2010 Spring Turkey Hunting
Mustang Ranch Reports and Photos
Please note: Hunt reports are posted in reverse order with the most recent hunt at the top of the page and the first hunt at the bottom of the page.
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Hunt 3 April 22 - 25
In the pre-hunt letter sent to all our booked turkey hunters, we told them to bring their camera. The legendary spring wild flowers in Texas were set to put on a show. During this final hunt of our 2010 season, finally, here they came. The flowers on the Mustang Camp ranch were stunning. The four turkey hunters on hand for the event were in for this additional treat - beyond the usual great hunting and accommodating service from the Mustang Ranch personnel. The wild flower photos below show just a portion of the beauty.
Frank Gonzales, Fort Pierce, FL and his hunting buddy, Hal Hutchins from Utica, MS hunted with us at the Home Camp a year ago. Thinking they had re-booked the same time frame this year, around the first of April they called to set up arrangements but their stunned outfitter (yours truly) didn't have their names anywhere in his master list. The Home Camp was full. Long-story-short: due to a cancellation, Frank and Hal, by coming just a day earlier than their plans had it, got to hunt with Ben McCulloch at the Mustang Ranch Camp. All's well that end's well.
The other two hunters were a father/son pair, the Allens. Son Anthony, now home from his second tour in Iraq, lives on Ft. Bliss in El Paso. The dad, James, or better known as Skip, lives at Andrews, NC, back up in the hills near Asheville. James has outfitted a few hunts himself and can tell you some good bear stories. Both are seasoned turkey hunters, but on this Mustang Ranch hunt, Dear Old Dad skunked his son by collecting two turkeys with Anthony taking zip. Anthony, like the song about New York, did it "his way" and hunted hard, hard for three days. If a pedometer would have been tied to his leg during the three days, no telling how many miles he might have logged on the thing. Anthony, while temporarily being still and hunting with Skip from a blind one day, did get a shot at a gobbler. Missed, unfortunately, and dad-gum-the-luck-anyway. Any turkey hunter you will ever talk to, if he is truthful, and most are, will admit to suffering the same kind of calamity every now and then.
Skip Allen gave large credit for his success on the hunt to "Henrietta", a stuffed hen belonging to his guide, Mike Turner. Mike admits to being the rankest of amateurs when it comes to taxidermy work, but Skip claims that hen of Mike's, rocking gently in the wind, was totally accepted by the real hens who came and went all day long. Henrietta never once spooked them.
Not so, we often hear, about those plastic varieties that some hunters use. In fact, you might hear from the same hunter of a great success story followed by some tale-of-woe of his experiences with decoys - and all in the same day, at that. But Skip had nothing but good luck with Henrietta.
That last gobbler taken by Skip on the super-windy afternoon, in swelling up to his full strut, was having to tack into the wind or get blown on his butt. But what's a little windstorm when there was a chance for a serious romance with Sweet Henrietta. And she wasn't even turning away from him as so many of the others had done all season long. Seductively, she was staying put right there, with a far-away look in her eyes. It was love at first sight and he had fallen for her head-over-heels. Come to think of it, that's exactly what he did when Skip pulled the trigger.
Frank and Hal always hunted right together. Both collected longbeards, a pair each for the pair. Who knows how their battle plan is formed? It seems that the shooting order is Frank first, then Hal, then back to Frank, then back to Hal. Or something like that. Anyway, and it seldom happens in turkey hunting, that's exactly how they did it on their Mustang Ranch hunt this year. Ain't it great when a Battle Plan comes together?
So having hunted the Home Camp last season and now the Mustang Ranch Camp this year, Frank decided to bring a party of four for next year and chose the Mustang Ranch to entertain his group. He likes the fact that his buddies will have the place to themselves. And Little Ben McCulloch's cooking played a large part in this decision. No doubt. When the roundup leave on the drive up the trail, you'll want Little Ben working the chuck wagon.
Over the course of the three days, noon Thursday until noon Sunday, the weather at the Mustang Ranch varied a bunch. Proof of the calendar announcing spring time in Texas. That first afternoon, weather conditions could not have been more perfect. Late that night, a huge, booming thunderstorm moved through the area leaving a few tenths of rain. Friday's weather was springtime at its best. The hunting/ the gobbling / the strutting and drumming Rios - everything was going just right with three turkeys being taken by that night. Then, on Saturday, as Texas weather is prone to do sometimes, a strong west wind began way before daylight and blew with a vengeance most of the day. Turkey movement was poor until late afternoon when the wind laid a bit. Luckily, Sunday morning's final hunt was conducted in near perfect weather, and sure enough, that's when Hal collected his final gobbler.
So the total was six birds for four hunters. Anthony would like to foget that missed shot. But our statistician insists on getting every fiasco into our permanent archives and we can't talk him out of it.
And for the season, then, that same bean-counter will be summarizing the Mustang Ranch season this way: eleven hunters collected nineteen birds. That's only three turkeys shy of a 200% season folks. Ben McCulloch and his crew at the Mustang Camp, as always, did one heck of a job for their hunters.
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Hunt 2 April 15 - 18
Rain was a factor at the Mustang Ranch Camp on their second hunt of the season. But as far as the turkey hunting itself went, the negative effect of the moisture was not nearly as severe as at the other camps further to the west.
In fact, by noon on Friday, not quite twenty-four hours into the hunt, the three hunters lacked just one longbeard to be completely tagged out. So Mustang Camp hunters were knocking home runs while walks or strikouts were the rule elsewhere.
