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Turkeys On Top
 
Where is he? Gobbles in mountains are difficult pinpoint; be randy gar a long hike or ca quick shot, Getting away from the roads (below) can pay off in vocal gobblers.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
             
 

subspecies, characterized by a body slightly smaller than that of their Eastern relatives, creamy-white tail tips and the long legs and big lungs of creatures born to scuttle up and down mountains in the rarefied Rocky Mountain air.
    These birds are not recent interlopers. But for years they were treated in a manner many camo-clad, card-carrying turkey hunters categorized as undignified, with pickup

 
 
This poses some problems. Anyone who has heard Julie Andrews warble in The Sound of Music recognizes that high-pitched, loud noises are difficult to pinpoint in the mountains. To wit: The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Gobbles. Where exactly they come from is another question.
    A turkey that sounds "just over the ridge" may be just over, the ridge and on its way in or just over
 
 
trucks and deer rifles figuring prominently in the equation. The " Texas ambush" factored in the death of most turkeys in the Rockies until a few Southerners migrated West in the spring to demonstrate the subtleties of calling. The cowboys learned to purr and cackle and cluck, came up with camo covers for their hats, and the rest is history.
    There are lots of turkeys now in that country (and through much of the West, north to Wyoming, with numbers increasing at an encouraging rate). Fortunately, they have yet to develop the anal-retentive ways of Eastern birds, which is to say they gobble as if they mean it—an exhilarating proclamation of their libido.
  
the ridge and over the next five, too. Mountains do strange things to sounds, which is why yodeling was not invented in Alabama. The key is to be exceedingly cautious when you hear a mountain turkey gobble. Find a place to set up before you respond; he may be inbound. Call once and try to get a fix. If he is coming to you, shut up. If not, cautiously move to a position from which you can get a better fix and call again.
    You may blow it, of course, because blowing it in turkey hunting is the norm. Not to worry. There are other birds out there. Finding them is relatively simple: Get out of the truck.
    While many cowboys have stored their
  
         
     
 

SPORTS AFIELD MARCH 1994

  
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