General Outdoor

Turkey Slam Success! Rio Grande!

Cruising down the back roads of Kerr County, TX is an interesting experience.

The majority of wildlife spotted is exotic and much of it ranging beyond the confines of high fenced hunting ranches. Axis deer, blackbuck antelope and aoudad are more are prevalent than even native whitetail.

I was looking for wild turkeys, the Rio Grand variety in particular as I am on a quest to get the Grand Slam (Rio Grande, Merriam’s, Eastern and Oceola subspecies) by camera this year.

It started off super slow two weeks ago with a trip to the area surrounding Palmetto State Park near Luling, TX.

I saw a lone turkey at about 200 yards but we could not get it to come any closer despite calling.

My rule for this project is the pictures must be magazine quality. In other words up close and full of detail.

Just as the sun began to peek out of an early morning haze I spotted three turkeys on a hill. Fellow wildlife photographer Gerald Burleigh stopped the truck and my friend and fellow turkey fanatic Josh Slone jumped out and started calling.

I ran down below the bird’s line of sight, walked up to a bush and shot a few pics.

Then down the fence came a loud gobble.

I spun around to see two large gobblers trying to figure out how to get over the fence to get to the hens that had just flown over.

Apparently these guys were so love struck (after all it is breeding season) they forgot they can you know…fly.

One down-three to go! These two gobblers were trying to find their way over a fence that three hens had just flew over. (Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.)

This worked to my advantage as they paced up and down and I slid down about 30 yards and waited.

The birds eventually made the move and moved into range and I took dozens of shots before their pursuit of the hens continued.

It was so exciting to get these birds after so much hard work.

Getting the Rio Grande photo above took the following effort.

*Two Trips from Orange, TX to Hill Country

*28 hours total driving

*$450 in hotels and gas

*16 hours searching in the field

Since the quest began I have studied historical maps of turkey range and found there should be Rio Grande in good numbers much closer to home. The drive should be cut from six hours to about three but urban sprawl and degraded habitat on top of poaching many years ago have isolated them more than people think.

Texas has around 500,000 birds with the vast majority being Rios with a few hundred Merriam’s in the Trans Pecos and about 7,000 easterns in the Pineywoods.

Turkeys are not nearly as adaptable as whitetails.

Getting what so far is the best turkey photo I have ever taken gave me an even greater respect for those conservation-minded turkey hunters who pursue the Grand Slam and wanting to learn much more about these regal birds.

Step one was hard considering I am doing this in my “spare” time and totally on my coin to raise awareness to turkey conservation and the health of America’s forests.

But I have a feeling finding Rios will be a walk in the park compared to some of the other varieties.

I plan on pushing hard for eastern in the coming two weeks. I’ve already had two days searching for them in the national forests of Texas with no success.

I might have a line on some birds in Louisiana and as I researched that state’s turkey population I found there is a story that needs to be told.

After all people will only conserve what they care for and understand.

And that’s what this Turkey Revolution is all about-unveiling the story of America’s greatest game bird so their future and that of America’s forest is secure.

Chester Moore, Jr.

 

TFG Editorial

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