GobbleNut's 2023 Season Hunt Log

[GobbleNut]

March 22nd:  Headed out for first hunt of 2023.  Long drive ahead, but gotta get out there after 'em somewhere.  In my mind, I know it is a bit early to be hunting the area I am headed to, but this is the timeframe available to me and my hunting buddy.  Weather is an added factor in that it has been raining for the last three days in the area, and the roads and access to much of the hunt area will be questionable.  ...Oh well...

Arrive at hunt area mid-afternoon.  It's still raining and as expected the roads, and the country in general, are soaked.  The main road into the hunt area is barely passable, and there is no chance of driving into some of the country we (avidnwoutdoorsman and I) hunted last year.  Driving towards our established campsite, I encounter a roaring torrent of water flowing across the road.  ...Ain't gonna get to where we want to be. 

At nightfall, pull over to the side of the road at the crossing and sleep in the truck, expecting rain, and possibly snow, to hopefully stop by morning. 

[GobbleNut]

March 23: (two days before season start).  Wake up to continuing precipitation. River crossing is still impassable (and possibly worse), so turn around and head back up the main road, hoping to find turkeys to hunt.  Fortunately, modification of hunt plans proves to be fortuitous in that I find an area with a good number of turkeys.  Unfortunately, I am also concerned that the road conditions will have all the hunters in the area stacked up in this same place.  ...We'll see.

I am concerned that of the several groups of turkeys seen, they are all still in winter flocks of hens, jakes, and mature gobblers,...all separated and showing no breeding behavior,....no strutting or gobbling going on at all.  Hmmm....

[GobbleNut]

March 24th (day before hunt starts):  Wake up at first light to the sound of gobbling turkeys in the distance!  Things looking up for hunt, but still very concerned that many other hunters will be focused in this area.  Hunting buddy arrives after daylight, but as the day progresses, more and more hunters arrive and begin setting up camps along the main road.  We're concerned about the potential for competition and interference, but what can you do? 

Sporadic rain/sleet all day, but things are gradually clearing.  At dusk, I sit on ridge above roost area and at dark watch numerous turkeys, including a number of mature gobblers, fly into trees.  Things looking promising for the opener in the morning!

[GobbleNut]

March 25th:  Opening morning of 2023 season! 
We have decided to focus on the roost site near camp and hope that other hunters do not come in on us.  Leaving well before daylight, we sneak into roost area and wait to hear gobbling to assess a set-up location.  As eastern horizon begins to lighten, we are surprised by gobbling very close to us in the trees immediately in front.  Soon we can see gobblers sitting in the trees in front of us,...some within shooting distance!  We have gotten closer than we would have liked, but the turkeys show no indication that they are aware of our presence.  We wait,...

Expecting some of these gobblers to fly down right in front of us, we are a bit surprised when they all fly down to a clearing about 80 yards away, just out of sight.  They are making a racket (turns out to be a combination of longbeards and jakes), and we begin to try to entice them towards us.  Unfortunately, they are oblivious to our calling and soon begin to wander off away from us.  We try various strategies, including repositioning and calling, but they eventually shut down and we lose them.  Bummer, but at least no other hunters have shown up on "our" birds. 

The rest of the day, we try to locate other birds that will respond to calling, but cannot get a peep out of a gobbler anywhere.  Under the conditions, we resort to setting up in the roost area before dark hoping to intercept a gobbler headed to the roost.  They come in from another direction and our ambush tactic is a bust.  Hopefully, tomorrow morning we will get them, as we plan to set up where they flew down this morning...   

[GobbleNut]

March 26th:  New plan on approaching the roost area.  We walk-in in the dark again and set up at clearing where gobblers had assembled the morning before, confident we are about to get us a couple of gobblers.  Turns out to be the same situation as the first morning.  Gobblers are in the trees right in front of us.  Don't know why, but instead of flying down to the clearing in easy range, they fly off to one side and assemble just out of range at about seventy yards, then start moving away again.  We can only assume they must have been suspicious about something.

