The Elusive Gobbler

I have been asked before and even wondered myself what is so great about hunting turkeys. It is true that they are not the smartest species of big game that offer a good chase. What makes a man proud of scouting, tracking, calling and killing a dumb bird? It is true that a well prepared hunter has many advantages over the wild turkey. Turkeys are predictable. They will often use the same areas for roosting, feeding, watering, and nesting year after year. If you can find a turkey going to roost in the evening, the odds are definitely in your favor that you will find him in that same tree when the sun comes up in the morning. Turkeys are also vulnerable to calling during the early spring. In this case however, they have an advantage over the pursuer that attempts to call him in. As the bird gets older and as the season progresses, he begins to differentiate the hunter’s attempt at a hen yelp and a real hen’s search for companionship. These aspects and others make the turkey hunt atop my list of favorite big game hunts.

There is nothing like leaning up against a ponderosa pine on a cool spring morning in your guille suit watching a gobbler strut around your decoy 35 yards away. As he lets out his trademark gobble, the excitement is so high that the most seasoned hunter struggles to keep his composure.

Just recently I had the opportunity to listen to the music of Rio Grande Turkey in a way that I never had done so before.

I found myself that morning in what I had always thought was wine country in northern California. I never would have imagined that one day I would travel to the golden state to chase a big tom. This particular hunt was not the turkey hunt I am used to. Growing up in Southwestern New Mexico, I became accustomed to millions of acres of public land where you can hunt for days and most likely not run into another hunter. In the hills just outside of Ione, CA I quickly realized that I was not alone and more importantly I couldn’t give chase to all gobblers within earshot. In fact, that first morning I heard and even saw more mature gobblers than previously before on any hunt in any state. The real challenge was finding a tom on property that we had permission to hunt. We were given permission to hunt the 170 acres of the LNC Ranch as well as a collection of other small pieces of land that in years past had offered up multiple “shooters.”

My friend Ryan, native of Ione, and I arrived later in the evening and unfortunately were unable to put any bird’s to bed. The first morning hunt would have to be done blindly, giving more advantage to turkeys. On the first morning we heard a gobbler leaving his roost on the neighboring ranch, where we didn’t have permission to hunt. We knew however that these birds tended to cross the lower corner of the LNC on their way to the shady hillsides where they spent the afternoon feeding. Just as predicted we cut off a tom as he was sneaking around the hill the ranch house sat on chasing some hens. We skirted around the hill and got set up just as he let out his gobble to the hens that were ahead. At this point my inexperience ranch hunting came into play. I knew that there were houses in the area, but was unsure of the exact location relative to where we were set up. I had the open shot as the gobbler came around the corner, but froze for a second to make sure the shot was clear. Then he did what every smart bird that you think is dumb does: he walked behind a tree and on over the hill.

On any other hunt I wouldn’t think twice about letting a six inch beard get away and even though it turned out to be a safe shot, for the few seconds it was open I was unsure. I didn’t realize how difficult this hunt would be from here on out. Did you know that the game laws in California only allow turkey hunting until 4 pm in the spring? I didn’t It seems that we just missed our only opportunity at a bird that day.

On Saturday, the last day we would be in Ione, we didn’t have the same early morning luck that we had the first day. We saw plenty of birds, only not on the LNC or any other properties that we could hunt. But at about 3 in the afternoon we caught a break: a mature gobbler with three hens we hanging out on the upper end of the ranch. We saw them from the road a half mile away and had just about an hour to put the move on him. The fact that the afternoon birds weren’t talking much coupled with him having his hens made it clear that we would have to put the stock on and surprise him. I have never successfully snuck up on a turkey and this time would be no different. Fortunately as I made the approach, Ryan hustled around the point to cover the escape route. Just as expected the hens made me. Seconds later I hear the sure sound of a Binelli shotgun. Ryan had bagged him a nice Rio Grande Turkey with an 8 ½ inch beard. At that point it was nearly four o’clock and my hunt ended, but it was a success.

I just had my first California hunting experience and what a blast it was. We heard a ton of gobblers, saw more birds in two days than I ever have before, and caught a slew of bass in between. Of course that is another story for another day. Next time that elusive tom won’t be so lucky.