GOING FOR THE GOULD'S?

All hunts begin on the second Saturday in April and end on Tuesday (4 days later). The hunts will be 6 hunts through the 3rd Tuesday in May. Check with Lovett at Lovett@LovettWilliams.com for your dates of interest and other information about booking a hunt.

Hunting is during the period of maximum gobbling activity in the northern Sierra Madre Mountains. Success has been similar for both early and late dates. Seasonal variation from year to year is unpredictable but the advantage of being the first to hunt, as on early hunts, offsets the disadvantage of hearing less gobbling. Lovett will be glad to discuss this with you.

Camps and Hunters

At El Verde, 5-6 hunters per hunt. There are experienced Mexican cooks, guides, and the outfitter in a nice log cabin with warm shower and toilet. The outfitters provide bottled drinking water.

Success Rate

There are plenty of turkeys and I expect success to be 100% as it nearly always has been. You may take a second gobbler by paying a trophy fee. Discuss the second turkey option with Lovett in advance.

Price and Deposit

The hunt fee is $1650 plus $250 for licenses and permits--total of $1900. Includes accommodations, hunting license, paperwork, and transportation from and back to El Paso, Texas. If you want to go, send $300 now in a check payable to Lovett Williams. Indicate which hunt you prefer. I will call for a 50% deposit in June. Your $300 will be refundable until that time. After you pay the 50% deposit, your deposit can be refunded only if we can fill the vacancy created by your cancellation.

Guiding
You will hunt much of the time alone but camp personnel will be scouting for you, taking you to and from roosting places, and providing maximum assistance. A personal guide is available.  Please discuss your need for a guide with Lovett in advance.

Your Trophy
Whole turkey specimens cannot be frozen in camp but camp personnel will assist you in preparing your trophy's wings, legs, and tail, or in skinning the whole bird for your taxidermist. If a guide skins your whole bird, the fee is $50. We will see that you get your trophy out of Mexico with minimum hassle. I will send info on that later. We will help you register your trophy in the National Wild Turkey Federation record book. Be sure to record your turkey tag and Mexican hunting license number for entering on the NWTF application form.

Trophy Certificate and Souvenir Yelper
We have a handsome certificate showing your name, the camp and date, witnesses, and important data on your trophy. You'll want to frame it. There is a $5 fee for postage & handling. Be sure to tell the outfitter you want a certificate.

An inscribed limited edition yelper made of your Gould's gobbler's thigh or wing bones is available. It will be a unique souvenir of the hunt even if you don't call with a wingbone. But it will call turkeys. Price--$75. I will send instructions about the bones to save-check with me about this before your hunt.

Hunting Conditions
Hunting will be at 6,000-7,000 feet elevation. Hunters are transported in vehicles from the mountain cabin to and from where they will hunt. We can accommodate any hunter in average health. At the hunting grounds there are no paved roads, no fields or improved pastures, and no food plots but there is an outstanding wild turkey population and beautiful wild mountains from horizon to horizon. You will see and do things that will make this a hunt to remember. Hunting the Gould's will be much like the turkey hunting you are accustomed to.

A View of the Mountains

When and Where to Meet
We recommend lodging in El Paso the night before and being met the next morning by your outfitter for the trip to camp. We will suggest a lodging place where your party will be together and picked up without loss of time the morning you travel to camp. You will visit a store en route for items you didn't pack for the trip to El Paso.

No Early Returns
Our camp is deep in the mountains and transportation is limited. The outfitter cannot bring hunters out for early return home except in cases of emergency or unless the whole party wishes to return when you all get your turkey. There is no other game to hunt but you can practice photography or help with scouting and learn more about the habits and the hunting of the little known Gould's wild turkey. There is a blind for turkey photography.

Danger in Mexico?
Chihuahuans are accustomed to American tourists. Many speak some English and all are friendly. The horror stories you hear about Mexico are akin to the alligator and snake stories you hear about Florida--almost entirely media hype. Traveling to Miami is more dangerous.

Additional Information Coming
I will send you more information from time to time during the coming summer and fall including airline info and everything else you need to know. My new book, Hunting the Gould's Wild Turkey in Mexico is available now. You can order this book using the order form on this Web site.

Going to the Sierra Madre Occidental to hunt is a major decision for most gringos. As booking agent and hunting consultant to the outfitter, I promise to do everything I can to make your hunt one of your most rewarding ever. For more information, call me at (352) 543-9530.