Same results as the first morning.  They shut down completely and, try as we might, we cannot raise a gobbler the rest of the day,...pretty frustrating. 

Second evening, we again resort to ambush at the roost site, setting up in two separate locations hoping one of us will be in their path.  They have roosted in this same group of trees four days in a row, but on this evening, they do not show.  With all the activity in the area (us and other hunters wandering around and driving up and down the nearby road), it appears the turkeys have decided to relocate.  Bummer again....

[TauntoHawk]

On the roost those early season flocks are something to behold, on the ground they are a grizzly bear to tangle with. Hope a break in the weather comes your way and they fire up.



Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Tom007]

Keep at my brother, you will prevail! Good luck!

[GobbleNut]

March 27th (final morning of our hunt):  Since gobblers have not roosted in the regular location, we are at a loss as to what to do.  We know there are other gobblers nearby, but all are near other camps and we do not want to interfere with other hunters that are probably hunting them.  My hunting buddy decides to drive to a high point to listen at daylight.  I decide to just stay near camp, listen, and if I hear gobblers that I don't think other hunters are on, I will go to him/them.

At daybreak, I hear a gobbler sounding off a long way off in such a spot and head towards it.  By the time I get there, several gobblers are sounding off in various directions.  However, as was the case on the first two mornings, the gobblers flew off of the roost, shut down, and that was that.  I carefully moved through the area where I knew there were several gobblers but could not buy a response.

In summary, in an area where we knew there were a good number (actually lots) of gobblers, over three days we heard a total of six distant shots with many hunters in the area.  We talked to other hunters who all had the same story,...the gobblers were just not ready to play the game. 

Packed up and headed home.  Oh well,...maybe next year! 

Next hunt in a couple of weeks.  Hoping for more cooperative birds!   

[GobbleNut]

On the roost those early season flocks are something to behold, on the ground they are a grizzly bear to tangle with. Hope a break in the weather comes your way and they fire up.

Keep at my brother, you will prevail! Good luck!

I was afraid this hunt would be too early,...but was wishfully hoping for a better outcome.  Never saw a single bird exhibiting any breeding behavior the entire trip, and we observed a LOT of gobblers, hens, and jakes in separate flocks.  I actually could go back this weekend, and probably would if I was certain things might have changed.  It's just too far for this old boy to go on the chance that their attitude has changed in just a few days.  ...On to the next hunt...   

[GobbleNut]

April 12:  Leaving O-Dark-Thirty in the morning for the NM season opener on Saturday.  Gonna spend two days trying to find an isolated gobbler or two that might not get found by the hoards out on the Saturday opener this year.  Good luck to all teammates, as well as opponents and others, that might be out hunting in the four days I will be gone. 

...Will check in probably Sunday with a report....
Jim

[crow]

Safe trip old Pard and good success to you

[JeffC]

Safe travels Jim, looking forward to some awesome pictures and stories. I will keep an eye on your band of misfits while your gone.

[Happy]

Good luck Jim.

[GobbleNut]

First of all, thanks for all of the well-wishes from everybody. Unfortunately, they were apparently not enough to overcome my ineptitude in "securing" a gobbler on the following expedition...

April 13/14:  Scouting for Saturday opener proves successful in that gobblers are located in several spots where it was anticipated they would be.  Now, it's just a matter of choosing the right birds to go to Saturday morning that might not have the expected hoard of other hunters vying for their attention. 

After considerable deliberation over libations with my cohorts on Friday evening, we decide to "herd hunt" a location where I have heard several gobblers, some of which I know exactly where they have roosted, in the morning.  For those unfamiliar with the term "herd hunting", it refers to the unwise act of hunters deciding to hunt as a group rather than the much wiser approach of each hunter going to separate birds.  Hence, the act of herd hunting ensures some of the group (me) will be relegated to being the "caller" rather than the "shooter". 

