Mesa down to the creek at a small drainage. As the turkey gets louder and closer, I'm looking up at the ridge line through the thin foliage and tree branches. And then I see him! As I watch him following the descending ridge, he walks behind a fallen log, so I better positioned myself to where I figure he's going to hit the creek bottom, get my shotgun up on a knee, then......nothing! I can't see him, I'm quiet, he's quiet, I wait longer than I thought it would take him to get down. I'm figuring that he's behind that log, so as I watch up there, I pickup a striker next to me and scratch out a yelp on my slate call. GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE. Oh no, I see him, directly in front and above me and he's headed back up the hill - he saw my movement for sure. I was kicking myself, but thinking he's NOT getting away. I watch him through the brush as he's climbing the hill, then I look ahead of him and see a small opening in the brush. While he approached that opening, I spun around and got my shotgun aimed up there, it was about a 45 degree angle and 50 yards. He made the clearing and I made the shot....TOM DOWN! He actually rolled/flapped his way down the steep hillside to the creek bottom in front of me. He was a nice tom, weighed 17 pounds, had a 10 inch beard and only 1 spur.