The quest for the Rio and other spring notes:
Last year during spring turkey season I decided that my next year’s quest would be to harvest a Rio from club land. It was decided that I would try to hunt late April as that seemed to be the best time in years past. As luck would have it in my case, plans didn’t always come to fruition, and here are the details of that quest and my spring in general.
This year I kicked off my late winter/spring season with a trip to the Iowa Deer Classic accompanied by my girlfriend. The entire trip was well worth it and some great memories were had. For anyone interested in the classic, I would recommend to all. The displays were great. The huge deer from all over the state were a welcome sight to see. We did do a little scouting and saw deer and/or turkey on just about every property that we looked at or drove by.
As usual my spring started off with mostly shed hunting. I think the last time I updated you I had found one shed. I ended up with 8 total sheds from this spring. I was able to find that gem of shed, a little 6 inch long 2-point. The way I see it, the smaller they are the harder they are to find. I did find a couple of smaller 5 points and the deer should be 140 inches or better this coming fall.
During the spring shed hunting trips I was able to put eyes on literally hundreds of both deer and turkey on total of 28 separate properties that were either scouted on foot or at least drove by. All scouting was complete in 4 separate weekends encompassing 8 total days.
Somewhere along the way I got a call from a good hunting buddy who invited me to join him and one other guy in Rio country. The only issue I had was that it was opening week and I was looking to spend the time and money on a later weekend. I could not pass up good times with friends and jumped at the opportunity.
This first week turned out to be very difficult. Since I had not been there before I asked for some help and proceeded to hunt one of the properties Rios were known to frequent. There were around 60 counted turkeys on the neighbors but none were spotted on our property. It was quite enjoyable to see 20+ longbeards, most of which were strutting from the high vantage point I had though. That evening we were able to watch 3 toms travel at least 1.5 miles in less than 10 minutes to roost. I had never seen turkeys travel so far, but I guess that is what Rios do in the more open terrain.
The next day we were able to hunt a different property in which we saw strutters from the road. Long story short, about an hour after getting there and lots of crawling and gobbling we popped up over a top of ditch and there were some toms 40 yards out. After first sight, they started feeding our way. I proceeded to shoot and miss, shoot and miss, and lastly shoot and miss my last shot in the chamber. That would be the last time this year.
My week was cut short because of death in the family and we all know what is most important. It turned out that the weather that everyone was talking about was coming in anyway and the hunting apparently turned south.
After coming home, I moved states. I hunted some familiar properties and never got the chance for a shot. The neighbors just across the fence appeared to be having a lot of luck though. Several close encounters were had.
The first weekend of this states season, I took the opportunity to take out a hunter from the buddy list whom had never turkey hunted before. The first day ever for him, we called in three different toms to 60 yards from long distances. All three gobbled like champs. It was a turkey hunting introduction fit for a king. The second day, we moved to a property in which I had seen at least 15 gobblers. Turkeys were on the other side of levee and had nothing on the other side but a 25 yard creek. Since there seemed no where to go for the turkeys, the only logical tactic was to call and wait. Three hours later, 4 toms came over the levee right to us and the first bird of the year was harvested.
The second weekend of season I had one of those morning hunts that happens rarely. The bird flew straight off the roost and I harvested the bird at 6:20 am. One state’s tags were now filled. This was perfect for the morel mushroom hunting weekend originally planned and let’s just say the taste buds for many were very satisfied.
After a little bit of thought, it was decided I would take the long trip to Rio country once more and take a chance. The weekend was one of the best I have ever had. The first bird was pure luck. I was about to leave the hunting property and noticed a neighbor's cow outside of the fence. I took the 10 minutes to put her back in and let’s just say I think she had a calf near-by. I am sure it would have made America’s funniest home videos. I got back to truck and was about to shut the door and the familiar gobble was heard. Luck or something else was on my side. The turkey would not answer the turkey calls, but he sure like to shock gobble to a crow call. With pinpoint precision I was able to walk right up on him and harvest my third bird of the year. My quest for a Rio was successful.
I still had one more day and tag. I found myself watching a flock of 4 toms, 6 jakes, and 6 hens in a huge field. Learning from my “wait” lesson earlier in the year that is exactly what I did. Deer and turkey never left the field and were always in sight. For the first time, I watched a pair copulate. Three and one half hours later, the turkeys made it my way and I had my choice of 4 toms.
I have moved into summer scouting for deer and have already spotted one outside the ears. I hope all of the deer are growing great racks for everyone hunting this fall. ae
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