mossback50cal
Very Active Member
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We had a great trip to the Bosque on Saturday morning. Awesome place, great staff, and an excellent opportunity for youths. Saw more turkey in one place than anywhere I have ever been. Started off the morning meeting at 5 AM at the visitor center. Followed our "guide" to our hunt area, being greeted by what sounded like an army of gobbles. Were shown where to park, and where our stand was located, being advised we needed to start the day in our stand. My wife, son and I settled into our stand, booming with excitement as we could hear what sounded like hundreds of gobbles less than a half a mile away, and being advised by our guide, who had left to take the other hunter to their stand, that they had followed the path in front of us to their day roost every day for two weeks straight. The sun SLOWLY crept over the horizon, and looking out over the vast field in front of us was absolutely stunning. As the sun began to crest, we were greeted with absolute silence, minus a few ducks and geese in the distance. After what seemed like an eternity, which was more like 5-10 minutes, we could hear the turkey flying down from their roosts. We could not see the corner of the field they flew down into, and it was just outside of our hunt zone, but we were greeted with a steady stream of gobbles. Every set of calls we sent out was responded to. After about ten minutes of the back and forth, the gobbles stopped, and we saw what seemed like an endless train of turkey, probably close to 60 birds. Unfortunately, they were not coming our direction, they were heading up the tree line to the East. Watching the probably 25-30 gobblers strut and put on a show was awesome. They continued heading East until they reached the other side of the field, which was a no hunting zone. We watched them strut for about an hour, and they finally turned North along the other edge of the field. We thought they were heading towards they day roost, but taking an alternate route. However, they would just meander back and forth across that edge of the field, about 600 yards away from us, and returning no calls, seeming uninterested, and not making noise themselves. We had several birds that weren't part of that flock cross our path, but nothing my son wanted. He had three goals this hunt. One, to take only one turkey, as he wants to hunt with his grandfather, his mom, and myself to get a Merriams. He would not waver from this no matter how much I tried to convince him. Two, he wanted to shoot a mature tom, with vibrant colors. And three, the most important, he wanted to enjoy this hunt. All of the turkeys that past in front of us were hens or jakes, with nothing mature. So, about nine o clock, we decided to text the guide. She stated there was a day roost on the Eastern side of the field, and that the turkey were going to roost there. She met up with us, and we headed to that side of the field. When we arrived there, the turkey had taken an alternate path, and headed further South, deep into a no hunting zone. All we could do was watch as we drove within 20 yards of what seemed like 100 turkey, heading the wrong direction. Our guide then stated that she had just seen a large flock in another zone we could hunt. We agreed and headed to that zone. Driving in, we saw a flock of about forty turkeys, with about 15 toms. We circled around to the opposite side of the field they were in. When we pulled off to park, there were about fifteen turkey ten yards off the road. They scattered and she advised us we could hunt that entire area. We would be allowed to pursue them at this point. GAME ON. We followed the closest turkeys into the thick woods they headed into, but it was apparent they were not interested in us, as they knew we were there. We decided to head after the large flock. We followed the tree line to them, and they were in a large field of cockleburs. What fun! We followed them from about thirty yards away, without any presenting a good shot (most of the time they were too close together). After pursuing them across the field, we were able to close the distance to about fifteen yards when they came out of the brush. They saw us at that point and scattered, without my son getting a shot. I felt we were in too close, but couldn't help the excitement with that many turkeys. We decided to go after the largest tom we saw, who wasn't moving away too fast. Caught up to about twenty yards, and I let out a soft yelp. He lifted his head to look, and I saw his neck snap in half, and him completely drop. The celebration was on! I attempted yet again to persuade my son to shoot another tom, but he would not. A quick call to my wife, who did not join us in the pursuit, as she forgot to bring her camo pants, and she was there with the truck.
This is an excellent hunt for kids. I sure hope he draws it again.
This is an excellent hunt for kids. I sure hope he draws it again.