Thank goodness Keith Wahoske, who hunted with us last year, brought his electric ATV. It proved to be invaluable in traversing the muddy pastures on Ben McCulloch's ranch. Keith hails from Zachary, LA where rainfall and muddy roads are nothing unusual. Keith was the only one of the three to fail to collect two birds during the first third of the hunt. But why end it so early? Patiently, he waited for the right opportunity before taking that second longbeard.
With only three hunters in camp, wouldn't you know it? There was a second hunter named "Keith". Keith Ratliff hails from the mountains in North Georgia. Both his birds put twenty pounds on Ben's scale. With beards at 9.5 and 10.25 plus a pair of spurs at 1 1/8 and the second set at 1 1/4" x 1 3/16", any jury would have to declare that Mr. Ratliff had one heck of a Texas Rio hunt.
The third hunter was Larry DeLucenay from Land-o-Lakes, FL. For us outfitters, it is always unsettling when a hunter reveals that he absolutely, positively has to take a bird to complete a personal goal. So said Larry. Thankfully, he was able to accomplish the feat and, in fact, did it four times over. You ask: How did this come about?
Larry collected his first two birds on that first afternoon. When the weather was becoming ever more threatening, it seemed to be a good idea at the time. Who could know if the hunt would continue with the weather being as uncertain as it was. But now, being tagged out, Larry had plenty of time on his hands. And his opportunistic host, being underbooked with only three hunters on this date, announced that he would allow anyone to take an extra gobbler or two. Larry, being equally alert for good deals and being already on site and ready to go, quickly took advantage of this offer - a couple of times over. A win/win for everyone if there ever was such a thing.
In a post-hunt e-mail, here is how Ben described the events of the hunt:
"After sitting around the camp for a day, after seeing Paint Rock, and the Barrow Museum in Eola ; Land-O-Lakes, Florida hunter Larry Deluceney decided to try for one last turkey. Sure enough, after only about twenty minutes at his favorite spot,along came TOM. One shot in the head did the trick and Larry collected his fourth bird of the hunt. To cap it off, there is still one-half day left in the hunt.
Can you believe it? After a tour of the highlights of Concho County, there was still time left for this last hunt. It capped off Larrys Grand Slam of the U.S. species of turkey in a really fun way."
For those who might be mathmatically-challenged, we are happy to do the numbers for you, as follows: Three hunters took a total of eight gobblers. One took four, and two took a limit of two/each. It would be hard to think of a better way to conclude a turkey hunt. And the countryside got a good rain as an added bonus. One of these day, things will get tough again, but for now - LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL.
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Hunt 1 April 8 - 11
Is there a better way to spend quality time with a family member than being on a hunt for turkeys at the Mustang Ranch Camp? No, there is not.
We can offer compelling evidence, Your Honor, when Ben McCulloch hosted a father/son plus a father-in-law/son-in-law on his kickoff spring turkey hunt for the 2010 season.
Chip Bennett, from Palestine, TX was determined to introduce the sport he dearly loves to his son-in-law Jim Halbert, from Waco, TX. And Chip just might have made it too easy for Jim's first-ever gobblers. With the hunt commencing at noon on Thursday, Friday morning found Jim with two 20+ lb. toms on Ben's tally board, both of which were called in by Chip. And, get this, one of those dudes had a pair of matching spurs at 1 5/16".
Then, on the final afternoon, Chip had a good story to relate to Ben. Leaving Jim in a blind, Chip wandered to a nearby water tank (pond) to see if he could call up something. Boy, did he ever, and he got to see something that is rarely seen. Chip saw a hen wade off into the water deep enough to wet her feathers. Experienced hunters will tell you that hens do this to return to their nests to moisten the eggs. Five gobblers appeared and would have probably furnished a sacrificial victim (or two) to Chip's gun, except for the fact that a cow somehow spotted Chip and spooked at his presence. You would think that the turkeys would have spotted Chip before the cow did, but it was the other way around. Anyway, Chip managed to call them back up and collected "the one that was unlucky". So it was a busy afternoon around the old water hole.
Californians Dan Clark and son, John (from Irvine and Costa Mesa respectively) hunted as hard as they knew how moving from likely spot to likely spot, but they had to wait until the final morning for success for John. Shortly after fly down, Dan called up a 19 pounder for John, and a half-hour later, he repeated the feat - this time watching John harvest an even heavier one at 20 lbs.
Dan had taken a jake earlier in the hunt. Interestingly enough, the three remaining turkey tags on his Texas license are burning a hole in his pocket and he was quizzing Ben about a possible return to the Mustang Ranch Camp before the season ends. We have told you that turkey hunters are dedicated - and to the "N-th Degree" sometimes. The weather on Hunt One was mild with unusually chilly mornings. Not too terribly much wind, thank goodness.
The four hunters collected six birds with the two younger hunters taking their limit of two and the two "old timers" taking one/each. Remember, the seniors were doing the calling for the juniors which, no doubt, limited their own personal hunting success. Once again, age/wisdom/experience defers to beloved youth. That, folks, is how the hunting tradition gets passed down from generation to generation.
Hint - hint. Isn't is about time you took some youngster in your family on a good hunt? I'll bet you have been meaning to do this for quite a while. Whether for turkeys in the spring or for deer in the fall, Ben McCulloch's Mustang Ranch Camp plays host to numerous family groups. Maybe you can be one of them.
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