Even though it was pouring rain this last Saturday, we got up very early and went turkey hunting. We are glad we did.
On the way to one of spots it rained non-stop and we wondered what the heck we were doing going out on a day like this. Oh well, we were up and going to try it out. Upon arriving, I began to snow and rain a mix. I told the boys let stay in the truck till it clears a little or it lights up. In the mean time, I told them to catch up on some sleep. I started to light up when I decided to crack the window to see if we could hear anything. I told the boys if we the non-target birds chirping, we might be OK. Nothing! Not a peep, when all of a sudden I could not believe my ears when I heard a gobbler sound off about a half mile away on a distant ridge. I woke the boys and told them to listen. They could not believe it either when the gobbler sounded off again.
Dang it! So much for trying to keep dry/warm and trying to get some sleep. I was time to ?Get Wet?. I told the boys to grab their rain jackets and to leave the turkey hunting vests behind, just to bring the diaphragm I had in mouth and the waterproof box call I wondered about why we had bought until this day. I told them that we would only take one gun to avoid getting all the guns wet and so I grabbed my waterproof Browning BPS 12 gauge.
We got out the truck and cinched our hoods took off after the gobbler. After we had gone about 10 yards from the truck, I looked back and notice the interior light in the truck was still on. I also notice the driver?s side door was cracked open. We went back to the truck and tried to close the door and turn off the interior light. We managed to turn off the light and tried to fix the door to no avail. Having that gobbler sound off every five minutes did not help this out. It kind of reminded me of trying to tie on a fly on your tippet when the trout are splashing at every foot of the stream. These are times we are all thumbs. Santiago decided to stay behind with the door and Little Kiko and I hit the ridged. I don't blame Santiago. He was going to keep dry and Little Kiko and I were going to get wet.
Up the ridge we went and go to a valley above the gobbler. We were about 200 yards from him when we decided to set up and call. He seemed to be still on the roost for a little bit as he answered every call. I thought he might fly down in our direction but instead flew down the opposite side to another ridge and gobbled up a storm. We know these birds. When they come off the roost they like to get on a ridge and gobble their heads off and strut their stuff. They want the hens to come to them. So we did. We move on his same ridge, within about 150 yards of his strut zone and called softly at him. He got real excited, but did not want to come to us. Again, he wanted us to go to him. This time a shut up for a while until he started going crazy by gobbling, double gobbling, and even triple gobbling. Then he quiet. The next thing you know, he had moved closed to our location, but just on the other side of the same ridge from us. At this time, he was only 40 yards or so from us and just out of sight. We could hear him spitting and drumming. I put the shotgun on ?KILL? and began to purr and scratch the pine needles by me to simulated feeding hens. The next thing I hear is Little Kiko tell me, ?there he is?. It took me a little to find him at first. However, there he was poking his head over the hill looking for a hen. He came over a tad bit more exposing his whole body and found a 12 gauge tube staring him in the eye. Instead of lovely hen, he was greeted with a tight swarm of 2 ounces of copper plated shot. After the bird hit the ground, the first thing I thought was why I didn't pass the gun to Little Kiko to take this bird. I told him about that and he told me, ?Dad, that was your bird?. ?I'm happy you got him?. We thanked everyone we could at the moment for our well being and our success. We thanked my mom for watching over us at this moment. I definitely felt her presence. She passed away two weeks ago after a bout with cancer. We miss her very much.
After some hugs, high fives, and a tear or two, we went down the ridge to meet Santiago. He had heard the shot and was already on his way to meet us. We were soaked. The first thing he told us was ?You guys are wet?. Yeah we were, dripping wet!
Hopefully, this coming weekend we are blessed with more safety, fun, and success. The whole family is going out to a private hunt in Raton. Santiago will be leading off first. Gail will be in the hole. Little Kiko (Elksniper) shooting third and I will be shooting clean-up. It is our priority for Santiago and Gail (wife) to get their first birds ever. Little Kiko and I will be helping out and may try to get our birds with the bow after they are done.