To summarize, with five (yes, FIVE) of us hunting together, the only way yours truly would have a chance of actually shooting, there would have to be FIVE gobblers show up, and with the entire bunch being witless enough such that I would get a chance to shoot the last one after FOUR other hunters had killed one.  Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind being in that position.  I enjoy calling turkeys for other hunters, but again, in this particular case, it was not a wise choice,...as well as pretty much guaranteeing that I would not be pulling the trigger on this hunt. 

"It is what it is"...

[GobbleNut]

April 15th (opening day):  To preface, I HATE weekend openers here (season always starts on 4/15, regardless of the day it occurs on).  Weekend openers are guaranteed to be a circus (a three-ringer, no less).  Our choice to also hunt as a group just magnifies that circus aspect.

Nonetheless, we head for a distant location (thirty miles) from our camp/cabin two hour before first light.  I am also concerned that other hunters may also be headed for the area, and know full well that we might have competition.  Arriving at my predetermined parking spot along a forest road forty-five minutes before first light, I am relieved that nobody appears to be there, although we have passed numerous camps on our way in.

The "herd" gathers our stuff and heads toward one of the two roost sites I have located, about a twenty-minute walk to each.  I have decided we will hit one particular roost first, and then move to the other after those birds are on the ground.  As we move towards the first roost, we spot a vehicle parked far down the road within earshot of that roost.  Plans are altered and we head towards the second roost about a half mile up a big draw (a "holler" for you easterners).  We arrive just prior to "gobble-thirty".  I'm not exactly sure where the birds I have heard here the previous mornings are located, so we stop at a spot that I am sure we will be able to hear them,...and wait as the eastern horizon begins to brighten. 

Right on time, the first gobbles ring out two hundred yards up the ridge above us.  There are multiple gobblers here, and we quickly move up the slope towards them, getting as close as we dare, and set up in a spot I think the birds may come to after flying down.  It is a guess, but also the best we can do being unfamiliar with the terrain and habits of these birds, and with there being five "noise-makers" along for the ride.  I put our two designated shooters up front and three of us fall back as callers in different spots behind them.

The sky lightens more and more, and soon the gobblers and what sounds like a jake or two and some hens begin to confirm their survival through the night.  They are spread out a bit up the hill from us in scattered pines, roughly a hundred yards away.  I think to myself that I am glad we did not try to move closer, but I am also concerned that other hunters will hear these birds and come in from another direction. 

Based on that concern, I make the decision to start mingling vocally with the turkeys earlier and with more frequency than I normally would.  If there are other hunters "out there",...and I am occasionally hearing yelping that sounded out of place,...I want these turkeys to choose to come our way.  I join in as discreetly as I can with the turkey conversation, but at the same time letting it be known that this was a hen turkey wanting the flock to "come on down".  We start hearing turkey fly down, and soon hear gobbling that is clearly on the ground.  They are obviously gathering and having a debate on which way to head, and I keep encouraging them to choose our way. 

Soon, I hear the unmistakable sound of drumming,...and it seems to be getting more distinct!  I am pretty sure at least one gobbler is approaching and strain to catch a glimpse, but the brush is just thick enough up the slope that I can't see him.  Suddenly, from behind a line of brush fifty yards up the slope, a LOUD gobble rings out!  I expect a shot at any moment from one of our two shooters that are out in front of us,...but no shot comes, the drumming stops,...and silence.

Turns out, one of our shooters had seen three gobblers fly down and with one of them deciding to come check us out, but out of his shooting range .  This bird came to within forty yards of the second shooter, but he apparently moved just enough that the gobbler saw him and turned back.  The birds then faded away from us.

Later in the morning, we manage to get another "runner" gobbler interested in that he would respond to calling and would move away as we closed in on him,...a pretty typical trait of these pressured birds.  Late in the morning, we head back to the cabin, seeing hunters everywhere along our route.  The circus is in full swing, as expected. 

More on the afternoon hunt in a bit....