New Mexico (2 Birds Down!)

[GobbleNut]

The bird was taken in the upper canyon of Rio Ruidoso, only a couple miles from the cabin I'm staying at.  Gave it the old college try this morning, but the snow, cold temps, and lack of birds gobbling after 7:00 AM drove me back to the cabin.

Pretty assuredly a pure Merriams then.  How much snow did you get up there?  I'm headed up to the Capitan area on Monday.

Maybe an inch or so at around 7000'.  Above 7500' closer to three inches.

That's not too bad.  Is the wind still howling?

[JMalin]

Not at the moment.  Was up high this morning and it was actually calm (or very light wind).  Nothing that would bother a turkey I imagine (other than the fresh snow).

[JMalin]

New Mexico Merriam's.  No doubt now.  I do know there are some Rios working up this way from the hondo valley though, which is why I second guessed it initially.  Rough looking old bird.  Tumbling halfway down a mountain didn't help his appearance either.


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[JMalin]

Bird #2.  Story to follow after I get this bird processed, clean up the cabin, and get packed.






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[spaightlabs]

Nice job. Sure looks like a hybrid, or the darkest colored Merriams I've seen.

[GobbleNut]

Good work, man! You got 'er done! 

As for the hybridization question, both birds are most likely all Merriams.  Our birds have always had a tendency to have the buff feathers rather than the lighter coloration found in the birds further north.  It is interesting to note that those northern populations (Montana, Wyoming, etc.) that have much lighter coloration were introduced from birds translocated from some of these southern locations.  Population genetics can do some weird stuff when limited numbers of individual birds (often from the same "family groups") are moved around. 

[hobbes]

Congrats on bird number two and getting it done in what looks like some tough conditions.

[spaightlabs]

Good work, man! You got 'er done! 

As for the hybridization question, both birds are most likely all Merriams.  Our birds have always had a tendency to have the buff feathers rather than the lighter coloration found in the birds further north.  It is interesting to note that those northern populations (Montana, Wyoming, etc.) that have much lighter coloration were introduced from birds translocated from some of these southern locations.  Population genetics can do some weird stuff when limited numbers of individual birds (often from the same "family groups") are moved around.

Interesting - thanks for sharing that.

[JMalin]

Second bird had some good hooks too for a Merriam's.  Measurements and full recap of second hunt to come when I get on back to Texas. 




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[surehuntsalot]

congrats on the birds

[JMalin]

The story with the second bird (and the first for that matter) really started on Thursday.  The first bird gobbled his head off on the roost Thursday morning, but I decided to save him for later since he was so easily accessible from where I parked.  I went up to the highest point on a ridge where I heard heard and seen birds the previous year.  There were still birds in the area (I heard a gobble or two from at least two different birds and bumped a hen by herself midday Thursday), but for the most part they stayed quiet and would not respond to calls. 


Went back up Friday morning after unsuccessfully setting up on the first bird I ended up killing.  I setup on bird #1 first thing Friday morning since he was most easily accessible bird (literally a hundred yards from a parking area up the adjacent ridge to the south that I had scouted the previous day), but I ended up getting too close and he putted while still in his tree.  I backed off and called softly with a slate and he gobbled a few times, but he ended up flying down the mountain instead of where I thought he'd pitch down on the top that was about eye level to where he was roosted.

After screwing up on my first bird, I came back down and went up the next ridge to scout and hunt the same area that I had spent time at Thursday.  Once again, I heard a gobble to two, but could not get a bird to work, and the wind was blowing even harder.  Saw more promising sign however.  A gobble in a different area than the gobbles I had heard the previous day and tracks at a different location as well.  With the wind howling and rain and snow forecasted to be moving in Friday evening, I decided to setup on the "easy" bird I messed up on Friday since I knew the exact tree he was in and thought he would return since I had heard him there Thursday morning and obviously Friday.  I got in a couple of hours early just to let things settle down/get quiet (no calling, no decoys) and you know the rest from some of my earlier posts in this thread.

The snow that fell overnight Friday and for a good portion of Saturday kept me indoors for the most part.  I got up early and tried to roost some birds where I had been spending the majority of my time scouting, but the only gobbles I heard sounded like they were miles away.  I didn't spend much time out Saturday morning at all with the snow falling and no birds talking.  Later that afternoon, the weather broke, and once again, I went out looking for sign, listening for gobbles, and trying to roost a bird to hunt Sunday morning.  The fresh snow on the ground ended up being a blessing as I was able to find and follow a gobblers tracks onto a bench that dropped down from the highest point of the ridge I had been hunting and saw where he had been dragging his wings presumably strutting.  I did hear a couple of gobbles that evening when the birds were still on the ground and attempted calling as I had been the last few days with the same result (no answers).  I busted out the crow call at sundown, and still could not get a single bird to fire off from the roost.  But I had the tracks in the snow and knew where a bird had strutted just a few hours earlier, so that's where I was going to sit first thing Sunday morning. 



Sunday morning comes around and I almost don't get out of bed.  It was the first night of my trip that I really slept well and I didn't really want to get up to hunt these stubborn birds that wouldn't work for me.  But eventually I get up and get into position just before the birds flew down for the morning.  It was quiet again, which is not what I was expecting due to the clear skies and cold temps.  I figured this would be the morning the woods came to life on the bench I was setup on.  I hear one gobble probably a quarter mile away back behind me and much higher up on the next mountain after fly down.  About 10 minutes later, I hear a much closer gobble 200 yards or so out in front of me and below the bench I was on.  Another several minutes pass, and as I'm checking behind me, I catch movement out of the corner of my eye in front of me.  The black blob that appeared out of the corner of my eye ended up being a Tom strutting and coming right into where I was sitting.  He's leading the way with a hen trailing him.  I had my gun somewhat shouldered, but not that well, as I was caught a little off guard.  He closes the distance into shooting range standing at 1/2-3/4 strut looking through my soul as I'm still somewhat in limbo with my shotgun.  I keep waiting from him to turn back to look at the hen that was trailing.  While the hen is perfectly calm, he senses something isn't right and lets out an alarm put.  My heart is racing and my respiratory rate is probably north of 30.  As he breaks strut and turns back the other direction, I get my gun fully shouldered, get to where I think I'm on him and let the lead fly. 

He takes off running and I immediately pump another shell into the gun, run after him, and fire a second shot.  I don't know if the first or second shot ultimately did him in, but he ran for a few more yards after second shot was fired and ended up folding.  He did require some standing on the neck to finish him for good.  I was so pumped to get that second bird.  It all unfolded so quickly.  I had maybe been sitting for 20 minutes.  I thought I'd be there a couple of hours at least before the bird/birds passed through.



Now the measurements.

Bird #1 weighed in at 21 pounds, had spurs of 1 3/16 and 1 1/16, and had a 10 3/4 inch beard.

Bird #2 weighted in at 18.5 pounds, had spurs of 1 3/16 and 1 0/16 and had a 9 1/2 inch beard.

[dirtnap]

Nice.

[tha bugman]

Check out those HOOKS!!!  Congrats!

[Gooserbat]

Also, I know Sam (Gooserbat) and Kyle (VATurkeyStomper) are up there hunting, as well.  It will be interesting to hear their reports.  Hitting the kind of weather we have had the last week up there really complicates things.

I will stress that I killed two birds and was very happy with the Jake.  First one I've taken in years.  Got lucky and filled my last tag literally the last hour. The birds were very hened up but vocal on the roost.

I had a great time and left with full intentions of returning. 

[GobbleNut]

Good to hear, Sam.  Glad you had a good hunt.  Kyle also got a good bird while here, as well.
Jim