GobbleNut Hunt Log 2025

[Tom007]

Way to go Jim! Nice job...congrats

[GobbleNut]

Monday, April 14th
Heading out this afternoon with a couple of buddies for the NM opener starting tomorrow.  Expecting a major "cluster" for the next couple of days...but hey, gotta get out there anyway!    Should be a three-ringer!  ...Will report back on Wednesday...assuming I survive...   

Good luck to all who may be out there, as well.  Stay safe...shoot straight...    

[YoungGobbler]

Good luck Jim! Already eager to read your hunt resume! 

[GobbleNut]

Tuesday April 15th:
After arriving late Monday at the location I had chosen for us to hunt, we were disappointed to find the trio of gobblers I had seen a few days prior were nowhere to be found, and the only gobblers we heard were in a very difficult location to get to behind private ground. After discussion, the three of us decided to move to another spot about an hour away...which took us well past roosting time after dark.

Sooo,...we got up an hour before daylight opening morning resigned with having to go in "blind" without any gobblers located. On the positive side, there was nobody else in the area, which really surprised me. Having hunted here numerous times before, I was certain we would hear gobblers...just possibly not on the public stuff we could hunt.

We were camped in a location on a ridge that afforded hearing into two vast drainages and as the skies began to lighten well before sunrise, we listened intently for distant gobbling. As anticipated, the first gobble rang out from well into the off-limits big private holding...then another...and another. On the public side...nothing. 

We gathered our gear and moved in the direction of the closest birds, which were several hundred yards into the private ground. I knew it would be "iffy" for these gobblers to come to investigate, but with no other options, we moved towards them and waited for good daylight and fly-down. We hit them with an assortment of long-distance calling, but as expected, it proved to be futile and after convincing ourselves none of the birds we could hear were moving our way, we made a plan to "walk and talk" along a ridge that ran for a couple of miles to the north.

We worked the ridge out to the end and back again and, although there was evidence that turkeys were around somewhere, we could not raise a gobble. Mid-morning we regrouped at camp, made breakfast, and discussed strategy. I was pretty certain that at least a couple of the gobblers we had heard on the private stuff were close enough to hear our early calling and I suggested we work back through that area to see if anything had moved closer to the property line.

A little before noon, we started back down that way. We had gotten only a couple of hundred yards from camp along the property boundary and I stopped and called. Gobbles rang out immediately three hundred yards into the private. Another series of yelps a couple of minutes later brought multiple gobbles that were definitely closer! We might be in business and there were at least two birds on the way!

We quickly backed up from the fence to look for set-ups. My compadres ducked into the shade of a couple of close-by cedar trees, as did I. Sitting down, I was concerned that I could not see much of the area down the slope towards where the gobblers would most likely approach and thought to myself "I should really take a standing position for this".  The decision not to do so would soon come back to haunt us. 

The gobblers were making a bee-line towards us and I thought that, assuming they would come across the fence-line, this was looking like a done deal. Expecting them to show on the slope below us at any second, I was kind-of surprised that they suddenly stopped advancing about a hundred yards away and still out of sight. Calling sporadically every few minutes, they would gobble but were hung up.

Playing the "silent treatment" game is not my forte, but after a bit, it was apparent that something besides what we were doing was needed, so we just shut-up. We waited...and waited...and waited. No gobblers approaching...at least not where me and one of my friends were sitting.

After a while, I was giving up on the gobblers showing so I called again to see if they would answer.  Nothing. We waited. I called again. Nothing. In my mind, the gobblers had faded back away and were gone. The two of us to the right side looked at each other and started gathering our gear to move on.  Our buddy to the left, who was just out of sight from us, finally got up and walked over to us.

As it turned out, what we on the right side could not see is that three mature gobblers had come up the slope just out of sight from us, had crossed the fence, and circled around above us...all the time being completely silent. They had come and gone without the two of us knowing they were anywhere around. Our "left-side" buddy had not taken the gimmee shot they had offered him, thinking that the other two of us were aware they were close and we might be able to also get shots, as well. (Back to my point about thinking I should have taken a standing position...I would have seen them coming and the outcome would likely have been totally different).

