BOWHUNT FOR THE RIO GRANDE
by Robert Hoague

Turkey Hunting With Billy Don
I am bowhunting at Billy Don's Wild Horse Prairie Ranch in Burnet, Texas. 

Apr 28 - Right Off The Bat

By 1:30 I was back in the blind, ready for another afternoon in the wild turkey woods. The first turkeys I saw were some hens down the hill near a dead tree stump. As I watched them two red headed strangers came into view. 

The Toms walked within a few steps of the hens and put on their show of strutting and spitting and drumming 50 yards away.

I zoomed in tighter on the duo. This show lasted 25 minutes and at one point at least one of the gobblers bread one of the hens. I didn't have a totally clear view of it but what they were doing was obvious.

Eventually the hens meandered off and the Toms followed. Before long three mature gobblers came off the ridge and took up residence at the edge of the trees where they could see the entire valley. (70 yards away.)

They stayed there for over an hour, watching and interacting with one another. 

Finally four hens walked down the road. The biggest gobbler popped his feathers out. Look at the beard on this monster slunger. The hens were getting closer to me with every step and I got prepared to shoot. Instead of following the hens the gobbler trio walked back into the trees and moved on to parts unknown.

If I had been further down the hill by the dead tree stump where the first two gobblers were standing I would have been within bow range of all 5 of those big gobblers. It was still early, only 3:30 so I checked the entire area carefully ... and ran down the hill with the blind, my folded up chair and BowTech bow and set up close to today's action center. (Below.)

I did not have long to wait. Two hens, the bearded hen and another, walked through the nearby woods. If I can pull it off I like to persuade hens to stay in the area so I called softly to them on the Woodhaven cherry slate. 

The hens slowed down and lingered in the area. Suddenly a gobble boomed from the top of the hill. My camera was already in my hands and I pointed it at the big Tom. 

This was a huge turkey and he had his eye on the two hens. (He was 55 yards in this picture.)
He came down hill and intercepted the hens. But they ignored him. So far I had been conservative in my calling, but I covered up this big gobbler with yelps and cuts and everything else I could think of. He looked back and forth between the hens and my position.

Again, a bunch of hens worked their way through the valley as the afternoon passed. Between 7:00 and 7:30 a strong gust of wind blew the blind over and left me sitting in my fold up chair. It kept up and the only way I could have heard a gobble was if the the bird was in the blind with me. But that was just the beginning because later that night high winds of over 100 mph were recorded 20 miles away. 

LAST DAY
In the morning the blind was 40 yards from where I'd left it, hung up on the thorns of some mesquite trees. The wind was brutal and it rained off and on for most of the day. If it wasn't for the Pro Ears I doubt I could have heard any of the few gobbles that I did hear. A few hens moved around in the cedars, I guess the tight trees gave them a wind break. Around 7:30 in the afternoon the wind slacked and in the next 45 minutes I saw hens, a gobbler, a group of wild hogs, and 11 deer. I called a gobbler in last thing and heard him fly up. But he wasn't going to get any play from me in the morning. I had to pack my gear and go home to get ready to bowhunt gobblers in Tennessee.

To This Hunt's Home Page
 

Billy Don Van Cleave

Billy Don Van Cleave's Wild Horse Prairie Ranch We are bowhunting Rio Grande Wild Turkey with Billy Don. His ranch is the home of the Bowhunting.net Annual Bowhunt in October. He has bowhunts for trophy bucks, does and wild hogs. Plus Exotics: black buck, red stag, rams, aoudad and more. Billy Don, P.O. Box 199, Satin, TX 76685 Call: 254-749-6119 Fax: 254-546-2709 Email: bdvanc@aol.com Web: Wild Horse Prairie Ranch

To This Hunt's Home Page