By BEN NEARY
NMWF Conservation Director
The New Mexico Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Wednesday event for March will feature turkey hunter Gary Roybal. He will talk about tactics for hunting the elusive birds and also display his handmade turkey calls.
A hunting and fishing guide, Roybal is a member of San Ildefonso Pueblo. He makes and sells calls through his business Manzano Madness Custom Game Calls. He also makes and sells bows at Turkslayer Traditional Bows.
The free presentation will be at 5:30 p.m. March 13 at Marble Northeast Heights Tap Room, 9904 Montgomery NE, Albuquerque. Spring turkey season runs from April 15 to May 15 in areas open for over-the-counter hunts.
Beyond working to call in wary turkeys, Roybal’s calls are works of art, incorporating unique designs that he burns into the wood. He said his designs take inspiration from Indian pottery, petroglyphs and other sources.
“Just everyday stuff like the mountains and the trees and the yuccas and the flowers – I try to incorporate a lot of these designs because it comes from being out in the wild,” Roybal said. “If we don’t take the time to stop and smell the roses, as they say, then those memories kind of fade away.”
Roybal sometimes incorporates the Zia sun symbol and other design elements that are unique to New Mexico. “I’m proud of where we come from. We’re such a diverse group of people here in New Mexico that we want to honor everybody. It’s not just myself and my people, it’s everybody,” he said.
Roybal gathers wood for his calls from around the state including red cedar, pear and walnut. He said he made his first turkey call in the late 1990s, acting out of necessity because his people and other American Indians need turkey feathers for their ceremonies and other purposes.
“Most native peoples here in New Mexico, well around the Hopi area and different places, we all need turkey feathers,” Roybal said. “And it was, I guess, on a dare to see if I could match something that sounded similar to what I was trying to reproduce.”
Roybal said his knowledge of turkey hunting expanded greatly when he married his wife, Trish, who’s from Isleta Pueblo. Her family included many accomplished turkey hunters.
“My father-in-law, his name was Eddie Jojola, he just kind of took me under his wing and challenged me to do certain stuff,” Roybal said. “And going to the mountains, the Manzanos, the Jemez, Pecos, wherever we went, you know, finding a piece of wood, and working it, and seeing if I could match some prototypes that we were working on.”
Roybal said he hadn’t realized what a hard-core hunter Jojola was before he married into the family.
“It was deer hunting, elk hunting, turkeys – especially,” Roybal said. “We were always looking for those different animals. In return, we were always out there learning from these different places. So many different sites out here, old pueblos and things like that. You know, going to these places and seeing a lot of the petroglyphs, and hearing a lot of the stories about how these certain places where we came from.”
Roybal said his family honors these important places through traditional dances and songs as well as by the certain animals that they dance for and pray to. “So we have all that incorporated in so many different types of dances,” he said. “But in order to get to those dances, we need turkey feathers, and a lot of our costumes need turkey feathers and the different things from all of the animals that we dance for.”
Roybal said Jojola first showed him one of his creations – a slate call using a piece of chalk board on a little box made of oak.
“It was a little square and it was rough cut, but it really sounded good,” Roybal said. “So there was a lot of challenges and inspirations from a lot of people. I first showed the neighbors, and relatives, and they said, ‘hey, why don’t you make me one,’ and that’s how it basically started. And how many years later, I’m still making them.”
These days, Roybal sells his calls at outdoor shows, knife shows and other venues in New Mexico and neighboring states.
“There are so many places where this has taken us, it’s been fun,” Roybal said of selling his work. “Especially where people come up and say, ‘’hey, I have one of your calls from many years ago, and look, it’s still working.’ And they’ll tell us the stories.”
Roybal said his Wildlife Wednesday presentation will cover information on various types of calls as information on calling techniques, turkey behavior and turkey hunting safety. He said he’s hunted different species of turkeys in New Mexico but doesn’t have a favorite.
“It’s just being out there and figuring out the bird itself, that’s the hardest part,” he said.