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Arizona
New Mexico Outfitters and Guides
Turkey
Hunting Articles
The following is a
collection of real life entries as written by the outfitter, guides, and past
clients. Their purpose is to give potential hunters an idea of our hunts.
Merriam's
Turkey Hunting at 110%
By Russell Leachman
My fellow sportsman:
Last weekend, April 28th, 2005, Tony "The Safinator" Safi, Hunter "Umzingi" Burkhalter and I
took to the high forest around Alpine, Arizona in search of the Merriams wild
turkey. This area was a draw only hunt, and we were lucky enough
to draw out for these birds on our first attempt. There was much anticipation for this hunt,
and Arizona was a close locale to strike one more state of turkey hunting off of
the list. Pat Feldt of Arizona Guided Hunts, who operates a Merriam's
hunting outfit in both New Mexico and Arizona, was our outfitter. He
showed up with Dave and Bryan to round out the turkey guiding crew.
We arrived near the New Mexico/Arizona border in Alpine with near gale wind conditions. A condition that would
largely persist over the course of the next few days. It was clear that we
would have to accept these conditions and give 110% if we were to prevail on
this hunt. The wind was an aggravating factor from the beginning,
including the set up of the canvas wall tent in which we stayed. It was,
however, remarkably calm inside the tent despite the howling winds outside.
Incidentally, the winds were not the only thing howling outside. The unit
in which we were hunting is an area where wolves have been re-introduced, and on
Thursday night I woke to the eerie howl of El Lobo.
Friday morning came early, and we were up at 4:00 a.m. ready to pursue our
quarry. The assignments were as follows: Team Leachman-Russ/Pat;
Team Burkhalter-Hunter/Bryan; and Team Safi-Tony/Dave. The wind was still
howling when we woke up, and it began to snow. It would continue to snow
off and on all day Friday. The wind would also continue to blow, although
there were some windows of relative calm. These were definitely not ideal
conditions for a turkey hunt. Teams Burkhalter and Safi hit
the ground running Friday morning, and were out of camp in the dark to look for
birds. Team Leachman (myself and Pat) was all about situational awareness. The
situation was as follows: 1) the wind was screaming...a condition non-conducive
to turkey calling; 2) the coffee pot was still relatively full (a fact neglected
by the other two teams); 3) the heater in the guide's camping trailer was working
and warm (and it would stay that way for the next hour or so); 4) it was real
friggin cold outside; and 5) it was a good opportunity to warm up our calls.
Now one thing that was clear very early on was that this turkey hunting effort
would take a 110% effort. There is a mental and physical aspect to this
effort, and this early morning strategy session could be the difference.
After a couple extra cups of cowboy coffee and not much enthusiasm due to the
current conditions, Pat and I took out on foot up an old
logging road. We would call occasionally, but were not really hearing anything...no
tweety birds, no turkeys, no nothing. Incidentally, we also could not
locate any sign because a 1/2 inch of snow had accumulated on the ground, and
any sign was thus concealed. After climbing a bit further, we did finally
hear a gobble. It was faint, and we did not even have a good sense of
direction for the bird. The bird went silent after that one courtesy
gobble. Not even Pat's "Kentucky Long Box paddle call from Hell" could
raise a gobble. Frustrated, we continued forward.
About 45 minutes later, Pat thought that he heard a gobble, and he sent me ahead
a little way to call. I did, and the bird immediately responded. It
sounded as though the bird was 800 yards away, so Pat and I hustled at a 110%+
pace to try to close the distance. After traveling about 300 yards, we
almost ran into a gobbler that was in full strut. Luckily, we both
immediately did a full sprawl to the ground to be followed by an Army crawl maneuver
to the nearest inadequate cover, two six-inch diameter saplings. Once set
up, Pat let out a short series of
yelps. Two gobblers hammered the call, only to be followed by the raspy
yelp of a hen. Crap!...are they henned up? One more short yelp from
Pat's slate,
and here he comes. At about 35 yards, my pack makes a noise while
positioning for the shot. Mr. Tom lifts his head in a classic alert
strut..... game over. Beard
goes 9 1/2", spurs worn down to about 3/8".
After many high fives, photo ops in the snow, etc., Pat and I return to camp.
Once back in camp, we hung up the bird and waited for Team Burkhalter and Team Safi to
return. When they did, my fears that they might not have given 110%
were confirmed. My bird had no company. Team Burkhalter proceeded to
take a long winters nap. Team Safi stayed up, but complaints started to
emerge concerning the ankle, the altitude...oh no, that's not 110%. I was
also unfortunate enough to learn later that hidden under Safi's medley of some
12-15 camo patterns was a panty hose looking thing on his foot. He claimed
it was some sort of ankle brace, but it said something like Hanes Control Top on
it. I didn't like having to see that!
Later that afternoon, I enlisted with Team Safi to try to drum up a bird.
We did manage to bump a bird that did not respond to the call some 200 yards
away. We tried to work our way around, but the terrain and cover would not
allow for it. We did get a response out of a hen, but it was clear that we
would not talk the gobbler away from them, and decided to leave them for later.
We also spotted one other bird after a lengthy distraction by a giant bull elk
feeding. Incidentally, this area is the prime elk habitat in Arizona where
many record book elk have been taken.
Friday evening, we took the collaborative approach to roosting, and everyone
took a separate mountain top to listen for gobblers. The only thing that I
heard was a shot at 7:24 p.m. That's roosting time. I understand
that the only suspect denied any shooting, but there was definitely a shot.
Saturday morning, Hunter went to an area where they had roosted a bird.
Safi went back to the area we had been, and I went home to see Margaret get the
Outstanding Federal Lawyer Award from the El Paso Bar. I did see about 30
herd of elk between camp and Cliff, New Mexico.
Subsequent reports from Team Safi and Burkhalter indicated no birds. I only
hope it was not due to giving less than 110%.
Respectfully submitted,
Grits (Russ Leachman)
Visit our turkey
hunting page for rates and other info.
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