Mexico Royal Slam 2 nice Goulds Pics!!!!

[woodshopteacher]

I completed a 5 year royal slam in the Mountains of Mexico near the small morman community of Colonia Pacheco in the state of Chihuahua. I booked the hunt with El Corral Hunting Guide Services out of Arkansas. It is run by a friendly gentleman named Mike Murray. Mike was excellent to work with. He answered all my questions, was easy to get ahold of, and was completely honest. Just an fyi if anyone on here decides to call mike for a hunt be ready to be shocked how much he sounds like Jeff Foxworthy lol. My guides for the hunt would be the 2 men that own the ranch in mexico, Jorge and Murice a father and son team. Thier mother/wife is the camp cook. The food was excellent, im not big into spicy food and she made everything special for me. I hear her mexican food is great tho. I flew into el paso and was picked up by Jorge. We drove into New Mexico and crossed into mexico with no problems.Jorge and Murice both speak perfect english so that made the trip a little easier. The mountains near their ranch were beautiful. After getting settled into camp i was asked if i wanted to see the ranch and hunt the afternoon. I said sure. The ranch was amazing and held lots of wildlife. After taking some photos jorge dropped me off near a road that turkeys were strutting on before roosting. I have a set of avian x merriam jake and hen decoys so i put them out and got tucked into some brush along a tree.  It was still early about 530pm so i just sat taken in the new scenery. About 15 minutes past, a i heard a gobble far off. He would sound off a ton as he got closer, but then he started working away. I decided to call very softly and was able to get him to come back. Once he saw the decoys he ran down the hillside and started to strut all around my jake. I shot him at 20yards with a mossberg 835 that was provided for the hunt. He had a 10" beard, was 20 lbs, his one spur was broken pretty good and the other was rubbed down to about 3/4". They area is full of rocks so i wasnt expecting any super spurs. Goulds can be heavy birds but this hunt was late and the season and i think they were a little skinny from chasing the ladies. This bird was taken under 25 minutes of hunting. He is the one pictured on the rock. I hadnt really planned to take a second bird but the next day i decided why not. I didnt hunt the next morning due to some jet lag. During the day i took more photos and checked more of the ranch out. I even found a scorpion under some rocks, thats something you dont find in ohio lol. That afternoon we went out to check some cattle and see the cliff dropping off into the river. The view of the river was great. While checking on cattle at an old homestead site in the pouring down thunderstorm i heard a gobble. I grabbed my stuff and we were off to the races. Jorge's father Murice thought he knew where the birds would be heading. He had seen them in an area in the afternoon nearby. We raced there and I hurried to get my decoys out. I called a couple times with no answers. All of the sudden i saw birds, 2 nice toms with hens. The toms came right to the jake decoy again. I shot the bigger of the 2. He had a 10 1/2" beard, was 20lbs also, and had about 7/8" spurs.This turkey is pictured with myself, jorge, and murice. I had been sitting less than 5 minutes. It was crazy how fast it happened. The gould turkeys are beautiful birds with snow white feathers and long legs. The tail fans are huge and i swear there heads are a much brighter red. The next day i took more pictures before we headed into town in the valley below the mountains. Jorge and his family live in a little town call Colonia Juarez. It is a morman town with many of its residents speaking english. The houses and the school and local temple were very neat. The area is surrounded by peach and apple orchards. Jorge took me to see local indian ruins that dated back to the 1400's. We also went into Casa Grandes to eat some famous mexican bacon wrapped hot dogs from a local sidewalk eatery. They were great and it was nice to see all the culture. Jorge and his family were great host. The following day he took me to el paso to catch my flight home. Jorge had all the tags and paperwork ready and crossing the boarder into new mexico was really easy. This trip was awesome, a dream come true. El Corral Hunting Services was a great choice.

[woodshopteacher]

turkey number 2

[woodshopteacher]

cabin that we stayed in. Had a nice kitchen and a nice bathroom with hot water and a tub/shower.
Lovett williams had stayed in this cabin before.

[woodshopteacher]

The landscape was beautiful. Aldo Leopold had been on this ranch and wrote about the river that goes thur the ranch.

[woodshopteacher]

The best part of traveling to hunt turkeys is the new terrain.

[woodshopteacher]

Hen goulds are so big. They look bigger than the old eastern gobblers here in ohio.

[woodshopteacher]

If you like chasing Merriams in the states in places like the black hills you would love chasing Goulds in these hills.

[woodshopteacher]

Rocks were everywhere. I found the scorpion under a red rock like these. Its easy to see why the goulds had rubbed there spurs down.

[hunter22]

Awesome. I gotta do that.

[BowBendr]

That sounds like an awesome trip, Congrats !


Sent by this stupid phone

[WiLL B]

Congrats on an awesome hunt!!

[mgm1955]

Sounds fantastic!! Congrats!!

[woodshopteacher]

Thanks. It was a great trip. Can't wait to get the birds back from the taxidermist. Lol. Going to mexico next spring to complete the world slam next.

[jepcho]

Nice! Love the pictures, looks like a really fun time!! You got me thinking about doing it. Congrats to you!

[GSLAM95]

Congrats on the Gould's and yes it is beautiful country.  Hunted Yecora, Sonora and the scenery is very similar.  Good luck next year on the Ocellated.  Are you going with yukkutz hunting for your Ocellated?