The Rio Grande
Texas and Oklahoma

(Apr 6) Grand Slam 2001, The Rio (a bowhunt in progress)
At 5:30pm the Duck and I met Doug Crabtree and his pop at the Red Barn to eat the place out of chicken fried steak. We discussed the hunt strategy. In the wee hours this morning Jim Autrey of TexasDeerHunter.com TV Show came over to cover Doug Crabtree's hunt and the Slam for the Rio begins. 

(Apr 7) Grand Slam 2001, The Rio (a bowhunt in progress)
Morning Hunt - Doug Crabtree and Jim Autrey waited in the dark until gobbles began. Two gobblers were close by and 3 were further down the river. Hens were also in the trees with the gobblers. Doug set the Double Bull blind in between the gobblers, put out the decoys and waited. A gobbler and his hens flew down. When Doug saw them he called for the first time. The Tom answered and the birds worked closer. The closest hens and a gobbler flew down and joined the approaching turkeys. But the hens started away and the gobblers followed.

An hour passed and Doug decided to take down the blind and change locations. As they walked along a crow called and a bird gobbled at it, the gobble was close. Doug hurriedly set a decoy up and 4 gobblers heads appeared -- it was too soon, there was not enough time to get ready. Doug signaled Jim to get down and they both laid in the grass and let the birds pass by them.

They walked around and heard a gobbler at the canyon, which was where the Duck (Don Beckwith) was. Doug worked the gobbler and he walked up out of the canyon where the Duck was. 

The Duck got ready as he heard the bird gobbling and coming closer. It was a big gobbler with it's beard touching the ground. Doug called and the bird puffed up to full strut. The arrow missed. 

Doug Crabtree Sr. and I stood in my front yard and located 5 different gobblers in their roosts. The reason we didn't hunt them was his bow cable broke.

We all ate lunch at the Red Barn and Doug Sr. and I drove to the Out House Archery Pro Shop in Waco and bought a new string and cables for his bow. When we returned it was too late to turkey hunt. The Duck hunted  at the canyon and heard lots of turkeys but didn't get any in close for a shot.

(Evening hunt) Doug and Jim set up near a tree that a longbeard had roosted in last year. He waited to call until 6:00. A gobbler answered 300 yards away. The gobbler came in up hill from them and walked by 25 yards away. Jim got the longbeard on film but Doug didn't feel the shot was right and he waited, figuring the bird would see the decoys and come in for a perfect shot. He didn't and went into the nearby field. Several turkeys were in the field and he ran across the field and attacked a gobbler. While they were watching the ruckus Doug saw a gobbler 200 yards away walking straight toward them. The bird came right to them, circled the blind and stopped to watch the decoys. Pine trees were in the way of a shot. Doug clucked and the Tom moved into the clear, 15 yards away. Doug's arrow dropped the bird in it's tracks.

The Grand Slam is 50% done. 

Doug Crabtree and the 2nd Gobbler (the Rio Grande) of his Quest For The Grand Slam With A Bow.

(Apr 8) Grand Slam 2001 (a bowhunt in progress)
One word covers it, windy. The winds gusted as high as 40 mph today. Wild turkeys are edgy in high winds and generally are not as active as 
normal. Everyone hunted and both Doug's called in a gobbler in the morning and afternoon but, due to the wind, things were not right for a shot. 

(Apr 9) Grand Slam 2001 (a bowhunt in progress)
The morning hunt had minimal activity due to the continuing high winds. The wind finally lay during the afternoon hunt. Doug Crabtree Sr. and the Duck set up by the river and called with an aluminum friction call every 20 minutes until they heard a gobble 100 yards away at 6:05. Doug Sr. switched to a ceramic slate and answered with soft clucks followed with a short set of yelps. A gobbler ran up and and went into full strut in a patch of bluebonnets 25 yards away. It was the cagey gobbler we call big boy, he's big, with his weight in at 23 pounds or better.