We worked the area a while longer without raising another response and eventually returned to camp for an afternoon break. We basically wimped out on hunting anymore in the afternoon. Right before dark, we each went separate ways to try to roost gobblers. As luck would have it, at least two gobblers roosted on the public side on a ridge not far from our camp in a spot I knew quite well from past hunts here.

A plan was made for the next morning...

[GobbleNut]

Wednesday April 16th
An hour before daylight, we work our way down the ridge the gobblers are roosted on. They are out on a point where the ridge drops off into a big canyon and I am thinking I can get us pretty close to them under the cover of darkness and so we move out to the point and wait for that first gobble. When it comes, I am surprised that it sounds much further away than I had anticipated...and my first thought is that this is another gobbler and not the ones on the point...so again we wait.

Over the next five minutes, that gobbler continues to gobble, all the time with me thinking he will set off closer ones...but after several minutes, there is nothing closer and I wave to my buddies to follow me.  They are confused as to why as they had not heard the gobbles at all (such is one of the downfalls of the aging process for us old guys, but fortunately, I still hear gobbling turkeys pretty darn well!) 

We move down the slope towards the gobbler, which I am thinking is a couple of hundred yards away. It is getting light enough now that I am concerned he might pick off three human figures moving towards him and decide to stop short at a point where we have decent visibility in the direction of the gobbler. A trio of large pines close together offer the perfect set-up...and we sit.

The tom continues to gobble as full light approaches...and with no other gobblers joining in from anywhere else. This is confusing in that I know we had heard at least one other gobbler the previous evening. Oh well.  We are hearing no other turkeys, including hens at the time I would have expected them, and it is getting near fly-down. I decide to let him know we are there and give him a series of soft clucks and yelps. He responds immediately. Again, we wait.

He gobbles a few more times...and then, nothing. It is time for turkeys to be getting on the ground so I give him the fly-down wing-beat trick. Silence.  I add a few more soft clucks and yelps over the next few minutes with no responses. I have been the only one calling up to this point so I whisper to my buddies to add a couple more hen voices to the mix. They are just starting to get ready to call when suddenly, just out of sight below us, multiple gobbles ring out!  I immediately say "get your guns up and ready, there are at least two of them, and they are coming". 

We watch intently for these gobblers to show up below us...and wait again. I decide to give them another soft series of yelps and they immediately gobble back but have moved to our left just out of sight below a slight roll in the slope. The shooters adjust to the gobbles, thinking they are going to appear in range at any second...but they do not. 

I offer another series of soft clucks and yelps...and again they respond, but have moved further up the slope, now perpendicular to us on the same level, forty yards away, but still just out of sight.  They are circling to approach from above! There is a slight rise above us and I realize I can stand up behind my pine out of their sight...so I do so. One of my cohorts sees me get up and does the same, moving up to the tree I am at, as well. I tell him to get his gun up and be ready if the gobblers pop out.

Again I call, and the gobblers answer just out of our sight. My buddy is ready and then, suddenly, one of the gobblers clears the brush, offering a clear shooting lane. The shot rings out almost instantly.   I quickly head up the slope ("quickly" being relative to our age group) as one gobbler flies off down the slope to the right. I clear the first line of brush and see another gobbler running off to the left out of gun range.

I am thinking "oh no, he missed"...but continue walking up the slope towards where the gobbler had been at the shot...and there, laying right where he should be, was a motionless gobbler. My buddy had got him after all! At thirty yards, I shouldn't have doubted it for a second.

The gobbler was a nice, mature two-year-old...just what we figured with three gobblers running together without hens. We also concluded that these were the same three gobblers we had encountered the day before that had given us the slip in that they behaved exactly the same way. At any rate, it was a great way to end this short, day-and-a-half hunting excursion. One gobbler was good enough for this trip.

After the obligatory pictures, video, and hunt re-hashing, we headed back to camp for coffee, a quick breakfast...and then loaded up and headed out for the two-hour drive back to our houses. With a month-long season ahead of us, there is no need to rush things!

 
The Three (Old) Amigo's Huntin' Team    

[eggshell]

congrats guys

[crow]

Congrats Jim and friends,

Great write up Jim, you would be a good story teller around a campfire

[YoungGobbler]

Nice job Jim! Your turkeys look very nice with the white/beige line they have on the tail feathers. Hope you have a great season with your friends!

