DoeNob
Active Member
- Messages
- 930
Spent the 27th thru the 3rd chasing toms in unit 36, we didn't fill our tags but got into gobbling birds every morning.
Saturday we drove around and checked out some different areas, man the unit got really burned all to hell in a lot of places, particularly up bonito/nogal. That evening we got two talking on the roost, came in the next day and made a cricital error, set up in the canyon down from where the birds were roosting instead of up on the ridge they were on. He was super fired up and we could see him gobbling and strutting on the ridge top before his hens led him up the ridge. We gave chase over 3 more ridges before he quit gobbling, I know we were inside 100 yards a few times as loud as he was.
The next morning we tried a ridge and had birds blowing up all around us, no less than 9 different gobblers throughout the canyon we were in. They hammered it till about 7:30, then shut up. We had 6 different hens come through our set up and check out the dekes, but not a gobbler. At one point we could hear some elk cow calling back and forth to each other and it set off a couple gobblers, pretty neat to hear "mew mew GOBBLE".
The next day I went to check out a new area, hiked in 3.5 miles in the moonlight to be in position at 5:15 then slowly worked my way out, never heard a peep. Many parts of 36 are dry as a bone and if there is no water, the wildlife is scarce. That afternoon I went and climbed up Nogal peak, except I did it out of Nogal canyon up the north face instead of on the trail from the east like a mo-ron. Made it 1.5 miles and 1600 vertical in 80 minutes, good training for elk season.
The next morning we worked a mesa and got real close to a gobbler with some hens, they were close but kept moving away from the call.
The final day we started in the bottom of the canyon at dark thirty and at the first gobble were off to the races and damned if we didn't go all the way to the top chasing a bird. I knew we were really close but I got too aggressive calling and the birds skirted off, we were 100 yards from a big tom and a couple hens. I saw them head up a canyon, we tried a sprint end around move, but busted a half dozen mulies en route, who blew out and the turkeys were nowhere to be found.
All in all, pretty great hunt, other than not tagging a bird. We were in gobbling birds every day, the weather was perfect, did a bunch of great hiking in the mountains and spent some quality time with my father. We never ran into any other hunters in the woods, saw a few driving around in the afternoons, and there was a boatload camped all up and down bonita and some in Nogal on the weekend, didn't see anyone really during the week.
IMO, the drought has really harmed the turkeys the last 2 years. Not a lot of jakes means less competition, that and burning up half the unit probably barbecued more than a few. Philadelphia canyon was completely incinerated, glad I got to see it before.
I also took $100 out of the Mtn. Gods poker room after a couple hours, so that helped pay for a tank of gas. Anyway, good luck to everyone this last weekend.
Saturday we drove around and checked out some different areas, man the unit got really burned all to hell in a lot of places, particularly up bonito/nogal. That evening we got two talking on the roost, came in the next day and made a cricital error, set up in the canyon down from where the birds were roosting instead of up on the ridge they were on. He was super fired up and we could see him gobbling and strutting on the ridge top before his hens led him up the ridge. We gave chase over 3 more ridges before he quit gobbling, I know we were inside 100 yards a few times as loud as he was.
The next morning we tried a ridge and had birds blowing up all around us, no less than 9 different gobblers throughout the canyon we were in. They hammered it till about 7:30, then shut up. We had 6 different hens come through our set up and check out the dekes, but not a gobbler. At one point we could hear some elk cow calling back and forth to each other and it set off a couple gobblers, pretty neat to hear "mew mew GOBBLE".
The next day I went to check out a new area, hiked in 3.5 miles in the moonlight to be in position at 5:15 then slowly worked my way out, never heard a peep. Many parts of 36 are dry as a bone and if there is no water, the wildlife is scarce. That afternoon I went and climbed up Nogal peak, except I did it out of Nogal canyon up the north face instead of on the trail from the east like a mo-ron. Made it 1.5 miles and 1600 vertical in 80 minutes, good training for elk season.
The next morning we worked a mesa and got real close to a gobbler with some hens, they were close but kept moving away from the call.
The final day we started in the bottom of the canyon at dark thirty and at the first gobble were off to the races and damned if we didn't go all the way to the top chasing a bird. I knew we were really close but I got too aggressive calling and the birds skirted off, we were 100 yards from a big tom and a couple hens. I saw them head up a canyon, we tried a sprint end around move, but busted a half dozen mulies en route, who blew out and the turkeys were nowhere to be found.
All in all, pretty great hunt, other than not tagging a bird. We were in gobbling birds every day, the weather was perfect, did a bunch of great hiking in the mountains and spent some quality time with my father. We never ran into any other hunters in the woods, saw a few driving around in the afternoons, and there was a boatload camped all up and down bonita and some in Nogal on the weekend, didn't see anyone really during the week.
IMO, the drought has really harmed the turkeys the last 2 years. Not a lot of jakes means less competition, that and burning up half the unit probably barbecued more than a few. Philadelphia canyon was completely incinerated, glad I got to see it before.
I also took $100 out of the Mtn. Gods poker room after a couple hours, so that helped pay for a tank of gas. Anyway, good luck to everyone this last weekend.
