The first evening was going to be a scouting expedition. He went upstream I went downstream. He tells me they come from one mountain then go up another with the stream being in the middle. So I set up on the mountain that they are going to. About 615 I hear a gobble. I give them a few calls and they respond back with their goofy gobbles and I can tell it's two. About 5 minutes later I spy them crossing the creek. They come in a string except there is a ravine going up the mountain they are going on the opposite side of it. When they get to the same elevation as me I figure they've gotten as close as possible and put the dot on the lead one's head. He folds and the back gobbler jumps/flies about 8' and lands and just stands there. I've been on too many hunts where I've regretted passing on animals and in NM you can fill both of your tags in a day. So I let the second one have a load of TSS too. He crumbles. I think to myself there's nothing to killing these mountain birds. Drove 18 hours and limited out in 3 hours.
Both had thin 9" beards and rounded spurs. Not sure of the weight but I know their fans are at least 3" bigger than the Eastern fans I have.
Next morning we setup on a gobbling bird, but he hangs up at about 125 yards. I try everything to get him to move, but I'm guessing it was so open he knew he should see a hen. Eventually he loses interest and walks back where he came from. Later in the morning we get on a pair. They also hang up briefly, but for some reason my buddy decides he can belly crawl and get over the rise and shoot them. Naturally they spook before he can shoot. I cussed him and called him impatient. After that morning for the next 3 days we were never able to get on a bird. We'd hear some gobbles on the roost then silence. Made me glad I went ahead and shot the second bird. It was a great trip with scenery. I need to go back to my property and hear a eastern gobble so I can get that goofy gobbling out of my head.
Here are a few scenery pics.
Nothing like a nap in the early afternoon to get you going.
Tools of the trade
Nothing beats fresh turkey over a fire.