[GobbleNut]

Sunday, April 20th

One of my buddies and I decide on a short, overnight trip to one of my "secondary" locations...a spot I found and hunted briefly in 2024. We arrive a couple of hours before sundown in an effort to possibly roost a gobbler or two.  Luckily, I hear gobblers in three distant locations...but unluckily, they are far enough away that I can't pinpoint them, for sure, and very probably will be very difficult to get to.

I am not at all confident about what may transpire the next morning, but at least we know where there are some gobblers...if we can just get to them.

[GobbleNut]

Monday, April 21st

As usual, we are up well before first light. Over coffee, we discuss strategy and decide to head for the  one gobbler that we MIGHT be able to get to as this area has pockets of VERY thick, impenetrable brush...and we are also VERY unfamiliar with getting around in the area.

At daybreak, we are listening for gobbling as close to where I think I heard this gobbler the evening before...and sure enough, he obliges by lighting up right on time. Unfortunately, he is three hundred yards away and right in the middle of one of the worst thickets. In short, there is no way for us to get on him as far as we can tell. We walk the perimeter of the thicket trying to find a way into where he is roosted, but without a machete to chop our way through, we are out of luck.

We have worked our way around the thicket, away from where we had started out, when another gobbler sounds off...right from where we had been standing!  We turn and head back that way, but we have to walk across an open area to get there...and when we do, this gobbler goes silent, making us assume he has seen our approach. We never hear him again. 

By now, it is fly-down time, so I call to see if the gobbler in the thicket will respond. He immediately gobbles back, making us think there may be some hope that he may come towards us. He does not. For the next half hour, we look for a way into where he is at...me calling every once in a while, and him answering right back...but always from the same spot. We have to find a way to get closer.

Again, we start walking the perimeter of the thicket, looking for a way into it. Eventually, we find a route, but it is further away from the gobbler and after meandering around, we realize this track will not get us to where we need to be...so we backtrack to the original location. Walking the opposite direction, we finally see an opening in the brush-line that looks like we might be able to make some progress towards the gobbler...which is still answering my calling from the same spot.

We weave our way through the brush but it takes a while...and eventually we make our way into the area where we thought the gobbler had been roosted. By now, he has apparently flown down and has shut up, so we weren't certain exactly where he had been. However, in the sandy soil, we found fresh tracks...of a gobbler and what looked like several hens.

We headed in the direction the tracks led...and eventually he gobbled not all that far in front of us.  We set up, thinking he might come back to take a look, but our optimism proved to be unfounded as he did not. Although he responded to calling and we used all the tactics we could think of to break him, he eventually moved off...probably following his hens. There was no way for us to relocate to get in front or find a better calling position due to the brush...and eventually we lost contact altogether.

We spent the rest of the morning trying to sort out how to get around in the area for future efforts, calling along the way but never getting another response. Late morning, we bagged it and headed home. 
...We will be back at some point...and if the gobbler roosts in the same thicket, we now know how to get in there with him...although I might need to bring the machete next time...   

[GobbleNut]

Thursday, April 24th

Headed out this afternoon for my first "serious" NM hunt. Will be gone for a few days this time. The weather is questionable...supposed to have a couple of days of high winds over the weekend and the possibility of some precipitation...but I/we (five of us in camp this time) should have a good chance of success. I will hopefully have some positive reports when all is said and done.

As always, best of luck to all those OG members who are out there after 'em!     

[JeffC]

Wishing you and your buddies a Safe and Successful hunt Jim!! 

[GobbleNut]

Thursday, April 24th (continued)

Arrive at same location hunted with buddies earlier in the season in late afternoon. My intention is to check out an area we had found lots of sign in on the previous outing about a mile in. I immediately find fresh strut marks close to where I have parked and think..."This is going to be easy. I'll probably kill a gobbler this afternoon before dark". ...Not to be.

Walking along toward the area where we had found the abundant sign a week earlier, I am surprised that any new sign there has petered out. The turkeys have moved, it appears, and the fresh sign I found next to the truck is most likely where. I head back as "roost-thirty" approaches...hoping to locate a gobbler at dark. ...Also not to be...which also surprises me that I don't hear a single gobble.

I "hit the sack" in my truck that night hoping that I will hear the gobblers that were making the nearby strut marks in the morning. 

