Post by GilaMonster® on Jul 24, 2003 3:23:17 GMT -5
I finally got a good Rio this last spring. Took him in Val Verde County, Texas. I hunted that lease for deer this last season as a guest of a good friend. I was able to get on the lease for myself prior to Spring Turkey season. This was my second attempt to harvest a mountable longbeard Rio. The first attempt is worthy of another story later.
I drove down to the lease from my home in SW New mexico the afternoon prior to the season opener. (8 hour drive) I arrived fairly late that night. Too late to roost any birds. My brother-in-law was also with me. We were to meet my friend there and hoped he had some idea where some birds were roosted. We beat my friend to the hunting camp because he had to take care of some important business that evening. He made it before morning though and he had an idea where we should start.
We drove the pick-up close to the area he had suggested and we started walking down a ridge towards the area he had suggested. It was already starting to break day as we closed the distance to the supposed roost area. When we got a ways down the ridge, we heard a gobble, followed by another gobble of another bird. The two gobbles came from different trees from what we could tell.
We continued until I found a place to set up on the birds. Within just a minute or so, I had several gobblers gobbling in several directions. Man, it was exciting! All this time I was using tree yelps (really soft). The birds were still in the roost after the sun came up. I always like to let a gobbler come off in his own sweet time, so I waited and then tried to coax one off the roost again. They all still remained on their roosts. I'm used to hunting Merriams, where they usually leave the roost as soon as there is enough light to see the ground. Not these boys! Finally, I took my cap off and flopped it on my leg to create the sound of the hen leaving the roost (the best I could duplicate the sound), and gave a couple of putts, followed by a few yelps. That did the trick! Off the roost they came, but when they hit the ground, they stayed quiet. They didn't answer my call. At that point, I felt I might have gotten carried away and figured I had called too much, so I chose to remain quiet for a little while. I was hoping this might get one's interest and he might come looking for the old hen. I decided not to make a sound for a few minutes unless I heard one gobble. I waited for what seemed like forever and finally one gobbled. I answered him with just a few soft yelps and he immediately gobbled again, but I could tell there were at least two gobbling at the same time when he gobbled that time. Again, I waited before calling again. Then one gobbled again, and I couldn't restrain myself. I yelped back to him and man, he immediately gobbled again. He was comming in! I waited for a short time and yelped again and he responded once more, but this time he was close, so I just waited. Within just a short time, he gobbled again and I answered him and he came right into view. There were two of them, but one was much larger than the other. I shot the bigger one and didn't shoot the other, even though I had four tags. he was a good gobbler with a 10 1/8 inch beard and spurrs nearly an inch long. I shot only the one, and my friend got one the next morning and then I had to return home at noon on the second day.
I'm having him mounted lifesize in "Full Strutt"
Here he is!
I drove down to the lease from my home in SW New mexico the afternoon prior to the season opener. (8 hour drive) I arrived fairly late that night. Too late to roost any birds. My brother-in-law was also with me. We were to meet my friend there and hoped he had some idea where some birds were roosted. We beat my friend to the hunting camp because he had to take care of some important business that evening. He made it before morning though and he had an idea where we should start.
We drove the pick-up close to the area he had suggested and we started walking down a ridge towards the area he had suggested. It was already starting to break day as we closed the distance to the supposed roost area. When we got a ways down the ridge, we heard a gobble, followed by another gobble of another bird. The two gobbles came from different trees from what we could tell.
We continued until I found a place to set up on the birds. Within just a minute or so, I had several gobblers gobbling in several directions. Man, it was exciting! All this time I was using tree yelps (really soft). The birds were still in the roost after the sun came up. I always like to let a gobbler come off in his own sweet time, so I waited and then tried to coax one off the roost again. They all still remained on their roosts. I'm used to hunting Merriams, where they usually leave the roost as soon as there is enough light to see the ground. Not these boys! Finally, I took my cap off and flopped it on my leg to create the sound of the hen leaving the roost (the best I could duplicate the sound), and gave a couple of putts, followed by a few yelps. That did the trick! Off the roost they came, but when they hit the ground, they stayed quiet. They didn't answer my call. At that point, I felt I might have gotten carried away and figured I had called too much, so I chose to remain quiet for a little while. I was hoping this might get one's interest and he might come looking for the old hen. I decided not to make a sound for a few minutes unless I heard one gobble. I waited for what seemed like forever and finally one gobbled. I answered him with just a few soft yelps and he immediately gobbled again, but I could tell there were at least two gobbling at the same time when he gobbled that time. Again, I waited before calling again. Then one gobbled again, and I couldn't restrain myself. I yelped back to him and man, he immediately gobbled again. He was comming in! I waited for a short time and yelped again and he responded once more, but this time he was close, so I just waited. Within just a short time, he gobbled again and I answered him and he came right into view. There were two of them, but one was much larger than the other. I shot the bigger one and didn't shoot the other, even though I had four tags. he was a good gobbler with a 10 1/8 inch beard and spurrs nearly an inch long. I shot only the one, and my friend got one the next morning and then I had to return home at noon on the second day.
I'm having him mounted lifesize in "Full Strutt"
Here he is!
IF ALL GOES WELL?