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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 8/6/2008 7:03:34 PM
Posts: 264, Visits: 934 |
| | This was the easiest bird I've ever called in and shot! I went to Mexico for a 3 1/2 day hunt, and it only lasted 15 minutes! That's O. K. I took my video camera out for the next three days and captured some AWESOME footage of Goulds gobblers strutting, drumming, and gobbling. I called this ol' boy in with a Red Wasp. 
The scenery down there was unbelievable! 
Cliff
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| | | Supreme Being
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Last Login: 1/2/2009 10:53:11 AM
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| I was wondering where you had been and now I know. Absolutely beautiful bird and scenery. Congrats are in order.
Ronnie |
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| | | Supreme Being
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Last Login: Yesterday @ 11:23:49 AM
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| | Awesome! Beautiful bird! Congrats man!
"You pay your dues for every gobbler" - Denny Gulvas |
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Last Login: 11/30/2008 7:37:42 PM
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| | awesome bird are they really as big as every talks about doesn't look like they have much to eat. Is that your royal slam? |
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 8/6/2008 7:03:34 PM
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| | Hey Cutter, Weight wise, the Goulds is not any heavier than an average Arkansas Eastern tom. The birds we shot all ranged from 20-23 lbs. However, their bone structure is bigger. They have a larger frame than any of the other sub-species. You can see from the size of the fan on that bird I shot, he was huge. They stand tall, have long legs, long necks, a long wing span, and big fans. That bird did not complete my Royal Slam. I have only killed Easterns, Rios, and this was my first Goulds (hopefully not my last!) I have booked a hunt in south-east Colorado for next spring to hopefully get a Merriams. I might be able to squeeze in an Osceola hunt when I take my family on vacation to Disney World next spring. We will be down there the first week in May. I have to check into that. I don't know how long the FL season runs, and don't know if I can talk my wife into letting me slip off to hunt for a couple of days before we hit "Mickey's Place". I know I'm going at the Royal Slam in a little bit of a "bass ackwards" manner, but I'll eventually get it done. The opportunity for this Goulds hunt just came up at a time when I couldn't refuse it. I know the outfitter personally. He is a retired game warden from LA. I leased some land with him in AR last year. I've known Mike for three years now, and when he told me he was outfitting Goulds hunts, I began lining up a hunt. Believe me those guys do it right. I honestly think most of the birds I encountered had never seen a human! Mike Murray is outfitting these hunts with a guy named Brad Fulk who is a game warden in NM. Their operation is called Rio Sonora Outfitters. You can go to their web site by typing www.riosonoraoutfitters.com.
Cliff |
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| | | Supreme Being
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Last Login: 1/2/2009 10:53:11 AM
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| Florida season goes out around the 20th of April, and the turkeys are about through by then too. Of course if you can find one hot there's a good chance to take him. I have never hunted south Florida so I am not familiar with the regs down there, I know we used to have a split season from north to south so it could even go out earlier down there.
The up side is it opens earlier in the southern part as well, in the northern zone we open around the 15th of march but only the area south of the Suwannee river is classified as osceolla country. I happen to hunt the north bank so I guess mine are eastern's
Ronnie |
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 8/6/2008 7:03:34 PM
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| | Thanks, Ronnie. That info really helps me out because I know there is no way I can make an Osceola hunt coenside with our Disney trip. I might have to do a little scheming (maybe even a little "shuck and jive") to work in an early FL trip next year. I always feel fortunate to survive April (I mean not wake up some morning with my throat cut!). My marriage has survived right at 16 years of my bullheadedness and "one-track-mindedness" when turkey, deer, duck, or bass, are concerned. I'm going to see how it all pans out, but it may very well take me two more years to finally completer the Royal Slam. God Bless,
Cliff |
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Last Login: 5/10/2008 9:31:06 PM
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| | Good bird. I like the scenery pics. If you're going for a slam and need the Merriam, I'd consider South Dakota. They have tons of birds and the public hunting in the Black Hills National Forest is good. The place is over 2 million acres and you can find birds that haven't been pressured. I've been twice and bagged 1 both times. Some friends went around opening weekend this year and both tagged out in 2 days.
"Disgruntled employees? Hell they're all disgruntled. I ain't running a daisy farm!" - Nathan Arizona |
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 8/6/2008 7:03:34 PM
Posts: 264, Visits: 934 |
| Thanks for the info, Yelp. I WILL hunt SD one day. I love to hunt places with beautiful terrain, and topography that is different from anywhere I've hunted in the past. I plan to take a Merriams in CO next spring, but I still intend to hunt the Black Hills of SD one day. I can't imagine hunting turkeys in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. When we were on our way down to MX for the Goulds hunt, in Casas Grandes, we swapped vehicles with the hunters who were on their way back to El Paso. I got to talking with one of the guys who said going down there to get his Goulds was his main goal (at first), but he said that quickly became secondary to seeing the scenery and getting to know the folks at the ranch. I quickly came to understand what he was talking about as soon as we got to the lodge. The scenery was indescribable, and the people were so kind, polite, and curteous. This was by far, the very best hunting trip I have ever been on in my life. It will be hard to top this one!
Cliff |
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