BOWHUNT FOR THE RIO GRANDE
by Robert Hoague

The Last Stand

DAY 8 - Last Day

I still have one turkey tag left, might as well try to fill it. There was only a singe gobble within Pro Ear s hearing distance this morning and it was so faint it had to be across the river to the east. I hunted the Gate and once the sun was up a doe walking parallel to the fence went by me. 

Today I set up a special rig which would hopefully catch gobblers unaware and bring them in close enough for a bow shot. I t is a Reno's Jake backside fan decoy. I rigged is to I could make it  pop up at will. I planned on leaving it down and out  of sight  and bringing it up when a gobbler was looking  toward me. Here's what it  looks like. 

Two hen turkeys walked across the field in from of me, the Rangefinder at  407 yards. Then  I heard a bunch of loud, crazy sounding bellowing from  the ranchers bull as several cows came down the fence 55 yards in front of me. 

I forgot to mention it but the other day the bull was in the area when I got in the blind. He didn't bother me but he stood outside the blind, throwing dirt and bellowing. Finally he cooled down and left.  Today he was much further away but was once again fixated on the blind. When he pushed the fence out  of his was and start ed toward me I could see a potential problem in the works. 

So I got out of the blind and quickly picked up a few sizable rocks (there are lot s of them around the area). By then the bull was 10 yards from me. He was closer than any trees that would hold me so I chunked a substantial rock at him with all the steam I could give it.

Whop! It hit him in the ear and he reacted with a jolt ... and backed away a few steps. He roared and scratched the ground with his front feet and threw dirt behind him. The second rock was already on its way and it popped him soundly in the ribs. He was definitely surprised and turned his back end toward me. I let a 3rd rock fly and it must have hurt because he turned and left me alone.

Then wild turkeys started showing up. This hen was the first and it came from the thick woods to my left. 

Two hens came from the east along the fence.

Two more hens came along the fence, one from the north and one from the south.

The last hen I saw came out of the coastal field in front of the blind.

Here is a picture I took while nothing was happening. It shows the inside of the blind, with my Reno's jake decoy, my Sony camera case, my LL Bean jumbo fanny pack (with Woodhaven turkey calls, a flashlight, tools, a thermocall, rain gear and other turkey hunting stuff ) and my new favorite hunting boots the Vail hikers from Wolverine.

To This Hunt's Home Page