Disclosure: no turkeys were harmed during this trip (ie. no gory pics)
Spring gobbler season is open April 15 to May 10 in New Mexico. During this period gobblers are busy gathering their flock of hens while vocally and aggresively defending their territory. Hunters use various calls (loud gobbles and hen calls during the day; hoot owl calls at dusk and pre-dawn) to locate and call a horny and/or pissed off gobbler into range.
I figured this would be a great season to hunt by mountain bike (Surly krampus) using 2.5 oz. foam decoys of a hen and Jake to augment my rudimentary calling skills gleaned from you-tube. The plan was to silently (3" 29+ tires at 9psi are quiet) ride trails, 4wd roads, and cross-country listening aND looking for turkey sign. If i located one by sound at least 100 yards away I would hide the bike and hunt on foot, setting up the decoys if advantageous.
I began the season hunting with a 12 gauge shotgun (9 lbs, Browning A5), which mounted securely to the handle bars using a myog adaptation of the swing stabilizing brackets from a car mount bike rack.
For the first 2 weeks I hunted each day after work for 2 -3 hours and a couple weekend bikepacking trips with an 7 lbs. overnight kit. The Zuni mountains average 8000'.
I replaced the noticeable swing weight of the handle bar mounted gun, with my more compact and lighter compound bow (4.5 lbs) after a week or so waiting for the turkey specific broadheads with a 3.75" cutting diameter (Magnus Bullhead 125 gr). I hunted with the bow the rest of the season.
135 GPS logged miles at around 2.5 miles/hour later, still no luck at all, even at hearing a single gobble. I blamed the early departure of winter (rationale supported by the gobbling I had heard in the weeks preceding the season) for the quiet toms.
I decided to spend the next weekend backpack hunting at higher colder elevations in a hope to find birds that were still actively mating and vocal.
I choose to go to the San Pedro Parks Wilderness (avg. 10,000' elev) a couple of hours away near Cuba, NM. The nearest Snotel said to expect 3-4 inches, meaning I would find everything from dry dirt to mud to deep drifts depending on location.
3+ season kit loosely packed in the Porter 4400 weighed around 10 lbs. 2 more pounds of calls, bow wrench, range finder, release, and the decoys combined with the 4.5 lbs. bow, quiver, and arrows brought the total base hunting pack weight to 16.5 lbs.
The run-off was at its peak and the normally swampy meadow trails were exceptionally wet and the creeks and ritos were swollen enough that I saw not a single boot print after passing the first deep crossings.
Blind with nice shooting line to the decoys
Walking slowly through the forest concealed in face to toe camouflage is a joy. I saw many animals before they saw me, even at very close range (elk, coyote, badger, squirrel). I modified a camouflage shirt to cover my white backpack by adding a draw cord to the bottom hem. I thread the shoulder straps and waist belt through the arm holes of the upside-down shirt and then draw the cord to access the roll-top. Added 6.1 ounces
The turkey hunting was better at this higher elevation, and I managed to stalk between two gobbling birds and set the deoys on the second morning but the closer bird moved away from me rather than closing in. Heart pounding fun!
Spirits were still high on the walk out despite the noticeable lack of weight and feathers hanging off the pack.
The bikepacking and bow rig will be used next during our elk season; I finally drew an early September tag!