Every few minutes Doug Sr. called with very soft clucks, purrs and yelps. The Tom gobbled and strutted for 45 minutes, eyeing the decoys. Doug Sr. whispered to the Duck that they were loosing the battle, the gobbler was loosing interest. Shortly, the gobbler turned and walked 100 yards away into the nearby open field, headed towards his roost area. But the gobbler surprised the hunters and stopped, looked back and gobbled. Doug Sr. gave him the silent treatment and the turkey gobbled 3 more times, then Doug answered with excited cutting, clucks and long assembly yelps. The gobbler started back and within minutes appeared at the same spot in the bluebonnets. Doug Sr. gave a soft cluck and purr on the aluminum call and followed with contented yelps. The turkey gobbled, dropped out of strut and walked to the decoys. Doug Sr. drew and aimed. The arrow was deflected and landed short, missing the bird at 13 yards.

In spite of how it easy looks, it's never in the bag.

Once it was dark Doug Sr. owl hooted and the gobbler responded immediately. Doug Sr. did a fly up with the diaphragm and two hens responded in the same vicinity the gobbler was. In the morning they will relocate 50 yards from where they were this afternoon and hunt without decoys.

(Apr 10) Grand Slam 2001 (a bowhunt in progress)
Big time windy all morning .. and it continued to blow hard all day. Birds gobbled but shut up, the wind was so loud the hunters and hunted couldn't keep track of each other. Doug and Doug Sr. hunted hard but couldn't get them to respond. 
(Afternoon hunt)  More high winds. Doug Sr. and the Duck hunted the river. They heard the big boy gobbler roost 110 yards away. Two hens left him and flew up directly above the blind they were hunting in. They waited until dark and snuck out. They will be back in the morning. Angela Morris hunted with us today and Doug called for her. They heard three gobblers and got one working but couldn't make it work in the high winds. 

(Apr 11) Doug Sr. and 3-Step go head to head 
Doug Sr. and the Duck slipped into their Double Bull blind 20 minutes before any visible light. At daylight a hard thunderstorm came and it poured until 7:15. Fifteen minutes later the birds on the roost started gobbling. The hens flew down first and Doug Sr. got out of the blind and chased them off so when the gobbler came to find them they wouldn't interfere with his hunt. He returned to the blind and went to work with the call: beginning with a fly down and on into clucks and assembly yelps. Last night we decided to call this gobbler "3 Steps" because he takes 3 steps and looks for 10 minutes and gobbles like crazy.

The 3-Steps gobbler went nuts and flew down. He stopped several times as he came. He was very vocal. He spotted the and gobbled and strutted  75 yards away. He proceeded to the top of the pool dam, 100 yards away, where he could see the decoys from a high advantage. He gobbled and strutted for over an hour. Dour Sr. told me he had never heard a gobbler harder or longer than 3 Steps. Doug Sr. stayed quiet, he knew the gobbler wanted the decoys to come to him, calling would not help at this point, 3-Steps would either come down to the decoys or not. 

He didn't come, he finally stopped gobbling and walked away. He walked out to 200 yards and gobbled and strutted for 45 minutes. 

At 9:00 Doug Sr. took the blind down and came in to pack to leave for their hunt in Oklahoma.

Angela Morris and Doug Crabtree heard Doug Sr. working 3-Step closer and they moved to the windmill area so they wouldn't interfere. Once there, they heard a gobbler and followed his gobbles toward the Point and set up ahead of him and called. He was cautious and came slowly and eventually would up 5 yards from the blind, staring at the decoys, but branches and small bushes were in the way. Angela waited with her bow in her hand, wanting the bird to get in the clear. He didn't.

Afterward she said, "My couldn't believe how much my heart was beating" At 9:30 they had to quit and come in so Doug could pack to leave for Oklahoma.

(Apr 12) Oklahoma Panhandle (a bowhunt in progress)
Late yesterday our turkey hunting duo arrived at Wyonika, in the Oklahoma panhandle. Before daylight this morning they started walking behind the lodge. Fifteen minutes later they heard gobbles in every direction. Quickly, they set up near a field, between two juniper trees. The air was filled with gobbling and hens yelping. A group 200 yards away on the far side of the field flew down. Two gobblers started fighting and then others gobblers flew down and joined the fracas. This continued for 5 minutes.

After the fight Doug started yelping and clucking. Hens answered and Doug assembly called. A gobbler sounded off in the distance, at least 1,000 yards away. Both Doug's answered and the gobbler got excited.  They shut off the calling and waited. The Longbeard appeared 250 yards away along an edge on the far side of the field. 