[GobbleNut]

Friday, April 26th

At first light, I am out listening for gobbling at the truck. If there are any gobblers nearby, I should be able to hear them from this spot as I am parked on a high ridge with deep canyons on both sides. Luckily, the morning is calm and gobbling can be heard easily a mile or more away from here. As always, though, half of my "hearing area" is on private land...and as is often the case, the first (and only) gobbling I eventually hear is coming from well inside the private boundary. I head towards the fence-line with hopes of pulling one of the two or three gobblers I can hear towards my location. Again, not to be.

This will be a quick hunt as I will be moving on to another location to meet up with several buddies and after ascertaining that none of the gobblers are headed my way, I head back to the truck to hit the road.  Unfortunately, "the road" I choose to take out of this spot is a rough SOB and I end up having the pleasure of changing a tire on my truck half-way out of the area. ...Bummer.

After a detour to get the tire fixed, I head to the required check-in location for the hunt and then on to our (five or us) chosen camp location. As the "evening roost" approaches, we all split up to head out to try to locate gobblers for the next morning. I have a specific spot in mind, and as luck would have it, I locate a likely candidate roosting on a ridge about half a mile from the road. I formulate my plan for the next morning...and returning to camp, I find that the others have found gobblers as well. After the evening strategy session, we all go to bed optimistic about the next morning's possibilities.

[GobbleNut]

Saturday, April 26th

This is opening morning for this "special opportunity" hunt and I am optimistic as I leave camp an hour before first light. I park at the base of the ridge "my" gobbler is on, gather my gear, and head up towards where I think he is at. Thirty minutes later, I am standing high on the ridge catching my breath...and waiting for him to greet the morning.

When the first gobble rings out, I move towards him further up the ridge. A few minutes later, I am close and choose a set-up above him about a hundred yards up-slope and with a screen of pine trees between his roost and my location. After settling in, I wait as he continues to gobble...and soon another gobbler starts up down the ridge in the direction I had come up...and at least one more bird lights up further up the ridge just at the edge of earshot. Things are looking good for the morning.

As the sky lightens, I begin to hear hens tree-calling near the gobbler...a situation that could complicate matters a bit. Nevertheless, I decide to join in...and offer up a few soft clucks and yelps to let the gobbler know there is a new girl in town. He gobbles right back. Again, I wait.

The gobbling increases from all directions for a while...and as fly-down arrives, I can tell that the distant gobbler down the ridge has flown down and started up towards the birds below me. This is a good sign as I am thinking the more gobblers that are near, the better the odds that one will come up to take a look.  I give the old wing-beat fly-down and then a series of "I'm-on-the-ground-now hen yelps". Both gobblers respond...and with the down-ridge gobbler closing the distance steadily.

Soon, it sounds like all of them...gobblers and hens...are on the ground just out of sight below me. Every couple of minutes, I yelp softly, adding occasional on-the-ground wing beats to imitate a hen stretching her wings after a night of sitting on a tree limb. Gobbling from below indicates that they seem to like it.

I cautiously scan the slope below, hoping to see a full fan strutting into sight at any moment...and suddenly, to my left, one appears! This gobbler has sort-of caught me off-guard in that I was not expecting one to appear where he came from, but fortunately, he is headed up-slope and will strut behind a couple of big pines that will allow me to move my gun into position. When he appears again at  eighteen yards, I am on him and pull the trigger.

Head shot, he starts flopping...and the slope is steep enough that he quickly flops out of sight below me as I struggle to get my old legs under me and start the pursuit after him. His floppage is faster than my stumbling after him and I am cursing as he manages to flop a couple of hundred yards down-slope...a slope I really don't want to have to climb back up...before I can corral him.  Also, in the chase, he has flopped...and I have stumbled...right through the middle of the rest of the turkeys, most likely scaring the bejesus out of them and making future attempts at another gobbler here that much harder.

Nonetheless, I final capture him, throw him over my shoulder, and start the steep trudge back up the mountain to where my backpack and gear lay. Eventually, I do make it back without "succumbing" myself, and after catching my breath, I sit and admire another magnificent mountain Merriam's gobbler. Once again, I have been blessed to be here and do this one more time.

One more tag left to go on this hunt...more to come...

Here he is, although looking pretty ragged after loosing a significant number of his feathers in his "post-shot" journey down the mountainside...and me in "recovery pose"