Off Season Topic #2: What's It Worth To You?

[Old Gobbler]

Im too busy hunting birds within a days drive of florida... but one day when I retire.....I'd like to travel a bit see the country and hunt at a relaxed pace , new mexico would be cool

Shannon

[GobbleNut]

Thanks for getting things back on track, Shannon!  Hopefully, it will stay that way!
Jim

[Yoder409]

Im too busy hunting birds within a days drive of florida... but one day when I retire.....I'd like to travel a bit see the country and hunt at a relaxed pace , new mexico would be cool

Shannon

I always told my Mrs, the year I retire, I'll be in Florida the first of March and I'll hunt my way home.

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

My experience with my Gould's trip was similar to Yoder's, except I went to Durango. Not to brag, but merely share my experience-

I have been hunting turkeys for 41 seasons and have killed quite a few. Passed my lifetime goal 15 seasons ago. Living in Georgia and killing  Easterns has gotten stale.  I enjoy traveling to new places every Spring and killing birds in unique, beautiful places. I never intend to kill the US Slam, but I did want to check off all the subspecies. Only the Ocellated remains and I am still kicking that trip around.

My Gould's hunt remains to this day the best Turkey hunting adventure of my life. From the humble , kind people, the incredibly beautiful country, the high altitude hunting  ( we were at a ranch that was at 6500 feet elevation), the food and hospitality of our host family were all first class from start to finish.  I want to go and kill more of them and hope to over the next few years. A Gould's hunt was worth much more to me in the size and scope of the experience than the money it took to get there.  I am looking at my Gould's as I type this and it brings back great memories.

Not many places in the world you can sit atop a mountain next to a beautiful White tipped Gobbler like the Gould's and see a vista of 70 miles - of nothingness. No cities or skyscrapers to impede the view.  The Gould's turkeys are quite something to hold and examine. They are in fact, the largest of the 5 subspecies.  Many things separate them from Merriams, including a larger skeletal structure, huge feet and long legs  ( suited for the habitat) Loud Gobbling and fantastic pure white tail and covert feathers. The Fans are huge. The "eyelashes" on a Gould's fan are another characteristic of the Gould's.  The Gould's is vividly more colored than the Merriams as well. Lots of green/ gold reflective coloration. Beautiful indeed.

A hunt in the Sierr@  Madres was physically challenging. It is rugged terrain and the birds can cover ground much faster than a human.

One of my companions on the trip died a year or so after we went and I miss him very much.  Some folks here have no clue what they are missing and that is just fine..

It's not for everyone. I do without some extras every year to save and scrimp for Spring. I love traveling to kill someone else's Gobblers.

Someday, if we are luck enough to live to old age, memories will be all we have. I hope all of you make a bunch of great ones. My Gould's trip falls in that category.

EXCELLENT post !!!!

The experience of hunting turkeys where an in-shape guy has to catch his O2 (we were between 8000-9000 ft) in places you wonder if you'll ever see your family again...................  Wyoming was big.  Chihuahua was BIIIIIIIIIIIG !!!!!!!

My avatar pic is of my 2nd Gould's bird.  I carried this bird out +/- 4 miles to the truck from where I shot him.  The first 1/2 mile was a climb of roughly 1000 ft of elevation.

Nitro and Yoder's posts do a great job of capturing the aspects that would appeal to me.  The wildness of the country, and the opportunity to hunt some very different and challenging terrain.  There are places I've hunted in the Gila Wilderness that look very similar to the pictures I've seen from the Sierr@  Madre Gould's hunts. That may be the closest I ever get. Right now I have other places to hunt that are higher on my list and wouldn't cost nearly as much.  I'd like to go back to Florida on public land, hunt the South Carolina lowlands, and the North Georgia mountains, and expect to spend much of my retirement hunting across New England.

[nitro]

RV,

You get over this way, and I can take care of your SC and N GA hunts... we still have a few birds over here...

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

RV,

You get over this way, and I can take care of your SC and N GA hunts... we still have a few birds over here...

A very generous offer nitro;  I will do my best and would be honored to join you. 

[nitro]

Come on. Late season SC Low Country hunt and early May for Mountains of GA.. get your body confused - heat / humidity in SC , elevation and tough walking in the hills ..

[wvmntnhick]

How much would it cost to get some eggs and incubate them? That's probably still more than I'm willing to put into the whole venture. Hard enough to find the time to chase easterns sometimes. Taking time to fly to Mexico and get skunked just doesn't appeal to me. Love to try merriams and osceolas but again, it requires going farther than I'm willing to go at this precise moment. Therefore, putting a price on it, I'd say about the cost of a wooden nickel.


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[Tail Feathers]

I've long considered the trip to Mexico but that money could be spent on other things for my family.  I think spending that much on a turkey hunt would surpass my guilt threshold.  Maybe...

[nitro]

My program is generally this look at the monthly budget and try to find $100- $200 a month that I spend on dining out, movies, or other " discretionary" expenses.  Can also mean "vice" expenses like booze or tobacco...

Take that money and put it in my travel hunt fund. After 3-4 years, An out of state or even out of the Country money is available. It's all about sacrifice for me. You get one chance .. prioritize and make your goal a reality.

I promise you all on the fence. it's worth the trip.

[dirtnap]

A gobbling turkey is all I require.  Slams or number of states mean nothing to me.

This.

[m2benelli]

Great question - "what's it worth?"   Over a decade and a half ago when I first began considering a  Gould's hunt - not worth much since more concerned about safety and cost.  However time has a way of changing perspective for when the light gets narrower at the end of the tunnel and acquaintances begin to have physical limitations or serious illness, the "cost" of not going eventually is outweighed by the "need" to go.  And so in 2018 went and had a wonderful experience.  Wonder why waited so long but then again ,for me , the water under the bridge has always been so much clearer than it is above the bridge