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2005
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Bowhunt For The Rio Grande,
by
Robert Hoague
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With
a rio grande yet to get I'm digging in...
Apr 24 - Longbeards, Ready Or
Not
Morning - Foggy was
the word this morning. Also sleepy. I was later than usual and it was daylight.
Several birds were already gobbling along the river 800 yards away when
I opened the gate, so I set all my gear in the blind and hid my truck 100
yards away and rushed back. One gobble sounded louder than the rest and
I smacked down a hen and jake decoy and got in the blind.
Gobble! And another. Close!
Like 60 to 70 yards.
I grabbed my bow and unclipped
the Matrix's snap to make a shooting window. Woops, hold up!
A longbeard walked out, 30
yards and closing, on a trail that passed by the blind. His head popped
forward and he gobbled, a deep gobble, fitting for the long beard sticking
out of his chest.
As I pulled an arrow out
of my bowquiver he walked behind a cedar 8 yards away. A second longbeard
was behind him. I nocked the arrow and popped the blades out on the Innerloc
Expandable because I needed to shoot through the wall of the blind.
Longbeard #2 came closer
and stooped. But at a place where I could not see him well enough to get
my pin on him. You can make a shooting window anywhere in the Matrix's
360 degree window and I carefully put my finger in the slit and opened
a two inch space, just enough to aim through.
He made a soft putt and walked
behind the cedar tree. The two toms walked casually away, gobbling occasionally.
I called with the Woodhaven aluminum slate.
Multi gobbles rang out.
On the opposite side of the
fence 3 jakes were in the trees 100 yards away. I got a shooting hole ready
for them. They skidded to a stop 30 yards from my hen and jake decoys,
which were the Renzo's in the picture above. The jakes held their ground
and soon moved on.
9:23 - Two gobblers
walked down the ranch road toward me. I closed the Matrix everywhere but
the side they were on and slipped the mesh up and out of the way for a
clear shot. And took a picture of one.
The other gobbler got off
the road and behind the only tree in view for 500 yards, and when I took
a pic there was only one visible.
He checked out the decoys
and apparently liked them because he walked closer. His companion turned
and passed by at 30 yards.
The longbeard stopped in
the shade of the "only tree" and I gave him a little encouragement with
the diaphragm. He wasn't encouraged and walked nonchalantly toward the
other longbeard. However, I had paced the tree off at 23 yards and put
my pin on him and shot. He hopped after the arrow missed him and kept walking.
Unconcerned.
Maybe he will be back.
9:39 - I noticed some
turkeys 400 yards away where the rancher feeds his cows hay bales. As time
passed three different groups of turkeys showed up there. I took pictures
of them all but all the pics looked the same so I think you will get the
idea from this one.
Apr 24 - Afternoon: First Buck With
Antlers
The Gate seemed like a good
choice. There was a little cow-ference for a while, during which I saw
two deer in the trees walking parallel to the fence. I got a pic as one
stepped onto the road.
And here are some of the
dreaded Cow-ference group.
When they both reached the
road I heard a disruption on the cow side of the fence. Ten yards away
a black bodied, white faced heifer cow was chasing a red headed jake! They
zig zagged around and when the jake had an opening it shot under the road
fence. The heifer stopped short of the fence and bellowed.
Another turkey, a hen, flew
up and tried to clear the metal gate, hitting the top with a crash, and
landing in the road, in front of the two deer.
With the emergency over the
hen was cool again and walked past the deer. I wanted her to stay and called
quietly. She stopped. Then she came back and walked around. Maybe, If the
jake was still around he might come on down. But if he was, he didn't.
As the deer walked by the
blind, a few yards away, I noticed that one had starter antlers. The first
buck with antlers of 2005.
I will make a page of the
pics of this buck and a close up of the antlers in progress so you can
see exactly how and where the antler grows.
Back To Where You Were
At
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