Scouting didn’t go as planned on the day before season opened. We were unsuccessful roosting any birds in the evening and morale for opening morning was pretty low. Our only play was to head back to an area we’d driven through around noon where we had seen a few birds moving through the trees. We figured we’d work one of the two-tracks out in the morning darkness and see if we could get lucky and hear a bird on the limb. It wasn’t a great plan, but seemed to be our only option.

Luck was with us, a tom started gobbling across the canyon in the gray light. We worked one of the ridges out to get close to him, set out some decoys and did some real light calling. Ten minutes later while he was still in his tree gobbling, two other gobblers came screaming into our setup and met with a quick end. Austin and I stood there in disbelief looking down at two mature Merriam’s gobblers realizing that our 2019 Arizona turkey hunt was over just like that.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from turkey hunting – It’s better to be lucky than good.

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We had driven a long way and were many hours from civilization. I stood surveying the campsite where we had camped in years past. And suddenly it dawned on me. I had forgotten my tent.

I could see it in my minds eye, that lonely tubular tent bag, sitting all along on my garage floor like a lost child. And while it sat there with so much wasted potential 6 hours away, I stood, in my campsite with a dumb look on my face, feeling foolish and knowing that I could be paying a serious price should the wind pick up and/or the weather turn. Pride wouldn’t let me snuggle into a one man tent with my hunting buddy. So I rolled my sleeping bag out on my inflatable pad and borrowed the Tyvek ground sheet for the one tent that was brought on the hunting trip. I tried to think positive thoughts.

After an 8 mile scouting hike, a shot of bourbon, and an ambian, I snuggled in to my sleeping bag and closed my eyes. I slept like a baby under that Tyvek sheet.

We got lucky and killed two turkeys opening day and were on our way home by 2 pm. It was a good turkey season.

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The afternoon before turkey season opened, we got the truck stuck in a snowdrift that covered the road on the way to our camp spot. It took us several hours of digging and hauling logs and rocks in order to finally free the truck. By the time we finally pitched our tents and built a fire, the sun was going down and the temps were dipping towards freezing, so we opted to fill our bellies with red meat, potatoes, and a nip of bourbon.

The next day unfolded about as perfectly as any day of turkey hunting can, which was great since we love to hunt using rifles and even bows as the ones you can see in this Review here. I screwed up our first setup on a tom gobbling his head off, but our second setup worked out pretty well. Austin shot a real nice mature bird that came into our mid morning setup. After cleaning his gobbler up and getting ready for the packout, we decided to make another set up on our way out. After a hen came clucking in, a young jake wandered in from the opposite direction. I couldn’t resist and knocked him down for a nice double bird day.

It’s not often that things work out like this on this hunt. I felt blessed to have a successful hunt and still have the weekend to spend with my family. After cleaning and stowing gear, it seems like a long time until the fall hunting seasons kick back on.

The post Arizona Turkey Hunting: Daily Double appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

It’s been a long time coming. Truth be told I’ve had a tag for the past six years and have spent quite a few weekends hiking, scouting, calling, and waiting. I’ve suffered rain, snow, unspeakable winds, missed opportunities and blown chances on my Arizona turkey hunting journey, but ultimately, I wouldn’t change anything about how my turkey hunt has unfolded over the years.

This year, everything came together on the last morning of the hunt, when that Merriam’s gobbler stepped out in the opening. Walking back to the truck with that heavy bird over my shoulder, I said a prayer of thanks for that turkey’s life, and for a good hunting buddy who helped put me in the right place at the right time.

Right now as I write this post, all I can think about is turkey and stuffing…and turkey sandwiches…and turkey chili…and turkey pot pie…

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I am still looking to bag my first Merriams gobbler here in Arizona. I had a tag in two previous seasons and had a great time hunting them, but truth be told, I’m still learning so much every time I get into the woods after these birds. This season proved to be the most action packed couple of days in the field, but one of the most disappointing and unfulfilling hunts that I have ever had.

I drew a tag with my hunting buddy, Austin and we set out after work on a Friday. We drove the five hours to camp and set up camp in the dark. After only a couple hours of sleep, we donned our camouflage and heated water for instant coffee before bumping down the road in the darkness to see if we could find some roosted birds. After a couple of stops to crow call, we were able to elicit a shock gobble from the darkness only a couple hundred yards from the truck. We had about an hour before daylight, so we sat in the truck sipping coffee while waiting for the sun to lighten the sky. Nature called and we both got out of the truck and went our separate ways to take care of our morning business. The sky began to show signs of lightening so we quietly grabbed our gear and made our way into the woods.