The Cortez Boys
On the way to one of spots it rained non-stop and we wondered what the heck we were doing going out on a day like this. Oh well, we were up and going to try it out. Upon arriving, I began to snow and rain a mix. I told the boys let stay in the truck till it clears a little or it lights up. In the mean time, I told them to catch up on some sleep. I started to light up when I decided to crack the window to see if we could hear anything. I told the boys if we the non-target birds chirping, we might be OK. Nothing! Not a peep, when all of a sudden I could not believe my ears when I heard a gobbler sound off about a half mile away on a distant ridge. I woke the boys and told them to listen. They could not believe it either when the gobbler sounded off again.
Dang it! So much for trying to keep dry/warm and trying to get some sleep. I was time to ?Get Wet?. I told the boys to grab their rain jackets and to leave the turkey hunting vests behind, just to bring the diaphragm I had in mouth and the waterproof box call I wondered about why we had bought until this day. I told them that we would only take one gun to avoid getting all the guns wet and so I grabbed my waterproof Browning BPS 12 gauge.
We got out the truck and cinched our hoods took off after the gobbler. After we had gone about 10 yards from the truck, I looked back and notice the interior light in the truck was still on. I also notice the driver?s side door was cracked open. We went back to the truck and tried to close the door and turn off the interior light. We managed to turn off the light and tried to fix the door to no avail. Having that gobbler sound off every five minutes did not help this out. It kind of reminded me of trying to tie on a fly on your tippet when the trout are splashing at every foot of the stream. These are times we are all thumbs. Santiago decided to stay behind with the door and Little Kiko and I hit the ridged. I don't blame Santiago. He was going to keep dry and Little Kiko and I were going to get wet.
Up the ridge we went and go to a valley above the gobbler. We were about 200 yards from him when we decided to set up and call. He seemed to be still on the roost for a little bit as he answered every call. I thought he might fly down in our direction but instead flew down the opposite side to another ridge and gobbled up a storm. We know these birds. When they come off the roost they like to get on a ridge and gobble their heads off and strut their stuff. They want the hens to come to them. So we did. We move on his same ridge, within about 150 yards of his strut zone and called softly at him. He got real excited, but did not want to come to us. Again, he wanted us to go to him. This time a shut up for a while until he started going crazy by gobbling, double gobbling, and even triple gobbling. Then he quiet. The next thing you know, he had moved closed to our location, but just on the other side of the same ridge from us. At this time, he was only 40 yards or so from us and just out of sight. We could hear him spitting and drumming. I put the shotgun on ?KILL? and began to purr and scratch the pine needles by me to simulated feeding hens. The next thing I hear is Little Kiko tell me, ?there he is?. It took me a little to find him at first. However, there he was poking his head over the hill looking for a hen. He came over a tad bit more exposing his whole body and found a 12 gauge tube staring him in the eye. Instead of lovely hen, he was greeted with a tight swarm of 2 ounces of copper plated shot. After the bird hit the ground, the first thing I thought was why I didn't pass the gun to Little Kiko to take this bird. I told him about that and he told me, ?Dad, that was your bird?. ?I'm happy you got him?. We thanked everyone we could at the moment for our well being and our success. We thanked my mom for watching over us at this moment. I definitely felt her presence. She passed away two weeks ago after a bout with cancer. We miss her very much.
After some hugs, high fives, and a tear or two, we went down the ridge to meet Santiago. He had heard the shot and was already on his way to meet us. We were soaked. The first thing he told us was ?You guys are wet?. Yeah we were, dripping wet!
Hopefully, this coming weekend we are blessed with more safety, fun, and success. The whole family is going out to a private hunt in Raton. Santiago will be leading off first. Gail will be in the hole. Little Kiko (Elksniper) shooting third and I will be shooting clean-up. It is our priority for Santiago and Gail (wife) to get their first birds ever. Little Kiko and I will be helping out and may try to get our birds with the bow after they are done.
The Cortez Boys
