Bad Timing Turkey

[gstoneberg]

Cipriano came to hog hunt with me this past weekend.  We scared the hogs but didn't kill any.  We did see some hen turkeys which made me think about turkey hunting but I'm not really a turkey hunter so I didn't think about it much.  As the hunt ended I began to pack the Jeep up and Diego took his dad on a last golf cart ride.  Cipriano had spotted some potential arrow wood



and I was cutting 2 or 3 when I heard a turkey gobble back towards the field.  It was the last day of our season and I thought to myself...no way, it'll never work.  When the guys came back they needed to hit the road so I tossed the rifle on the cart and headed towards the field.  I slipped up there on the electric cart and started glassing.  I couldn't see him and was about to give up when he gobbled and close!  Finally he started walking away and was half way across the field before he stopped.  That was what I needed and he came back to camp with me.



Man are those Rio Grande turkeys pretty!



I forgot to bring home the beard, but got the rest of the important stuff.



Gonna grind him up tonight and he'll be pot stickers by this time next week.  Yum.

He sure picked a bad time to gobble.  Wish I could've taken him with a bow.

George

[criveraville]

That's a hunting story.. A good end to a good hunting trip. Great time all around.. That turkey must have run out of luck. It usually doesn't work out that way..

Diego and I both had a wonderful time. For journal time he wrote about hunting, shooting the Copperhead bow and driving the golf cart. Thank you for the experience. 

Cipriano 

[Pappy]

Congrats ,very nice bird.
   Pappy

[cowboy]

Good story George. The couple of turkeys i have taken in my life worked out about like that. Hey, do you have any idea what kind of small trees those are (arrow wood). I've cut some in the past along the Brazos thinking of making a bow but they seem too brittle - never could figure out what they were..

[gstoneberg]

Thanks guys.  I don't know what that is Paul.  Cipriano told me what he thought it was but I can't remember what he said.    I'm an arrow wood novice for sure.  I only cut the ones that were a single stalk.  There were a lot more of them that had branches but I didn't know if they'd work so I didn't cut them.  One of the reasons I took the picture was to try and get help identifying it.  But, then I forgot to ask for help .  Senility is a bad thing...

George

[crooketarrow]

  Nice bird, looks like a 2 year old could be a 3. 3 Year olds uselly hava a little more curve in the spur and are dull. For a second there I thought that tag was a really NICE kicker spurr.  Way to go.

[criveraville]

Paul,

It's mimosa. I don't know if it will make good arrows, but worth a try..

[cowboy]

Hmm, that's not the mimosa i grew up around unless there's variety's i don't know about. Looks more like some kind of sumac..

[HatchA]

Always thought mimosa was a cocktail


Great story and a great result, George   Some nice eating there!

[criveraville]

That's right. sorry.. It is sumac

[gstoneberg]

We had a very similar if not identical plant up in Nebraska that turned fiery red in the fall.  Very pretty.  I think it is sumac as well, wonder if it will make an arrow?

Thanks,
George

[mullet]

Nice bird. I was like Roy, I was going, "that's a heck 've a spur for a Rio". Gotta agree, loks like a 2 year old. We have that same plant down here and it's not Mimosa.

[gstoneberg]

Thanks again guys.  I agree crooketarrow, I think this one was a 2 year old bird.  He had the lighter feathers of a younger bird on the inside of his legs.  One spur almost looks broken, it is shorter than the other, but neither is hooked at all.  The other 2 adults I've killed down here were older and had nicer spurs and nicer beards.  The first one I got back in 2008 had a triple beard.  They have a habit of showing up when I'm deer hunting and frustrated by the lack of deer, though this time it was a hog hunt.

Gotta go grind him up before my wife falls asleep.  Waking her up is a baaad idea.

George