We set up on a large pine tree with a decent view of the ridge in front of us. I was covering the right while Austin covered left. As the light came up, we began to call and as neither of us had ever seen before, two hens and two gobblers made a beeline for us. The one gobbler moved in quickly on Austin’s side and he waited as long as he could before taking his shot. The morning exploded with a boom as his turkey went down with a thump.

After congratulations and a couple quick pictures, we could still hear gobbles from in front of us. So, we set up quickly about 25 yards ahead and started calling again. Within minutes another gobbler and hen moved in on our decoy, but were always just out of range or behind heavy brush. They circled to our right and I figured that they would be making a loop back around to check out our setup. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind, a loud gunshot echoed to our right, not more than 70 yards away.

We could not believe it. Another hunter had set up just on the other side of us and shot a bird no more than 50 yards away from where we were. We walked over to speak with the hunter and see the bird he had shot. His story was, they had seen our truck parked that morning, seen that the radio was on inside the truck, as we were out with the call of nature, and instead of moving on, decided to set up a hundred yards down the road. They had seen and heard us shoot the first bird, and instead of then identifying that they were there with us, remained where they were and shot in our general direction at a bird that we called in. Here’s the kicker – one of the hunters was an Arizona Game and Fish Employee.

Not wanting to escalate the situation and realizing that nothing good was going to come of standing there and talking about it, we opted to head back to camp and make a game plan for the afternoon. The wind picked up the rest of the day and made it difficult to locate any turkeys. As the sun went down and turkeys started to get back on the roost, we did a bit more calling and found two birds off of the one ride. We marked the spot for the following morning.

Morning came early, and anticipation was high. The first bird was unresponsive, and after an hour or so of calling, we bailed on him to go and try the other bird that we had located the night before. We walked about a mile down a small two track, and sure enough, two gobblers sounded off at our hen calls. We made a quick set up about 50 yards of the track and started calling. As if on a string, the gobbler came closer and soon enough I saw a red head moving up the small ravine in front of us. Through the brush, I could see him in full strut at about 50 yards in front of me. He was moving through some trees and I needed him to walk about ten more yards for a clear shot. As that thought went through my mind, I heard the sound of a truck bouncing down the two track and my heart sank. The turkey turned to look at the road and then moved off into the trees, taking my chance at a gobbler with him.

The truck continued towards us and stopped parallel with where we had set up.   A hunter clambered out of the truck in full camo and started to cluck on his call. We made our position known to him and he hopped back into his truck and continued down the road. Seriously, who is driving around at 7:15 am hunting turkey from a truck?  We called for another 10 minutes and decided to throw in the towel.

I truly do not know if I have ever been so disappointed on a hunting trip. Even as I write this, I can feel my blood start to boil. We made our way back to town and I knew that with the craziness of work and life, that I would not be able to make it back up to fill my tag. Every minute in the woods is a learning experience and I was grateful to have been able to be there. Here’s hoping that next year will have some different results.

The post Arizona Turkey Hunting: Sabotage appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Last year, I had the honor of heading up to the Marvin Robbins Memorial Juniors Turkey Hunting Camp which was hosted by the National Wild Turkey Federation. At the camp last year, I was able to see first hand how the National Wild Turkey Federation partnered with multiple other organizations like the Arizona Game and Fish, Arizona Elk Society, The Phoenix Varmit Callers, and many more, to provide a positive and safe learning environment for young hunters just entering the world of turkey hunting.

Since last year was such a positive experience for me as a mentor hunter, I jumped at the chance to help out again. Rich Williams of the Arizona Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, pours his heart and soul into the Marvin Robbins Memorial Juniors Turkey Hunting camp. The camp provides the youth hunter and an accompanying adult (free of charge):

• A mentor hunter
• Free food (courtesy of the Arizona Elk Society)
• Several seminars on turkey hunting and other outdoor skills
• Prizes for each youth hunter in camp
• A fully equipped archery range

The Arizona Game and Fish Department has been working with the species specific organizations (like NWTF, Arizona Elk Society, etc.) to help create camps that pass on the heritage of hunting to the next generation. The AZGFD has a full list of the mentored hunting camps that serve not only youth hunters, but adults as well. They can be found on the Outdoor Skills page of the AZGFD website

I was able to head out with a father and his two sons on Saturday, and we were able to get into some gobbling early on Saturday morning. Although we were never able to seal the deal on the birds, several other youth hunters were successful over the weekend. Being a part of something like the Marvin Robbins Memorial Juniors Turkey Hunting camp is extremely for me as an outdoorsman. Between the camaraderie of camp and the passing on of the hunting heritage, I look forward to participating with the National Wild Turkey Federation Juniors Camp for many years to come.