Doug Sr. gave a soft yelp and the gobbler came closer, stopping to strut every 50 yards. Once he saw the decoys he came running and blew up at 15 yards and walked up 5 yards away from the blind, strutting, spitting and drumming -- right in front of the shooting window!

Doug Sr. put his arrow in front of the left wing, a perfect shot and the bird hit the ground on the spot.

He is a double beard, one is 10 1/2" and the other is 7" long. He weighed 21 pounds and he has 1 3/8" spurs, he's a 6 year old bird. Pics are on the way.

We have the makings of a Double Slam as both Doug Crabtree and Doug Sr. now have now taken the Osceola and the Rio Grande species. Yes!!!

Thurs eve they returned to same spot. Called at 5:30 and a hen came in and walked around the area. Some gobblers roosted nearby.

(Apr 13) Chris Edwards and Dave Johnson hunt
Doug Sr. took Dave Johnson to the Cottonwood area. A gobbler answered 800 yards away and Doug Sr. skillfully worked the bird in to 35 yards. Dave shot and missed.

Doug took Chris Edwards, the owner of Cimmeron River Hunt Club -- the 45,000 acres of wilderness that they are hunting. It is full of turkey, deer and game birds. They checked several areas.

(Apr 14) Doug calls a 10" gobbler in for calls Chris Edwards of the Cimmeron River Hunt Club
Doug and Chris went to the Lymen area. Set up before daylight. A gobbler flew out from a cottonwood and landed 40 yards from the blind. Twenty-One hens followed. Chris didn't see what he wanted and they moved to a Mesa and set up at 12:00 noon. A gobbler answered at 12:15. He came closer and when he saw the jake decoy he came running. Chris shot him with the shotgun, a 19 pound, 10" beard, and 1 1/8" spurs.

They returned to camp and Doug took Bob, an Oklahoma hunt club member. Doug called in a Gobbler with 6 hens. The Tom mated two of the hens and flew up in a group of cottonwood trees. 

Doug Sr. took Chris's uncle Dave turkey hunting and during the day they heard lots of gobbles and set up on them. Several birds responded, both Tom's and hens. Dave had opportunities but chose not to shoot. They roosted birds on the evening hunt.

(Apr 15) Doug Sr. calls one in for Dave Johnson 
Doug set up where he had been Saturday night and called in a large gobbler. The bird hung up at 30 yards and when it looked like it was leaving Doug shot, but he missed.

Doug Sr. and Dave Johnson returned to the roost area. The birds flew down very late. Doug Sr. used assembly calls every half hour. At 8:45 two gobblers appeared and strutted toward the decoys. Dave took the largest gobbler with a shotgun.

Apr 16 - Doug Bags An Oklahoma Rio

This morning Doug and his dad went to the Gunnaway, an area that is basically wide open but broken up by Mesas and Canyons full of cottonwood trees. They set up between tit wo mesas, close to a canyon. At daylight they heard gobbles and hen yelps in the canyon and soon 6 gobblers and 13 hens flew down 300 yards away, in the open. Doug called, the birds answered and the entire group came on over.

Suddenly a bobcat appeared and approached and investigated the decoys. The turkeys were 60 yards away and saw him. They immediately retreated to the field. 

Once the bobcat left the birds would not come back to more calling. 

Doug and Doug Sr. circled wide. It took 2 hours because there was so little cover, they had to keep low and go slow. Eventually they found a draw where the blind was hidden from the turkey's immediate view and set up the Double Bull blind. Doug called and the group of turkeys wasted no time, they came right over.

The first gobbler was a 4 incher and Doug passed. A 2nd gobbler came right to the decoys. Doug Sr. had the video camera on him and Doug came to full draw and shot, a perfect hit.

The gobbler flew up in the air and promptly folded up and fell 20 yards away. Three miles later they were back at the truck.

This afternoon they are leaving for South Dakota for the 3rd leg of their quest for the Grand Slam, Merriam's wild turkeys. They will meet Brook Johnson of Double Bull Archery.

Grand Slam: the Florida Bowhunt for the Osceola
Grand Slam: to Texas and Oklahoma for the Rio
Grand Slam: South Dakota for the Merriam's
Grand Slam: to Kansas for the Eastern
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