I went out over the weekend and saw some birds in higher elevations. But we did not hear anything.
Picked up a little bit today. They gobbled off the roost and then sent quiet.
predictions fer how its gonna look in a week?
I think if the temps stay into the 70's it will be great hunting.
will be headed over from AZ. on fri or sat.
Heading to the Gila this weekend. Hope the wind stays away.
I have never seen our southern NM birds as quiet as they have been this year. A little gobbling on the roost,...if you can find them before the wind picks up,...and very little once they get on the ground. I think the problem in the Lincoln, at least, is that there are very few two-year-olds around to stir up the action. ...Hoping that things pick up in these last two weeks. I've heard they have started to get a bit more active during the second week.
I definitely hope so. I'm headed back out the last week.
Just had a rough week in the Gila. VERY LITTLE TALKING. SUPER WINDY. I left frustrated
Ended up going to Lincoln instead of the Gila. Headed to a spot that I've never NOT heard 3 or 4 birds in the mornings. Zip, zero, nada. Although a damn 4-wheeler rolled up to the knob right about gobble time and started blowing some kind of call as soon as he shut-off. I'm not real sure what it was supposed to sound like. Maybe a crow that was half-dead? Called up a couple of lonely hens, but that was it. Those 4-wheelers get me frustrated everytime I go up there. Doesn't seem like anyone wants to use their feet, so they just try to hunt off the 4-wheelers, which seems to make the birds extremely call shy.
"Although a damn 4-wheeler rolled up to the knob right about gobble time and started blowing some kind of call as soon as he shut-off. I'm not real sure what it was supposed to sound like. Maybe a crow that was half-dead? Called up a couple of lonely hens, but that was it. Those 4-wheelers get me frustrated everytime I go up there. Doesn't seem like anyone wants to use their feet, so they just try to hunt off the 4-wheelers, which seems to make the birds extremely call shy."---quote
Yeah, the ATV problem in the Lincoln needs to be addressed. There is a no-off-roading policy, but a certain percentage of ATV users there just seem to ignore it. Every place you go there is evidence of off-roaders driving right around barriers clearly indicating that the area is closed.
Our NWTF group has even assisted the Forest Service in placing barriers. Last summer, we put some GIANT boulders in front of a closed road with signs indicating it is closed. Some *$&£"*%& tore down the sign and towed one of the rocks out of the way so they could drive though! We have lobbied the FS to institute an ATV-confiscation policy for people who get caught, but for some reason they won't do it. If they would take away a few of the lawbreakers ATV's, the problem would stop very quickly.
As for the gobbling activity, I am headed back up tomorrow to try again. ....Will report later as to whether the birds are getting any more active. At least the wind is not supposed to be as bad for a while.
I here you on the ATV/UTV's and not paying attention to the rules/regulations. I've always wanted to just start dropping trees at the entrance to the trails but realized I would be the start of another problem. I don't know a solution but something should be done to unforced the current rules.
More importantly....Good luck to everyone.
Quote from: quackaddict on April 29, 2013, 10:25:10 AM
Ended up going to Lincoln instead of the Gila. Headed to a spot that I've never NOT heard 3 or 4 birds in the mornings. Zip, zero, nada. Although a damn 4-wheeler rolled up to the knob right about gobble time and started blowing some kind of call as soon as he shut-off. I'm not real sure what it was supposed to sound like. Maybe a crow that was half-dead? Called up a couple of lonely hens, but that was it. Those 4-wheelers get me frustrated everytime I go up there. Doesn't seem like anyone wants to use their feet, so they just try to hunt off the 4-wheelers, which seems to make the birds extremely call shy.
I know it's frustrating, but that was funny. Never have figured out how they don't know how a crow sounds.
Quote from: Kcurtisjr on April 30, 2013, 09:16:39 PM
I here you on the ATV/UTV's and not paying attention to the rules/regulations. I've always wanted to just start dropping trees at the entrance to the trails but realized I would be the start of another problem. I don't know a solution but something should be done to unforced the current rules.
More importantly....Good luck to everyone.
Roofing Tacs seem to work pretty well :)
Quote from: howl on May 02, 2013, 10:40:26 AM
Quote from: quackaddict on April 29, 2013, 10:25:10 AM
Ended up going to Lincoln instead of the Gila. Headed to a spot that I've never NOT heard 3 or 4 birds in the mornings. Zip, zero, nada. Although a damn 4-wheeler rolled up to the knob right about gobble time and started blowing some kind of call as soon as he shut-off. I'm not real sure what it was supposed to sound like. Maybe a crow that was half-dead? Called up a couple of lonely hens, but that was it. Those 4-wheelers get me frustrated everytime I go up there. Doesn't seem like anyone wants to use their feet, so they just try to hunt off the 4-wheelers, which seems to make the birds extremely call shy.
I know it's frustrating, but that was funny. Never have figured out how they don't know how a crow sounds.
It is funny. I honestly am not sure what kind of call he was blowing. It was just an obnoxious whail. I wish I could have recorded it for y'all to hear.
This front blowing in looks like it's going to knock the birds back for the last weekend. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to waste the gas money or not :-\
I hear you about the 4-wheelers. We went to the Gila a few years ago and couldn't work a bird for people driving up on you. But on a positive note, if you fell off the mountain and broke your leg, if you could Gobble, help would ride up in a matter of minutes.
Quote from: Hevi-5 on May 02, 2013, 05:21:31 PM
I hear you about the 4-wheelers. We went to the Gila a few years ago and couldn't work a bird for people driving up on you. But on a positive note, if you fell off the mountain and broke your leg, if you could Gobble, help would ride up in a matter of minutes.
That's funny. Lol
QuackAddict, a fellow Clemson Tiger is turkey chasing in NM as well. Hunting north of Santa Fe in the morning.
Hart, is he from Scducks too?
It was me. Hunting public land near Coyote. 9,000 elevation. Birds all henned up. Left and went to TX.
Slow weekend once again.
I figured at some point in the season the birds would start talking, but it appears that is not going to happen,...at least not in the area of the Lincoln we hunt. The gobbler numbers are obviously down this year.
My conclusion is that there are so few two-year-old gobblers around,...the ones that like to gobble and get the older birds active, as well,...that the birds just have not been stirred into gobbling much. In places where in the past where a guy could count on hearing several birds, it has been difficult to stir up even a single tom.
The windy weather certainly has not helped things, either, but even on the few calm mornings we have had, I have been amazed at the silence in places where, in a normal year, a person would hear several gobblers going off.
The good thing, though, is that there appears to be a lot of jakes this spring, which bodes better for next year's hunting.
I agree in the large number of Jakes. We saw several groups of multiple Jakes