The post Arizona Turkey Hunting: NWTF Juniors Turkey Camp appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Wild turkey chili is one of my favorite dishes that my mother used to make on those cold winter evenings back in the Adirondacks. The greatest thing is that this is one wild game dish that my wife cannot resist.

Preparation:

1. Brine Turkey for 8-12 hours (great article here on the NWTF page.)

2. Season and cook turkey

Wild Turkey Chili Ingredients-

2 Tablespoons of olive oil

1 large onion

2 teaspoons of cumin

5 cloves of garlic minced

2 chopped jalapenos

8 oz can of jalapenos with juice

4-4.5 cups of chicken broth

1+ pound of cooked turkey

3 cans of cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)

2 Tablespoons of minced oregeno

1/3 cup of fresh cliantro

1/4 cup of cornmeal

Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, and lime wedges for serving

1. Saute onion in oil, salt and pepper until softened (5-7 minutes)

2. Add cumin, garlic, and jalapenos

3. Transfer to slow cooker and add 3.5 cups of broth

4. Mix cornmeal with .5 cups of broth. Stir into soup

5. Cover and cook for 3 hours. Thin with more broth if desired.

The post Wild Turkey Chili appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Friday – I woke at 3 AM to what sounded like a hundred coyotes right outside my tent. Although I knew I was safe, I still reached over and felt the cold steel pistol which brought me comfort. A half hour later, I shivered my way into my cold hunting clothes and drove over the washboard road to my predestined spot. Once out of the truck, I shrugged into my turkey vest, double checked to make sure I had everything and waited quietly. Before the sun came up, I heard the first gobble.

I slipped my way into the woods and set up about 150 yards from where the turkeys were gobbling. After setting up my decoy, I scraped away the noisy leaves and sat with my back against a big juniper where I would be nice and comfortable. I called periodically, occasionally glancing at my watch so as not to call too often. The sound of a softly putting turkey sneaking in behind me, caused my muscles to tighten and my breathing to quicken. The small hen walked confidently up to the decoy and stopped only a foot away, cocking her head to the side curiously. She mulled around, pecking at the ground before finally working her way silently into the forest.

The gobblers continued to sound off every time I clucked and purred on the little push-button call, but as far as I could tell, they never came closer than a hundred yards. The first morning of turkey season, and probably my best chance at bagging a tom, slipped away.

I will not bore you with the details of a very uneventful evening, wandering ridges and hammering away on a box call into the howling wind.

Saturday – I woke early on Saturday, and my friend Tom and I headed out to check out a different section of woods. Aside from some early morning gobbling, things were pretty uneventful. The crowds were out in full force and we must have seen at least a dozen other trucks and hunters throughout the day. We saw plenty of sign and even came across a well used turkey dusting area.

I spent the evening scouting some different areas trying to locate birds, but the higher winds made calling very difficult if not impossible.

Sunday – The previous two mornings had showed me that if I was going to have any success, morning was going to be the best time. Tom and I again headed out early and found some very vocal birds. I climbed the ridge they were roosting on and stalked in to about 100 yards and set up. Two gobblers gobbled their fool heads off at my calls and at nothing at all. I heard them fly down, gave one more set of calls, and shut up. Seconds passed and I expected them to come walking through the woods at any moment, but nothing, They continued to gobble about 100 yards in front of me and for the next hour and a half, I periodically switched up calls but to no avail. Finally the woods got quiet and I waited another hour for something to happen.

With the sun high in the sky, I walked up about a quarter mile to scout the rest of the ridge. I was working my way through trees when I heard a rustle to my left. I froze and slowly turned to see two red heads about 80 yards away. The one gobbler continued to walk parallel to me, and as he cleared the log, I could see his beard. After they disappeared from sight, I sat down and waited. After 15 minutes or so, I started calling again, but for the next hour, neither saw nor heard a thing.

With a pretty wife waiting at home, I cut my losses and drove back to the Valley of the Sun.

Score: Turkeys – 3, Me – 0

Turkey hunting is tough here in AZ. I’m convinced that it is about 25% skill and 75% being lucky and in the right spot. If your heading out in the near future here in AZ, my only advice is find that turkey early in the morning and try and get yourself in between him and where you think he is headed. I did not have much luck with calling anything in. If you’ve been out or had some success, I’d love to hear the story. Best of luck.

The post Arizona Turkey Hunting Report appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

I had a nice three day weekend in the mountains trying to seal the deal on a spring gobbler. No dice. I’m dog tired but will give you a full report tomorrow on how things played out. Good luck to the hunters that have a tag next weekend.

