First Rio hunt - Oklahoma - Tagged out!

[chefrific]

Got back from one of the most spectacular hunts in my life.  Hunting my first Rio Grande's on a private owned 5000 acre ranch in southwest Oklahoma.  All of this secretly setup as a surprise anniversary gift from my awesome wife!
Hunting The Rio Grande turkey is a "Grande" experience to say the least.  Very different than the old swamp eastern gobblers in my home state of Georgia. 
Gentlemen, Rio's wear Reeboks is my new saying.  These birds can move!  I've never ran my fat old self around so much in my life.  I must have heard 75 birds gobbling on the roost each morning and when they hit they hit the ground they definitely had an agenda.  Also, approaching these birds in open country is hard work.  Finding draws and washes to dip into was a frequently used tactic.  And boy do these birds like to hear themselves gobble.
Day one, I got off a plane in Dallas and was picked up by the caretaker of the Oklahoma property, a high school classmate of mine I haven't seen in 20 years.
After a 4 hour drive we quickly got our gear and went to a spot to possibly see some birds and possibly roost some for the next morning.  Well, within 45 minutes I had my first rio on the ground! Unbelievable!  Was sitting next to a broken up bale of hay that the rancher had been seeing birds pick around in almost every day. Birds came in silent and it was one and done!  Day 2 was full of gobblers but not a shot opportunity.  Afternoon of day 3 was nuts.  Got in between two groups of gobblers and jakes in a draw and cut hard and they went nuts!  Both groups were on their way and one came running in full sprint to my calling.  Had to cut again to stop him and boom! Bird two down and both tags filled!  Spent Saturday just listening and helping my buddy do some work around the ranch.  Hunt of a lifetime!

Bird 1 45min into day one!



Bird 1



Bird 2 day 3



Bird 2



Bird 2 walking out



A Rio super jake putting on a show.



Horned Toad!



What a property to hunt Rios on!



A Good spot!



Love me some Oklahoma!

[aaron.haverfield@gmail.co]

Congratulations, glad to see you had a great trip. Sounds like you got a keeper of a better half. I was planning on heading out there this past weekend, but wasn't sure how the birds were, but it sounds like I made a poor choice by staying in Illinois.

[rbreedi1]

Awesome trip for sure! thanks for sharing

[Kwgoke]

Congrats! I definitely miss hunting those Oklahoma Rios! You hit the nail on the head when you said they love to hear themselves gobble!

[Gooserbat]

Well done, and great pics.

[born2hunt]

Sounds like an awesome hunt.

I can tell you were pumped by the smile on your face...

[taylorjones20]

Awesome!  I hope to hunt for a Rio someday.

[davisd9]

You have a great smile! Congratulations!


Sent from the Strut Zone

[mgm1955]

You have a great smile! Congratulations!


Sent from the Strut Zone

Congrats.

[Haypatch]

Looks like a awesome time! Congrats

[renegade19]

 

[cramerhunts]

Very cool, looks and sounds like a great trip. Congratulations on your success.

[Dr Juice]

Congrats Sir; and your resemblance to an emoji is absolutely stunning.

[Txag12]

Very nice. That is some good country to hunt. Were you in the Altus area? Lots of guys call rios easy...but like you said they provide their own set of challenges due to terrain and range. Great trip you had!

[762hunter]

Looks like a great trip!
Congrats on a couple nice birds.


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