For more information on Joining the Maryland Bowhunters Society click below...
www.marylandbowhunterssociety.org
Turkeys…With a Bow?
I had not intended on hunting Turkeys with the bow this season. I just didn’t feel like toting all the stuff around. I like to be a stealthy, mobile, Gobbler killing machine. (Well, as stealthy and mobile as a short, stumpy, fat boy can be) Sometimes I feel like hunting birds with a bow is just a great big hassle, and besides, I get just as much pleasure when I squeeze the trigger and send a load of 6’s toward a Gobblers noggin as I do an arrow.
If I lived out west where hunting from a blind in the prairies for roaming flocks of birds seems to be the norm I would spend more time with the bow in my hand. But from the thick cutovers on the Eastern Shore of Maryland to heavily pressured ridges of Pennsylvania that I frequent…Packing, unpacking , moving, hauling, and resetting up a ton of stuff is more like work to me than a fun day in the woods.
Now maybe I’m the one to blame for having too much to carry around… I have never been accused of having a lightweight turkey vest or backpack. I always refer to my gear bags as Noah’s Arc as I usually seem to have two of everything (Can’t be too careful). So now add to the vest a stool for sitting long periods of time comfortably. Trying to capture everything on video means at least one camera but usually two…plus tripods. Gotta have a blind for bowhunting birds right? Well I guess not but I don’t feel confident enough to go through the movement of drawing a bow without being picked off by a keen eyed Gobbler. Throw in a couple bigger and better decoys and a few snacks for the day and I feel like I need a U-haul truck to get where I’m headed.
I toss the idea of bowhunting Turkeys around in my head for months leading up to the season every year. I always end up in the same predicament. This year was no different and I had pretty much convinced myself to bail on the idea of taking the bow out at all…Until I got the weather report for the first day of my scheduled Turkey hunting vacation. The threat of rain and the fact that I wanted to make the most of my time off of work had me pulling out the blind I had decided against taking with me.
There has to be a better way I thought as I was packing the blind in my truck. I now had to grab all the gear I mentioned earlier because if I was gonna “cheat” and use a blind…It just wouldn’t be right to stick a gun barrel out the window and shoot one…I had to use the bow. That meant I had to get the tripods and cameras because I couldn’t just sit there without at least trying to film the hunt could I?
I came up with a plan and was going to make it a point to stick with it. I figured since the weather report was only showing a little drizzle in the early part of the morning which in my opinion is awesome for Turkeys, I would take the gun and try to get as close as I could to a talkative Tom before flydown and see if I could close the deal before the rain. If that didn’t work, I would retreat and get the bow and blind before the rain. The fact that I know the property well and have a great late morning strutting area in mind where I see Turkeys often had me feeling great about running back to the truck before the heavy weather. The spot is actually pretty close to the truck so I could set up quickly.
I had birds gobbling on two sides of me about half way up the mountain in the dim light. From the sounds I was hearing I estimated multiple birds in the closest spot and a single Tom a little further off and to my right. I was running out of time so I quickly set up against a tall poplar and behind a screen of briars. I was facing an old logging road intersection and property line marked by a stone wall. I have pulled birds over this wall before but this morning the group on the other property must have had some girls already lined up because as they flew down they headed away gobbling. I stayed put hoping to hear from the single that had not been as vocal. I held off on the calling and just waited a while. Out of nowhere came a gobble that blew my mind…It was close! “This is going to be over quick”, I thought to myself as I moved the gun barrel to the right and pointed it up the road ready to smoke the oncoming Tom. As the birds white head cleared the wall of briars and into my shooting lane I was in perfect position to pull the trigger but I wanted confirmation on his beard…I’m glad I didn’t just squeeze…He was just a Jake. The booming gobble had me all amped up and ready but I guess he was just trying to impress the ladies because he was just a little guy. Time for plan B!
With what looked to be a little heavier rain on my iPhone radar. I raced to the truck and switched weapons and tactics. I grabbed all my stuff and headed back up the road to the cutover spot I previously mentioned. I felt good in my plan already but my hopes where lifted even higher when I arrived in the location and found all kinds of fresh Turkey doody!!! The group I had been hearing that moved off toward my left and down earlier was sure to make their way toward me I figured as I set up the blind. The place I believed them to be was only a short distance from me according to the arial I was looking at.
It was only about 8:30 when I was relaxing in my chair and trying to imagine where he would come from so I could set the tripod in the right area for video. I was watching the clouds and radar and it looked like I may have a good hour stretch of little to no rain. This is just what I was hoping for, thinking the birds would show up to soak up the sun and display for the ladies. I grabbed my bow, nocked an arrow and drew to check my clearance and shot positions. Everything was good so I let out a few clucks and purrs followed by a raspy yelp or two. I waited a few more minutes and hit my gobble shaker after another series of yelps. In my mind, anything within earshot may want to check that out.
I could not believe that within twenty minutes, a lone hen walked right down from the log landing at the top of the clearing and started picking her way toward me. I was dying to know if she had a longbeard in tow. It seemed like an eternity but I finally caught movement above her and notice it was a strutter. I’m guessing she responded to my calls or was already headed in my direction. Either way I grabbed the bow and prepared for the shot. The hen was in no hurry and seemed quite annoyed by the fact that I had a jake and hen decoy placed about 10 yards in front of my blind. The Tom was preoccupied trying to show off for his girl but as he got closer he started spitting and drumming directly at the impostor jake.
I was gathering myself, preparing for a shot, and trying to video all at the same time. I was not correct in my guess as to where to position the tripod so the bird kept walking out of the frame to the right and I could not get the angle I needed so I had to bail on the camera. The decision to forgo the video made everything easier. The hen walked into the brush to my left and I thought the Tom was going to follow her. He was still focused on fakey jakey and was steady spitting in the decoys direction then turning and quivering a few quick steps away. After I had drawn three times hoping for him to give me a better angle I decided that next time he turned away he was getting one in the rear as each time he did he ended up further away and was now at about 25 yards. Long shot from the 12 yards he had been when I was trying to get it on video. Its now or never I said to myself as I drew for the final time. I slid of the seat a little, centered the 20 yard pin at the base of his fan, a little above his left thigh and squeeeeezed.
Watching that bird hop off on one leg was exhilarating and something I was not planning on seeing this season at all. I ran out and found the bird piled up in a heap under a brush pile on the edge of the clearing. The broadhead had made a mess of the birds thigh and innards keeping him from taking flight and covering more distance. I guess you could say I was happy that I stuck to my plan. It was an awesome feeling hanging only my second bow killed Gobbler on the blind to take photos. The fact that I had one down makes for a relaxing remainder of Turkey season.
The plan I came up with seems to be one that I can stick to for the years to come. I love the fact that I can shoot one with a bow and it definitely feels like quite the accomplishment. The weird thing is that I somehow miss the bang, smell of gunpowder, and the sight of a gobbler being left in a pile that you get from using a shotgun. But I will take a Longbeard by any legal means necessary!
Equipment used.
Ultimate Camo Elite GT500 Sword Titan B-Stinger Carbon Express Maximas backed with a Lazer Nock N.A.P Gobbler Getter Broadheads Bohning Blazer Vanes
No comments:
Post a Comment