The post Arizona Turkey Hunting appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

I had the distinct pleasure to meet Rich Williams of the Arizona Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation at the HAHWG event that I went to back in January. Rich got to talking about the Junior Turkey Hunting Camps that the NWTF puts on every year and invited me to come up and see what the NWTF is all about. There are several Junior Turkey Hunting Camps put on in Arizona, depending on where a junior hunter draws their tag, and each camp is 100% free of charge for the hunter and their family to come up and enjoy. The camp provides the hunter and their family with food, a mentor hunter who heads out into the field with the junior hunter and their guardian, giveaways/raffles, seminars, and a great atmosphere to enjoy the outdoors.

So Friday after work, with my truck loaded and ready to go, I headed north to check out the Marvin Robbins Memorial Juniors Turkey Hunting Camp at Colcord Ridge Campground. As I shook hands with some old friends, a truck pulled up with a successful junior hunter (pictured below). After the high-fives and handshakes were over the youth hunter (Ben) relayed the exploits of the afternoon. Ben had done all the calling himself and when the first gobbler presented himself, Ben let loose with his shotgun and bagged his first Merriams tom. He was cool, calm and collected and recounted the story like an old pro.

After setting up my tent, I toured around the camp, checking out all the different things that were offered to hunters and non-hunters who were in camp. The Arizona Elk Society graciously had set up and done all the cooking for the weekend. Even though this was not an elk hunting camp, it showed that promoting the heritage of hunting is important, no matter what style or species you like to hunt. The Arizona Elk Society did a fantastic job feeding all the people in camp and the food was absolutely delicious.

There were other activities going on while the hunters trickled back into camp. The Arizona Game and Fish had set up a small archery course for those who wanted to fling a few arrows. The Phoenix Varmit Callers showed up and did a short seminar on predator calling, and Mike Stewart, from Arizona Flycasters, and I did a brief fly casting demonstration and talked about fly fishing in Arizona. The goal of the camp was to not only give junior hunters a great experience in the field, but to introduce non-hunters to the outdoors in a positive way.

Hunters trickled back into camp and dinner was served by the Arizona Elk Society. Camp came alive as hunters relayed the stories of the afternoon and comparing notes on turkey activity. Several birds had been harvested that day, and it was one of the amazing experiences to see a young hunter’s animated face as they recounted the experiences in the field.

Even though this is a “Turkey Hunting Camp” put on by the Arizona Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, multiple organizations were represented in a collaborative effort to make it happen. Arizona Elk Society, Arizona Flycasters, Arizona Game and Fish, Hunt of a Lifetime Arizona Chapter, and Phoenix Varmit Callers were a few of the several organizations represented at the camp.

After dinner, hunters poured over maps and discussed plans for the morning hunt. Turkeys had been responsive throughout the day, and many hunters had roosted birds in hopes of finding them in the same spot in the morning.

Brenda Valentine, “The First Lady of Hunting”, made an appearance at the Colcord Ridge Camp.

I was honored to meet up with Matt Minshall from Hunt of a Lifetime, and he asked if I’d be interested in heading out in the morning with his group. I jumped at the chance and made plans to head out with a youth hunter, Josh and his older brother.

We were ready to go at 4 in the morning and out of the truck, we walked a couple hundred yards and blew on the old crow call. Immediately, we heard a gobble a bit deeper in the woods. We made several setups and called to the bird, but were unsuccessful at fooling the gobbler. We walked quite a bit and were able to get some responses, but it seemed most of the birds were “henned up” and not interested in coming in to investigate our calls.

Midday Saturday consisted of lunch, a couple of special seminars, a fly casting demonstration, and then gearing up for the evening hunt. Saturday was a tough day of hunting and unfortunately, no one in camp was able to call in any birds. That all changed on Sunday.

After a long day on Saturday, I had plans to head out early on Sunday for some early fishing before heading home. My plans were thwarted when I found out there was french toast and sausage for breakfast. I hung around a bit, ate breakfast and talked to some of the folks who were milling around camp. Before I left, two youth hunters came into camp with beautiful gobblers. They were all smiles as they told the tales of calling in these toms.

As I left camp, I could not help but feel as if I had been a part of something important and timeless. The Arizona Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation is actively sharing the joy and heritage of hunting with youth hunters. Other organizations involved in the HAHWG are doing the same thing.

If you are looking to get involved with mentoring new hunters or if you are interested in getting started hunting, there are opportunities all across the great state of Arizona. I actively am trying to share these on Facebook and the Arizona Outdoor Events Calendar. The Arizona Game and Fish Department also posts this information on their site. As Rich Williams shared with me this weekend, “Someone took the time to teach you the joy of hunting. Who are you going to share it with?”

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